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Christmas in July (almost)
Finally time to start the brake chambers and norgens. I was too cheap to take Jon’s advise and puta pit in my barn, so I made this set of ramps and then had a set of stands made per Jon’s instructions.
Now the fun begins. Jon’s post not long ago about the stiffness of the Prevost “Frame” was right on. The bus is actually sitting on 3 of the stands, two in the back and only one in the front. The right front is about 1/8 inch above the stand.
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8 Replies
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For 10 years I worked on my bus in a barn and supported it with wood blocking. So for those who think a pit is a requirement, it is not.
As Joe will find out, once he gets into the area between the wheels he can sit up and do just about anything he needs to do. I changed brake chambers, air bags, Norgrens, hoses, oil and filters, lubed the coach, etc. all without the benefit of a pit.
A pit has two advantages. The first is mobility. It is a lot easier to move around beneath the coach if you work from a pit, but if time is not a big factor that hardly justifies the expense of a pit. The second benefit however is it gives you leverage when working on things that require a lot of force. My air dryer with the spin on cartridge required a lot of torque to loosen it to spin if off. Without the pit my butt would have been sliding around on the floor. Having the pit enabled me to wedge my feet and knees against the sides of the pit so I would put the necessary force to loosen the cartridge.
From a safety point of view there are times when a pit is going to be safer, but a lot of the time when working from the pit you still place yourself or your limbs in a pinch point so like Joe I always support the chassis. Always.
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Looks good! Could you summarize the specs of the blocks and stands, please?
Are all wheels up on the blocks or just the front/rear as needed?
Thanks, Gerald
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I can answer that from my perspective, Gerald.
It is not necessary to raise the whole coach. In fact there are benefits to raising each end independently. Leave the front down and drive the rear up on ramps anf you tip the oil pan more forward and you actually get a little more elevation at the extreme rear. That’s a good thing. Same with the front.
The only time it is nice to have the entire coach up is if you are lubing it. You have grease fittings at the steer and the drive and tag axles, and you really don’t want to get greasy lubing one end, and then have to get in the seat to reposition the coach to grease the other end. Other than that I see no need or distinct benefit from driving both axles up on ramps at the same time.
BTW, having ramps means the chassis supports have to be able to compensate for one end higher than the other or maybe both raised at the same time. In my mind there is nothing more important than being absolutely certain the chassis is supported and there is no risk of it coming down.
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Jon, thanks!
How high do you make the chassis stands? What size square tubing? I may have to try out that new welder.
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The stands are 4 inch square bar with 3/16 wall thickness. The top and bottom plate are 3/8. You will have to measure the height once in your “working” position. front and rear will differ. I measured at normal ride height and took about 1/2 inch off. When on the ramps and supported by the stands, I can go from one end to the other on a creeper and have about 6 inches top clearance.
Made were made by a local fabricator using remnants so only about $32 each.
Jon’s plans call for a handle which I did not add as I hope to use them once a year not post each trip.
The ramps are 2×8 on edge bolted with 1/2″ carriage bolts about 2″ from the top and bottom edge. The front ramp is 6 boards wide x 8 ft long. The rear ramp is 7 boards wide x 10 ft long to get both tag and drive on the flat. The tamper is 36 inches.
The rear ramp is not wide enough to get both the inner and outer drive tire fully on the ramp. With the tag tire centered the inner and outer are about half on the ramp. I will likely go back and add a 4 or 5 spacers. The spacers will not be full length as these are very heavy, two man operation to move already.
As Jon said I could have gone for one end at a time but decided I wanted it level when working on it.
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Joe, thank you! Just what I needed
Gerald
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“The rear ramp is not wide enough to get both the inner and outer drive tire fully on the ramp. With the tag tire centered the inner and outer are about half on the ramp. I will likely go back and add a 4 or 5 spacers. The spacers will not be full length as these are very heavy, two man operation to move already.”
Could the spacers be aluminum bushings? Lighter. Once everything is squeezed together, nothing should move.
Thoughts.
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The spacers could be PVC plastic because there is not much if any load on them unless you are not on level ground.
Why not just make spacers out of about 2X2 inch pieces of plywood and just glue the entire stack together. That will be plenty strong especially if the through bolts are something like 5/8 ready rod.
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