lite weight/low cost leveling jacks?

eric1514 wrote:


True, but it seems that a leveling system using manually pumped bottle jacks would be inexpensive and popular for smaller RVs. Harbor Freight sells 20 ton bottle jacks for $40. 4 of those, modified for quick extension and frame mountable, and you have a leveling system for under $500. I'd buy one 'cuz I'm too unskilled to make one and too cheap to pay $3000 for an automatic version.

I think you idea is one of those which sounds simple on the onset, but as you think about more of the details, the complexity & expense grows.

First of all, those 20 ton bottle jacks only have about a 7" hydraulic travel, there is a screw adjustment on the top of about 3". So, the fundamental problem is that I don't think there is enough travel in those jacks for this application. I have jacks similar to those, and they jack up SLOW because of their high weight rating. For a lighter RV, 10 ton jacks would be sufficient, and probably raise quicker. By the way, for about $80 Harbor Freight sells jacks which can be operated under air pressure, which would be easier to implement, providing one has an ample air compressor.

Other issues: I think most of those jacks rely on gravity/weight of the load to retract. A spring could be added, but that adds to the complexity and expense. A larger foot would have to be added as well.

Then a heavy duty bracket has to be fabricated to mount to the jack, and then to the RV. All of this should be rated to handle strength of the jack, which means some pretty heavy stuff.


As luck would have it, I'm currently doing some repair work on one of my hydraulic jacks on my class A and I lifted the rig with the bottle jacks. There is something a bit unnerving (to me) lifting this much vehicle with $40 jacks. LOL I took consolation knowing that even if the jacks failed and the RV fell, I had sufficient clearance so I wouldn't get squished. Probably not true on a Class C. And I was on a solid concrete pad, I don't think I'd want to do the same on an unlevel dirt/gravel pad. Too scary. (Yes, once the rig was lifted I put it on jack stands.)

The idea would make an interesting project for someone good with metal fabrication, but probably too much work and cost for a mass-produced product. But I think for most people, it would be more of a pain in the neck to extend/retract the jacks (one at a time) then to just drive up/down on blocks.

I'd be interested in hearing if anyone did actually try this, though, to see what their experience was.

~Rick

eric1514 wrote:

Westronics wrote:
I use four permanently mounted BAL scissor jacks. Works great. You can level the rig - but never, ever, lift a tire off the ground with them. They do not have enough lateral stability for that (yes, I do have first-hand experience with that!).

Boy, some pics and more details of that would be welcome.

I assume you're shifting the body around on the suspension since you're leaving the wheels on the ground. How much travel do you think you get? Do you use blocks under the jacks to minimize cranking?

Inquiring minds want to know,
Eric

No Pics - I don't have the rig any more. However, I can still answer a couple of questions:

I got probably over six inches of travel without lifting a tire off the ground. I could level the rig quite well. Yes, I used blocks under the jacks - especially in the front where they were higher off the ground. The rear is much heavier and harder to lift, so I always tried to park slightly nose down if I had a choice.

I used a 24-volt drill with a 3/4" socket to make fast work of running the jacks up and down. All-in-all, a pretty fair solution for a pretty low price.

P.S. My only RV is now a 1977 Rawson 30PH.

My rig came with stabilizer jacks in the rear bumper. For the front, I use a pair of bottle jacks on hefty wood blocks for more stability. I jack up at the frame, so that I'm taking some weight off the suspension (takes out the bounce.)

As suggested earlier, this is primarily for stabilization. I level as much as possible before-hand with blocks.

This solution works pretty well for us, but I think it looks a tad janky, and I would also love to move to a crank stabilizer system in the nose.

Yeah where is the Moderator when we need him.....:@

Thanks for all the advice, also waiting for BAL jack info. Come on Westronics!!

Yeah, I would be interested in more info as well...:)

I'll second that request. Please.
John

Westronics wrote:
I use four permanently mounted BAL scissor jacks. Works great. You can level the rig - but never, ever, lift a tire off the ground with them. They do not have enough lateral stability for that (yes, I do have first-hand experience with that!).

Boy, some pics and more details of that would be welcome.

I assume you're shifting the body around on the suspension since you're leaving the wheels on the ground. How much travel do you think you get? Do you use blocks under the jacks to minimize cranking?

Inquiring minds want to know,
Eric

I use four permanently mounted BAL scissor jacks. Works great. You can level the rig - but never, ever, lift a tire off the ground with them. They do not have enough lateral stability for that (yes, I do have first-hand experience with that!).

I was wondering the same thing, can someone elaborate a little more on how you'd use the bottle jacks as stabilizers/levelers? Like what old you need in addition to the jacks and where would you stick them under the motorhome? Newbie here, never stuck a jack or anything under a motorhome. So the more basic the explanation the better, lol.