[Tim]

I did mine 30 x 60 with 16 foot sidewalls. I like to be able to have the engine doors open (I had an XLII) and drop the bumper and still have lots of room to walk around or drag a ladder or tool box either in front or behind.

I did a 14 x 14 door. You can never have too much width in a door opening with our mirrors. Yes, I could get by with less, but if you are building new, why not do it to make it as easy as possible? I also went with a jackshaft operator so I don’t have a trolley over the bus.

Also pay attention to how you are going to get into and out of the barn….leave enough room if you have to turn to get in or out…

I have a 50 amp on each side wall inside, and one on the front outside the overhead door in case I want to plug it in and leave it outside for some reason. A dump station is a plus if you can do it.

[Archived]

Brian,

Think about the steps going into the pit. That will add length to the pit otherwise there will be little wiggle room to either get into the pit or out of it if the total length of the pit is 45′.

[Peter]

Just a few thoughts.

I agree with FFF that you need to really consider entry to the pit. Steps take more room than one might think and could change the length of the barn. At the same time you need to consider the depth and width of the pit. If it is too narrow, you will not be able to reach the edges of your bus. To deep and you will not be able to reach any part of your bus without a ladder. To shallow, and you will not be able to see your bus because you will be bent over. So it partially comes down to your height.

When I built a pit in my garage, I made the depth my height 6′-4″. (not good for someone 5′-4″ but great for me) That way I could reach the bottom of my vehicles without having my arms fully extended. At times I still needed a 9″ step stool to reach some areas. I also made the width 4′-0″. That way I could reach my brake adjusters without crawling half way out of the pit and could still have a buddy down there with me.

I also agree with the angle iron along the top edge of the pit. However, when I built mine, I used a 1 1/2 inch angle iron with one edge level with the floor and the other edge smooth to the pit side wall. Before I poored the floor, I welded 2″ bolts to the peak of the angle iron at 24″ on center. That way when the floor was poored, the angle iron was locked into place for life. At the same time it left a smooth surface for the 2×10 decking that I used to cover the pit. The smooth surface was also very useful when slidiing the 2×10’s back and forth. In addition I built a 2′-0″ x 4′-3″ tray with 4 wheels running in the direction of the 2′-0″ sides. I could load up the tray with all of the tools I may need along with a work light and rolled it down the pit to where I needed it. The one improvement I would make to the tray would be to shorten it up a bit and recess it into the pit 9-12″ because I needed the step stool to find the tool I wanted.

I would also recommend that you plum the pit for both electrical and air. I installed my air about 1/4 the way down the pit at each end with the electrical every 4 feet the entire length of the pit fully recessed in the wall. You could use long hoses and extension cords, but I found that having these services readly available was well worth the effort.

And lastly, I would recommend that you plot out where your jack points will be when your bus is parked and plan to strengthen the floor at these points. You could do that by adding rebar or making the slab thicker or both. Maybe I am just over cautious, but putting that much weight on a bottle jack …….

[Archived]

Bob, you explained exactly what I was trying to say on the angle iron. It makes a stepped lip on the pit. Thank you for ‘splaining it so much better than I did.

I will be adding another bit,as soon as I can find the information, on how to easily light under the coach.

Fred

[Archived]

I have to strongly disagree with a 6 foot, or even 5 foot depth unless all you want to do is drain oil. There are so many things a person has to do that require a long reach up most of the time the depth in excess of 4 feet is going to require a step ladder or platform. With a 6 foot depth you cannot reach the air tank petcocks, or the air dryer cartridge on the mid 90’s XL coaches. You will not be able to reach the upper king pin grease fitting on solid axle coaches or the Norgren valves between the tag and drive axles. Before I started shrinking I was 5’11” so a few inches adjustment for your height may be OK but if the pit is as deep as your height you cannot do a lot of things without some platform or short step ladder.

Just from my experience in trying to wrestle the air dryer cartridge on my 97 coach I know you cannot lock your body to the pit floor to develop enough torque to loosen a stubborn cartridge. There is a huge benefit to keeping your feet on the floor of the pit. Admittedly if you want to walk front to rear under the bus without crouching between wheel wells make it deep, but recognize almost all the work you have to do is in the wheel wells and it is very difficult to do serious work with tools standing on a step stool of platform.

As to the width, similar comments apply. If the pit is too deep you cannot reach hardly anything towards the outside of the coach so you need the pit very wide. The problem with that is if the pit is wider than 2 feet wide you cannot support the chassis because the chassis support points will be over the pit opening. With a wide opening you are compensating for excess depth, losing the ability to carry the chassis on supports to do such things as replace hub seals. You have no chance of replacing air bags unless you can support the chassis. Why support the chassis if you don’t want to do those things? It needs to be supported anytime you are beneath the coach because a lot of the work you might want to do puts your arms or head between pinch points and if an air bag fails you are injured or dead.

Nothing is perfect. A 4 foot pit with a 2 foot width for the average person is the best compromise. You CAN reach everything you need to reach. You will still need a step stool or a platform to do a few things, but for the most part all the work can be done with your feet planted firmly on the floor. Building a pit is an expensvie undertaking so if you have a question about dimensions don’t take my word or anyone else’s for it. Get your bus over as many pits as you can at truck stops. Raise it as high as it will go on the suspension because a lot of the work has to be done with it raised. Then see how much you can or cannot reach. I’ll bet most of the pits are going to be within inches of 48″ deep or 24″ inside width.

[Archived]

Jon, thanks for the counter point.

I built my pit long before I owned a bus and it was primarily used for general undercarriage maintenance on my cars. As my 190SL stands off the floor only 5 inches or so, I did not have near the head room as a bus fully aired up. That also generated the need or a wider pit than you recommend. I also did not have to replace air bags or other considerations you bring up.

Certainly you bring a different set of experiences that we all benefit from and I will defer to you when it comes to Bus specific pits. But I think it important that the discussion takes place as it gives Brian and others who may be contemplating building a pit a more complete view of the things to consider.

[Chris]

Bob, I will say up front there is no perfect pit. No matter the size there is always going to be a need for more height clearance, or a need to get up higher relative to the coach. The same goes for the width.

But as a guy that has done almost all my own work, including routine maintenance now for going on 16 years with my pit I can speak to certain needs. To me the most critical is to insure the width does not compromise the ability to support the coach at the chassis support points. If you go wider than 2 feet with a pit you end up with little or no room for stands or jacks, or some type of support.

Depending on the use of the pit there is likely to come a time when the entire bus is carried solely on the chassis support points and if that is not possible it eliminates a large number of tasks that can be performed.

I hate banging my head on the underside of the bus. It hurts. But if I increase the depth to a substantial amount greater than my 4 foot depth then I am forced to use a platform or short step ladder when doing even routine maintenance. I would not be able to reach the upper king pin fittings on your coach for example. At 4 feet I can just reach them. I could make the pit wider, but then we get back to the chassis support issue.

I believe your air dryer can be serviced because it is serviced by removing three screws and a snap ring from the bottom, but on later model coaches the replaceable cartridge is up high, difficult to reach, and worse it requires a lot of torque to spin the cartridge off. You cannot get the leverage needed unless your feet are planted on the floor and your hips are tight against the pit walls to keep you from spinning on the floor. I understand however a tall person has to take his height into consideration.

Thanks for bringing up the topic of dimensions because for the folks planning a pit they do need to consider all the issues, including what they want to accomplish.

[tom]

Here is a great idea for lighting under the coach when it is over the pit. You will need to use a concrete saw to cut grooves along the length of the pit on each side. Install these LED strip holders in the grooves and place the High Intensity LED strips inside, then snap the clear covers on to keep dirt and grime out.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/housings/

LEDs strips to install in these channels are each 16 feet long and, while a little expensive, give 1700 lumens of super white 5000k light and are water proof. Kits come complete with the transformers and IR controls.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/universal-led-strip-kits/universal-waterproof-led-light-strip-full-kits-led-tape-light-with-9-smdsft-3-chip-white-smd-led-5050/2580/

Just doing what I can to help you spend your money…

Triple F

[Archived]

TF…nice message presentation. I’am recommmending your pay check, vacation time, personal holidays be increased.

[Fred F.]

Thanks Al. The one thing I was lied to about was retirement. Since I retired, I have not received a single week end off, no vacation, no holidays off, no overtime pay…NOTHING. Retirement ain’t what it is cracked up to be. I seem to have lost all of my benifits and still wake up between 5:30 and 6 every morning. Like my old buddy John Wayne said..”Life is tough, and it is even tougher when you are stupid.” And that ‘splains why my life is so very tuff.

Wishing you Smooth Sailing and a wind at your back.

3-F

[Chris]

Here’s a case where we can be very generous.

We can double TF’s time off, vacation time, overtime pay, etc. Aren’t we great? To show our heart is in the right place we will reduce your dues by 50%.

[Reagan]

Darn, you did all of this for me on a Saturday and the Banks don’t open until Monday!

Thanks!

Fred