Hello from Oakland

[peterlacosse]

Hi all,
Happy to be joining this community, and looking forward to learning and making new connections. I'm very new on this journey, and hoping to get some advice on a basic starting point:

Our only available workspace (our driveway) is on a 5-6 degree slant, so if we park a 35 footer one side will be 3-4 ft higher than the other. One of the first pieces of advice I got was to be sure to park on a level surface or else the project will be a nightmare. So question is - is there a kind of bus jack or other solution that could work for long term parking while we convert?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Peter

[peteg59]

Welcome to the site, Peter.

Level would be a good way to work, unless you cannot get it there.

Is your work area paved or dirt?
You could use 2x8's stacked under the low side wheels as a rudimentary "leveler", but jack stands would be better especially if you want/need to work on the chassis at some point. I wouldn't recommend 3~4 feet of stacked board though!

Good luck and post pics if you can...

[Danjo]

Are you doing a roof raise? If not I would not worry about it. A level isnt going to work for you anyway. It’s all about squareness. And on the road your bus is unlikely to be level like ever.

And jacking, board stacking, especially on a slope is too dangerous

[musigenesis]

I built these sort of wedge/chock thingies by layering up pieces of pressure-treated 2X and screwing them together: https://www.skoolie.net/forums/f11/r...tml#post407876. I back up past where I'm going to park, maneuver these beasts into place (destroying my back) and then drive up them. The biggest one is about a foot up and I would not want to go up any further than that with this kind of thing. My biggest fear is forgetting I'm up on them and driving off the front instead of backing up, which nearly happened once - I had it in D before I remembered.

I have to say, you are really really going to want your bus level. I usually drive my bus to my house where it's perfectly level and work on it there. When I have to work on it up on the chocks (which don't have the bus quite level) it's annoying and tiring to have to walk slightly uphill to the back every time; when it's just on the ground at my lot it is so much worse.

One good thing is that the slope will really expose leaking windows. The way the windows are designed, the outer sill will pool water on one side if the bus is angled, and pooled water will find its way through openings.

[peterlacosse]

Originally Posted by peteg59

Welcome to the site, Peter.

Level would be a good way to work, unless you cannot get it there.

Is your work area paved or dirt?
You could use 2x8's stacked under the low side wheels as a rudimentary "leveler", but jack stands would be better especially if you want/need to work on the chassis at some point. I wouldn't recommend 3~4 feet of stacked board though!

Good luck and post pics if you can...

Thanks peteg59. My work surface is paved. Maybe I could get a little closer to level with some boards but agree trying to get to 3' would be very sketchy.

[peterlacosse]

Originally Posted by Danjo

Are you doing a roof raise? If not I would not worry about it. A level isnt going to work for you anyway. It’s all about squareness. And on the road your bus is unlikely to be level like ever.

And jacking, board stacking, especially on a slope is too dangerous

I'm not planning to do a roof raise. Thanks for the feedback on jacking being too dangerous, it's hard to imagine it being safe (although I'm sure there's a way if you throw enough money at it)

[ol trunt]

Something wrong with the math here. A 6 degree slope would only display a 1.66% fall. That would be less than 2" over 8 feet, the width of your bus. Check this out:
https://www.convertunits.com/from/degree/to/percent. Test out the results with an 8' board and a tape measure on your drive.
Jack

[peterlacosse]

Originally Posted by ol trunt

Something wrong with the math here. A 6 degree slope would only display a 1.66% fall. That would be less than 2" over 8 feet, the width of your bus. Check this out:
https://www.convertunits.com/from/degree/to/percent. Test out the results with an 8' board and a tape measure on your drive.
Jack

Hi Jack, the slope is along the length rather than the width. So basically we'd be parking on a hill.

[Maligator.]

He said "side" instead of "end" or maybe "stern will be higher than bow" if you really wanted to be spot on. They were picturing the right side driver tire being 3 feet lower than your left side driver tire, not that the aft of the bus or nose will be sitting 30 some inches higher. Anyhow, be sure to block you tires no matter which way you park, a run away bus is a scary thing!!