[GMCnet] Jacking the GMC up
Michael
You blow a tire on the road.... whats the best way to jack up the gmc? As far as what type of jack is best, and where is best to use it on the vehicle?
--
***"Gettin There"-1973 23' Sequoia-
Michael, Casa Grande, AZ
_______________________________________________
GMCnet mailing list
Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
David H. Jarvis
Front or rear?
--
"I've always been crazy, but it kept me from going insane"
Michael
Both- I haven't blown any tire yet but want to be prepared.
Craig Lechowicz
For the rear, the jack hooks that are available at several places (Jim K, Ragusa, I think a few others) that hook into the bogie and use a bottle jack is probably easiest. I think Jim K sells one that can be used both on the rear bogies and under a front control arm. Unfortunately, I got my Ragusa one before I knew that. I've picked up a couple of those surplus 2-stage Ford truck bottle jacks that might go low enough to get under the front end with a flat tire, but I really need to try it. I still carry the old original GMC jack with me, just in case it doesn't, but I hear it is hard on bumpers.
--
Craig Lechowicz
'77 Kingsley, Waterford, MI
Ken Burton
Get a short stubby 2 stage hydraulic jack and a jack hook. (Jim K and other have them. Use the jack hook and hydraulic jack for the rears. Use just the hydraulic jack under the lower A-frame near the ball joint for the front.
If jacking the rear, do not forget to deflate the air bag after you have raised the coach a little and have some of the weight of the coach on the jack. You do not want to over compress the shock by jacking the coach too high with air pressure on the bag.
Break the lug nuts loose 1/2 turn before you start jacking up the coach.
--
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana
Jim Kanomata
We also stock the squaty hydraulic jack.
We warranty the Jack for at least 3 years.
Suggest you use the jack few times to break it in and see that it works well.
--
Jim Kanomata
Applied/GMC, Fremont,CA
ji...@appliedairfilters.com
http://www.appliedgmc.com
1-800-752-7502
Randy
I carry a floor jack. Versatile and keeps you out from under the coach while you're jacking. If you see the jack start to roll, you know you're not chocked sufficiently. With a bottle jack, I'd be afraid of finding out the hard way.
--
Randy
1973 26' Painted Desert
Ahwatukee (Phoenix) AZ
Please check out www.greatcommissionair.org and help support if possible
mickey's space ship shuttle
a good floor jack will also when your rear end hits the ground on some steep hill
and the rear wheels come of the ground you can put the jack under the rear and get
it unstuck, with front wheel drive it is not so bad but rear wheel it really saves you some times.
It is heavy but it is safer as you say. good night iren. etc.
Randy
At Discount Tire I briefed one kid on how and where to jack, then another kid shows up. "Are you going to be the one jacking up my motorhome?" I ask. "Yeah" So I brief him. Then a third comes by ready to jack under the generator. "No, wait! Are YOU going to be the one jacking up my motorhome?" "Yeah"
Are you beginning to see where this is going?
Eventually 6 separate people were told to jack between the rear wheels and jack in the center of the front crossmember and the kid who eventually did it jacked the whole coach up with 4 jacks at once and did a very good job.
The windshield lived to tell the tale!
--
Randy
1973 26' Painted Desert
Ahwatukee (Phoenix) AZ
Please check out www.greatcommissionair.org and help support if possible
gene Fisher
http://gmcmotorhome.info/rear.html#RAISING
gene
--
Gene Fisher -- 74-23,77PB/ore/ca
“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today --- give him a URL and
-------
http://gmcmotorhome.info/
Alternator Protection Cable
http://gmcmotorhome.info/APC.html
Matt Colie
Mr.RadioActive wrote on Fri, 27 January 2012 23:15
> You blow a tire on the road.... whats the best way to jack up the gmc? As far as what type of jack is best, and where is best to use it on the vehicle?
I passed you the link to the owner's manual and discussed this a little in Swap Meet.
Matt
--
Matt & Mary Colie
'73 Glacier 23 Chaumière (say show-me-air) Just about as stock as you will find
SE Michigan - Twixt A2 and Detroit
Rob Mueller
FYI
http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/showgallery.php?cat=5846
The Ford jacks come up on eBay now and then and John Robinson sells them at GMCMI Conventions now and then.
Google Torin Bottle Jacks and you'll find vendors.
It's also a good idea to get bogie hooks that hook into the square opening on the bottom of the bogies. JimK and others sell them.
If you do decide to put the bottle jack under the frame it's a good idea to have a piece of 3/8" thick x 2" wide x ??" long (you
decide) steel to put between the frame and the jack to spread the load or you WILL bend the frame. I have had success putting bottle
jacks where the front and or rear sections bolt to the rails and it's doubled up.
Regards,
Rob M.
-----Original Message-----
From: Michael
You blow a tire on the road.... whats the best way to jack up the gmc? As far as what type of jack is best, and where is best to use
it on the vehicle?
--
Michael,
Galen Briggs
Speaking of the FORD dual stage jack, does anyone know off hand what years/models of trucks this jack was used on? Need to run by the salvage yards anyway, and I could use one or two of those beyond the use of the GMC, if they aren't too obscure. Thanks.
--
Galen Briggs
New Virginia, Iowa
1978 Palm Beach
Mike Miller
Ken Burton wrote on Fri, 27 January 2012 22:06
> ...
> If jacking the rear, do not forget to deflate the air bag after you have raised the coach a little and have some of the weight of the coach on the jack. You do not want to over compress the shock by jacking the coach too high with air pressure on the bag. ...
You can to this "automagically" by leaving the system in travel.
As the coach is raised by the jacks, the system releases air from the bag attempting to lower the coach back to ride height. With enough time, it will fully deflate the bags.
When the coach is lowered it will go all the way down then the system will pump up the bags and lift the coach off the jacks. The power level will do the first part with no power but will need power, or compressed air, to raise off the jacks. The EL systems would need to be left in accessory to power the system.
--
Mike Miller -- Hillsboro, OR -- on the Black list
(#1)'73 26' exPainted D. -- (#2)`78 23' Birchaven Rear Bath -- (#3)`77 23' Birchaven Side Bath
http://m000035.blogspot.com
Rob Mueller
Brilliant!
I checked the 1976 Operating Manual I have to see if GMC instructions include this but nope. The reason I did that was because the
fact that the system did this might have been one of the reasons they installed the automatic leveling system.
Yeah, I know, pretty lame reason but it might have been considered.
Regards,
Rob M.
-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Miller
You can to this "automagically" by leaving the system in travel.
As the coach is raised by the jacks, the system releases air from the bag attempting to lower the coach back to ride height. With
enough time, it will fully deflate the bags.
When the coach is lowered it will go all the way down then the system will pump up the bags and lift the coach off the jacks. The
power level will do the first part with no power but will need power, or compressed air, to raise off the jacks. The EL systems
would need to be left in accessory to power the system.
--
Mike
_______________________________________________
Rob Mueller
In my album on the Photosite included all the numbers cast into the Ford jack:
DE3WB
and
6C34-17080-BA
I did a Google search for the second number and these popped up:
Item: 140616796645
Item: 260876659589
http://www.ebay.com/itm/260876659589?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%3A80%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_from%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dm570.l2736%26_nkw%3D
260876659589%26_fvi%3D1&_rdc=1
Item: 380404035452
http://www.ebay.com/itm/FORD-SUPERDUTY-4-TON-BOTTLE-JACK-HANDLES-OEM-/380404035452?_trksid=p4340.m185&_trkparms=algo%3DSIC.NPJS%26it
s%3DI%26itu%3DUA%26otn%3D5%26pmod%3D260876659589%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D5938321338060431602
One of these mentions the year of the truck that the jack came from; whether it's correct or not that's another question! ;-)
Regards,
Rob M.
-----Original Message-----
From: Galen Briggs
Speaking of the FORD dual stage jack, does anyone know off hand what years/models of trucks this jack was used on? Need to run by
the salvage yards anyway, and I could use one or two of those beyond the use of the GMC, if they aren't too obscure. Thanks.
Galen
Michael
I notice the bottle jacks can be VERY expensive. The one Jim K sells is only $40, but then I have to buy a jack hook and its $80. Is there any advantage to go any other way. The one he sells looks compact and its not all that expensive. $80 for the hook is rough on the wallet at the moment however.
Michael
I wanted to thank everyone so far for the help. The links were nice. There was only one linK i wanted more info. I couldn't find the pic of where the hook actually goes. There was TONs of pics there. The more I'm checking into this a stubby jack maybe the best way to go.
Ken Henderson
tall (1 ton), could be fitted under the frame to raise the body (& bogie)
high enough to get the jack hook into position and high enough for a REAL
jack (6 ton) to fit and do the heavy lifting. I could be mistaken, but I
don't think all jack hooks can be used until the body's raised from
full-flat. Maybe I failed to raise the suspension to full UP?
If you don't carry a VERY short jack, you should test before travelling.
Ken H.
Ken Burton
Ken Burton wrote on Sat, 28 January 2012 00:06
> Get a short stubby 2 stage hydraulic jack and a jack hook. (Jim K and other have them. Use the jack hook and hydraulic jack for the rears. Use just the hydraulic jack under the lower A-frame near the ball joint for the front.
>
> If jacking the rear, do not forget to deflate the air bag after you have raised the coach a little and have some of the weight of the coach on the jack. You do not want to over compress the shock by jacking the coach too high with air pressure on the bag.
>
> Break the lug nuts loose 1/2 turn before you start jacking up the coach.
The reason I suggested this combination is it is fairly small to carry, will do the job in an emergency, and you will probably never need it. So why carry more than necessary? I also carry the correct size 3/4" drive socket on a long breaker bar to get the lug nuts loose. I have never blown a tire but I did change one on the road once because it was wearing funny and I was starting to hear it. The hardest part was getting those heavy tires off and back on the rear tire carrier. It took about 15 minutes total to swap the old and new wheels/tires. I do check my air pressures all the way around before I leave on a trip and I check the tire temps with my hand on every stop.
I subscribe to the Michelin recommended 10 year tire replacement schedule for RVs and I rotate them on the same side every 3 years. I also inspect them thoroughly every spring prior to my first trip. It only take a few minutes to jack them up and spin them to see both the inside and outsides of all tires.
One last comment on deflating the air bags. After jacking the coach slightly, I set the height control switches to lower and then disconnect the hose at the bags. Then the rear tires do not have to be completely off of the ground to remove one of them. You can get the wheels off with the bogie hanging and you can place the replacement wheel back on by catching it on only one lug bolt and rotating the tire. Or after removing the wheel, you can lift the bogie arm by hand to the desired level and insert a piece of metal or a wedge in the bogie to keep it from dropping again. I have the metal pieces to do this but I never use them.
Mike Miller
Ken Burton wrote on Sat, 28 January 2012 22:37
> ... After jacking the coach slightly, I set the height control switches to lower and then disconnect the hose at the bags. Then the rear tires do not have to be completely off of the ground to remove one of them. You can get the wheels off with the bogie hanging and you can place the replacement wheel back on by catching it on only one lug bolt and rotating the tire. Or after removing the wheel, you can lift the bogie arm by hand to the desired level and insert a piece of metal or a wedge in the bogie to keep it from dropping again. I have the metal pieces to do this but I never use them.
Interesting.
I often will raise the coach up by the air bags and block the coach up at the boogie mount. Then let the air out then jack only the wheel and single boogie arm to remove the tire/wheel after putting "the wedge" in.
I never tried to remove the wheel without jacking the wheel first. 1. How much man handling does this take? 2. Does disconnecting the air line make that much difference?
--
Mike Miller -- Hillsboro, OR -- on the Black list
(#1)'73 26' exPainted D. -- (#2)`78 23' Birchaven Rear Bath -- (#3)`77 23' Birchaven Side Bath
http://m000035.blogspot.com
Michael
My air system is disconnected. I'm hoping one day to get wireless air. I wish I could get someone it install it for me, since I always have so much stuff to do, its never ending.
Ken Burton
Disconnecting the air line allows movement of the bogie up or down without and influence of the air in the bag. Since I am already working in that area anyway it is a simple task. Spin the nut and pull the hose.
This is just another simple way of getting the task done.
--
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana