Leveling blocks

[family wagon]

Last year I used a random collection of wood, mostly 2x4 and 2x6, to help level my bus. They got the job done, kind of, but were a hassle to use. Improvement is on the to-do list for this year.

The interwebs offer various stacking block models from Lynx, Camco, and others. They look okay, and $3.21 each on the Lynx at Wal-Mart isn't so bad.. as long as there aren't many needed, which is unlikely if it's one or both of the duals that need to be blocked up. It does seem like they would sink easily in wet/soft soils too. That creates a double problem of being out of level and also having to pry the sunken block back out of the soil.

Last night I came across this blog post proposing to cut squares from a horse stall mat. This seems like it would come out about half the cost of the Lynx blocks.

Any thoughts on leveling? I'm certain few of us (if any) have hydraulic levelers installed. And surely there are at least a few who like their sink and shower basin to fully drain, dislike sleeping with their head downhill, and prefer to cuddle the significant other on their own terms rather than the dictates of gravity.. Right?

 

[Scooternj]

I've spent the night with my head downhill a couple of times in tents and puked because of it. My leveling plan is 2 pair of BAL's 24002D 7500# scissor jacks, with jack pads and chocking whichever wheel is still touching. And, if I have to, a couple of 6x6 or 8x8 blocks as additional spacers.

 

[gbstewart]

I have 2 - 7500 pound scissor jacks on rear of the bus they work great, I'm planning on putting 2 on the front sometime this year. I also have 2x6 boards to put under the wheels if needed.
look at page 15 of my build
gbstewart

 

[lornaschinske]

We sunk the Lynx Levelers in an RV pad (sand) under the Class C (about 5000 lbs). We also broke two, also under the Class C. I did find a good use for the Lynx Levelers (I have two sets). I have the sewer hose cradled in a plastic gutter. They are nifty to support the sewer hose/gutter at an angle. To level the bus, we will use either scissor jacks, jack posts or a combination of the two.

 

[wmkbailey]

A 7500# scissor jacks can lift a corner of our school bus. I thought scissor jacks could only be used to prevent rocking ie.. to stableize, not to lift.

 

[gbstewart]

A 7500# scissor jacks can lift a corner of our school bus. I thought scissor jacks could only be used to prevent rocking ie.. to stableize, not to lift.

they will left the corners of the bus to help level out, no problem at all, I have mine bolted to the frame.
gbstewart

 

[wmkbailey]

A 7500# scissor jacks can lift a corner of our school bus. I thought scissor jacks could only be used to prevent rocking ie.. to stableize, not to lift.

they will left the corners of the bus to help level out, no problem at all, I have mine bolted to the frame.
gbstewart

I'm going to give them a try. I found a pair of 7500# scissor jack on Amazon. So my question is that 7500# each or combined?

http://www.amazon.com/Heavy-Scissor...keywords=Stabilizer+Scissor+Jack+Set+7500+Lbs

 

[Scooternj]

A 7500# scissor jacks can lift a corner of our school bus. I thought scissor jacks could only be used to prevent rocking ie.. to stableize, not to lift.

they will left the corners of the bus to help level out, no problem at all, I have mine bolted to the frame.
gbstewart

I'm going to give them a try. I found a pair of 7500# scissor jack on Amazon. So my question is that 7500# each or combined?

http://www.amazon.com/Heavy-Scissor...keywords=Stabilizer+Scissor+Jack+Set+7500+Lbs

Each. Third bullet point.

 

[gbstewart]

A 7500# scissor jacks can lift a corner of our school bus. I thought scissor jacks could only be used to prevent rocking ie.. to stableize, not to lift.

they will left the corners of the bus to help level out, no problem at all, I have mine bolted to the frame.
gbstewart

I'm going to give them a try. I found a pair of 7500# scissor jack on Amazon. So my question is that 7500# each or combined?

http://www.amazon.com/Heavy-Scissor...keywords=Stabilizer+Scissor+Jack+Set+7500+Lbs

get the socket that goes into a cordless drill, makes it much better to raise and lower
gbstewart

 

[opus-SKO]

This is how we slept the other night. At least we were "head up".

 

[lornaschinske]

You should not be lifing your bus to where the tires are off the ground. But to "level", the body will still lift quite a bit. We have the scissor jacks on the Class C (two on the rear bumper only). We have used one side to lift the rear tire off the ground to change a flat (changing a flat on the side of the interstate is just sooooo much fun). We used a long handled rachet with a socket & extension. I'm getting too old for that. I like the "redneck power jack". But we still haven't figured out our leveler situation. Still bouncing ideas around.

 

[Scooternj]

Get a set of wheel chocks too. If, for whatever reason, your rear tires wind up off the ground, you just lost your parking brake. Chock the front tires, and have some piece of mind. Frankly, my bus is all 6 on the ground right now, and I've got it chocked in place. But then, that's also 17 years of dealing with tactical vehicles between active duty Air Force and the National Guard.

 

[gbstewart]

You should not be lifing your bus to where the tires are off the ground. But to "level", the body will still lift quite a bit. We have the scissor jacks on the Class C (two on the rear bumper only). We have used one side to lift the rear tire off the ground to change a flat (changing a flat on the side of the interstate is just sooooo much fun). We used a long handled rachet with a socket & extension. I'm getting too old for that. I like the "redneck power jack". But we still haven't figured out our leveler situation. Still bouncing ideas around.

good point, I wouldnt try lifting the tires with these jacks
gbstewart

 

[lornaschinske]

We stayed in a county park once near Norfolk VA. The park sites ranged from slightly sloping to mountain goat terrain. On a walk around the rather large, fairly empty campground, we saw a 40 ft Class A with the front tires completely off the ground and there was a good 18", if not more, of air under the tires. I believe they had the front jacks fully extended. I've never seen how far the auto jacks on a Class A will extend, but this was scary to see. We just couldn't figure out why these people chose one of the worst sites in the park. And they had to of chosen the site. We chose our site (we were in the popup) and the park was (and had been) almost empty. I doubt if there were 20 occupied sites out of the 188 sites. But it was a nice campground and I would recommend it if any of you ever decide to go to Williamsburg. Just don't when a hurricane is bearing down on the area. The interstate just outside the park stayed pretty full to packed. We would not have gotten off the roads to safety within the 48 hour window. Luckily the hurricane dropped to a tropical storm and mostly bypassed us. Good thing about the sloped sites was the water drained fast and we didn't flood (we had to chase some of our stuff down even though they were tethered). The Class A was gone when we walked around the park to see how the place faired.

http://www.rvparkreviews.com/regions/Vi ... _News.html
http://www.nnparks.com/parks_nn.php

 

[Scooternj]

On a walk around the rather large, fairly empty campground, we saw a 40 ft Class A with the front tires completely off the ground and there was a good 18", if not more, of air under the tires. I believe they had the front jacks fully extended. I've never seen how far the auto jacks on a Class A will extend, but this was scary to see.

Sometimes it makes you wonder about people.

 

[ol trunt]

I see a bent frame in your future

 

[Malkieri-SKO]

I wonder...if Lorna were to post that setting oneself on fire was a bad idea..... would we see a post extolling the value of being warm for the rest of our lives through self immolation?

 

[wmkbailey]

I wonder...if Lorna were to post that setting oneself on fire was a bad idea..... would we see a post extolling the value of being warm for the rest of our lives through self immolation?

I was once told that if you build a man a fire, he is only warm for a night. If you set a man on fire, he will be warm for the rest of his life.

 

[ol trunt]

Mostly because you don't know what you are doing

 

[ol trunt]

I for one can hardly wait to be proved wrong--when was it you planed to complete your first bus conversion, pics and all showing us how it should be done? So far all I've seen is catabolic activities, when can we all look forward to some anabolic endeavors? I respect a man with all the right answers as long as he has the credentials to back them up. Just saying.