Leveling the bus before roof raise

[Rastefaryan]

So you lifted the entire lid with those homemade gantries? Did you leave the lid connected to some kind of guidepost inside the bus to stop it fromt drifting too far out of alignment?

I’d like to see more of that. Do you have a website or anything?

honestly drift was not to bad the four vertical poles of the gantry kept everything pretty straight having a handwinch at the top of each pole gave us quick access to correct any excessive drift to maintain level we just made sure everything was exactly eight feet from bottom edge of sheet metal to bottom edge of rain rail above windows unfortunate fact no matter what anyone says theres no true level when doing a roof raise ive watched thousands of hours on roof raises and never once did one stay level just my opinion though im just going on what ive seen every one else do and never worked exactly how they hoped it would but looking at and living around boat hoist i realized there was an absolutely easier way of doing it

 

[Rastefaryan]

honestly drift was not to bad the four vertical poles of the gantry kept everything pretty straight having a handwinch at the top of each pole gave us quick access to correct any excessive drift to maintain level we just made sure everything was exactly eight feet from bottom edge of sheet metal to bottom edge of rain rail above windows unfortunate fact no matter what anyone says theres no true level when doing a roof raise ive watched thousands of hours on roof raises and never once did one stay level just my opinion though im just going on what ive seen every one else do and never worked exactly how they hoped it would but looking at and living around boat hoist i realized there was an absolutely easier way of doing it

if you want to add me on facebook look me up send me quick message request to Christopher Dale Michael Damron and ill send you any pics you want ive got a few interesting solutions to problems people have had that im kinda proud of

 

[Native-SKO]

Man I never knew my driveway was so unlevel till now

It is not level on purpose ... draining.

 

[EastCoastCB]

When I was getting ready for my roof raise I used bottle jacks, HD Jack stands and cribbing to level it.

When I got it nice and level I patted myself on the back for a job well done. Then I noticed that my emergency exit and baggage bay doors wouldn't open & close properly.

I set the bus back down and the doors worked fine.

After some discussion with Asetechrail we decided that the c channels for the raise would position the roof in place regardless of whether we had the bus perfectly level or a little off.

We were right. We loosely clamped four c channels adjacent the four roof jacks. Then we started cutting. When we raised with the jacks we got the gaps all within about 1/16".

Everything lined up fine.

One piece of kit that has been handy is my Smart Level.

Exactly!
The way you and I raised ours it doesn't matter if the level is perfect. All you really have to make sure of is the gaps. If they're even then all is well.

 

[EastCoastCB]

honestly drift was not to bad the four vertical poles of the gantry kept everything pretty straight having a handwinch at the top of each pole gave us quick access to correct any excessive drift to maintain level we just made sure everything was exactly eight feet from bottom edge of sheet metal to bottom edge of rain rail above windows unfortunate fact no matter what anyone says theres no true level when doing a roof raise ive watched thousands of hours on roof raises and never once did one stay level just my opinion though im just going on what ive seen every one else do and never worked exactly how they hoped it would but looking at and living around boat hoist i realized there was an absolutely easier way of doing it

Mine sure stayed level.
Mine worked exactly... No- BETTER than I'd ever hoped.
All thread keeps it aligned and gives infinite adjust-ability to each corner.

 

[BusT]

When I was getting ready for my roof raise I used bottle jacks, HD Jack stands and cribbing to level it.

When I got it nice and level I patted myself on the back for a job well done. Then I noticed that my emergency exit and baggage bay doors wouldn't open & close properly.

I set the bus back down and the doors worked fine.

After some discussion with Asetechrail we decided that the c channels for the raise would position the roof in place regardless of whether we had the bus perfectly level or a little off.

We were right. We loosely clamped four c channels adjacent the four roof jacks. Then we started cutting. When we raised with the jacks we got the gaps all within about 1/16".

Everything lined up fine.

One piece of kit that has been handy is my Smart Level.

Well it just seems like leveling out the passenger side with jacks underneath and the drivers side on its tires is weird . The bumper looks obviously higher on the lifted side . The whole bus does actually .
And I don’t think that my slab work area has a 3-4inch slope in the 8ft width of the bus....

also even If i cut all my hat , and all thread the bus roof into the sky . With no jacks or having lifted one side or the other .....
If I have a foot gap In between all the hats then that’s level.... Or should be .


I just want to do this correct and really understand and learn more ... maybe buy a smart level . Use a plumb bob and really wrap my head around why or if I have to or not level the bus on jacks.... or boats whatever .
I know some have jacked the front under engine be cause the transition section cut causes the front to sag.
Side to side I’m not to sure.
As the bus sat unlevel . There was a lean on the floor.
Checking the level of the front bumper it was good.
Now I’m just really unsure if I need to support each 4 corners of the bus and then find my level from there .
Or that the way it sits now is basically level and good to go.


And about Colorado custom coachworks ...
I placed an order on 9/13
It’s 10/12...
2 weeks ago they put out a Instagram post saying they’ve been busy and are shipping out orders for hat
08/19 - 09/15/19....
And there was a month turnaround time ... so unless my package got lost in the mail ... it’s should’ve shipped out 2 weeks ago. I have no tracking number and just looking out for the package when I pull in from work everyday is getting repetitive .

I know there busy though. And understaffed . They gotta find a solution though . I wanna feel a little more taken care of when I spend that much.
Also don’t want there company to take a hit

 

[EastCoastCB]

Well it just seems like leveling out the passenger side with jacks underneath and the drivers side on its tires is weird . The bumped looks obviously higher on the lifted side . The whole bus does actually .
And I don’t think that my slab work area has a 3-4inch slope in the 8ft width of the bus....
also that when sitting even unlevel . If i cut all my hat and all thread the bus roof into the sky . If I have a foot gap In between all the hats then that’s level....
I just want to do this correct and really understand and learn more ... maybe buy a smart level . Use a plumb bob and really wrap my head around why or if I have to or not level the bus on jacks.... or boats whatever .
I know some have jacked the front under engine be cause the transition section cut causes the front to sag.
Side to side I’m not to sure.
As the bus sat unlevel . There was a lean on the floor.
Checking the level of the front bumper it was good.
Now I’m just really unsure if I need to support each 4 corners of the bus and then find my level from there .
Or that the way it sits now is basically level and good to go.


And about Colorado custom coachworks ...
I placed an order on 9/13
It’s 10/12...
2 weeks ago they put out a Instagram post saying they’ve been busy and are shipping out orders for hat
08/19 - 09/15/19....
And there was a month turnaround time ... so unless my package got lost in the mail ... it’s should’ve shipped out 2 weeks ago. I have no tracking number and just looking out for the package when I pull in from work everyday is getting repetitive .

I know there busy though. And understaffed . They gotta find a solution though . I wanna feel a little more taken care of when I spend that much.
Also don’t want there company to take a hit

They're making money hand over fist and ignoring customers. Don't worry about their business man.

 

[BusT]

Mine sure stayed level.
Mine worked exactly... No- BETTER than I'd ever hoped.
All thread keeps it aligned and gives infinite adjust-ability to each corner.

Did you place the all thread slightly more to the center . Like a hat towards the center , instead of the outermost hat channel? For the 4 corners ?

 

[BusT]

They're making money hand over fist and ignoring customers. Don't worry about their business man.

Just trying to sound nice . I still haven’t gotten my package and don’t want any iLL WiLl

 

[BusT]

Exactly!
The way you and I raised ours it doesn't matter if the level is perfect. All you really have to make sure of is the gaps. If they're even then all is well.

So should I even jack up my one side ?

 

[BusT]

It is not level on purpose ... draining.

Well it’s a slab underneath a carport ... not my driveway but yeah ... maybe they thought of draining ... or maybe it was half asses because it’ll pond you some places and have little streams

 

[BusT]

i through level out the door. found a much simpler way. just measur from the bottom of the sheet metal to your rain lip above the windows keep that the same everything else will be true. we went near 30 inches with our lift using four hoist in a gantry crane fashion. a fellow bus builder was amazed and said he wished he had thought of it

I’ll take that advice .

 

[EastCoastCB]

Did you place the all thread slightly more to the center . Like a hat towards the center , instead of the outermost hat channel? For the 4 corners ?

On the interior side of the ribs.

 

[musigenesis]

if you want to add me on facebook look me up send me quick message request to Christopher Dale Michael Damron and ill send you any pics you want ive got a few interesting solutions to problems people have had that im kinda proud of

Sounds interesting, can you post some pics here? Not everybody is on FB.

 

[musigenesis]

On the interior side of the ribs.

I think he meant which four ribs did you have the all-thread attached to. Like, the four on the corners of the roof, or one or two ribs in from the corners?

 

[EastCoastCB]

I think he meant which four ribs did you have the all-thread attached to. Like, the four on the corners of the roof, or one or two ribs in from the corners?

Went one or two ribs in from each corner.

 

[Sp6saz]

Roof raise level.

Fellas i'm no pro. But if ya lift 20 inches and put back 20 inches ya should be good if ya jack 20,000 lbs on one corner even with steel your gonna get some flex in there unless ya go every 2 or 4 feet. And support it. But if you remove from a straight line and add a straight square piece back and keep measurements the same the worst that could happen is you'll have to jack bottom or lift top to make it fit back square if that happens and all your openings are spaced properly your good

 

[PNW_Steve]

I leveled my bus using a 20 ton bottle Jack, 10 ton Jack stands and lengths of 4x6 for cribbing.

Got it nice and level.

The service door and emergency exit wouldn't open and close properly. I pulled all of the Jack stands and carried on. Using C channels clamped next to the roof jacks kept things aligned properly.

Roofs raise went great. Everything is nice and square.

 

[EastCoastCB]

Its good to get it as level as you can but not go ocd with it.

 

[BusT]

So I re evaluated the situation and got this.
I was lifting the axels.... not the frame . So I was trying to level the bus by jacking up the axels and decided to scratch that and just find points to lift the frame on my low side front and back... It’s pretty close to level. The one rear emergency door that’s still on there opens perfect and I’m going to move forward with cutting and raising .... once I get my hat channel from Colorado ..... places order on sept 12 ....about 5 weeks ago now... so just trying to stay patiently waiting ... in the mean time I ve been doing other little things ... might lengthen my wiring harness 2 feet also while I’m waiting ...