Lifting points and jack placement

[Gary Darby]

Hello from Sandy and Gary,

We want to first thank BAC for allowing us to join this wonderful group of Beaver owners. We have a 2008 Beaver Patriot Thunder Concord IV.  It’s time to change all 10 air bags and shocks. We also are going to do PM service on the C-13 and Allison 4000 transmission, along with a PM on the Onan 10000w diesel generator. This Bus is on a Roadmaster S-Series chassis.

We need help with lifting points and jack placement to begin the process. That’s the first step we need assistance with. Second, is it possible to have the Bus sitting on six 22-ton jack stands and all tires/rims removed?

Thank everyone for replies
Gary & Sandy

[Carl Boger]

You can put jacks pretty much anywhere under the frame,  I usually put them near the cross members or near the hydraulic jacks.  I also usually put bottle jacks between the upper and lower frames to take the weight off the air bags and still leave room to work in that area safely.

On my coach I can put blocks under the jacks and lift the MH off the ground.  I have never put it on jack stands using bottle jacks instead, but I see no reason you could not lift it high enough to put jack stands in place.  It may be tough to get 6 jack stands level with the frame so maybe 4 jack stands and 2 bottle jacks.  Once the tires are off the ground you can take the tires off and service it however you want.

[Zeb Severson]

Just a thought, because I am not sure how much suspension travel you have and how much room you feel you need to work, but you might consider how much you need to raise the frame. For example, if you jack up the frame with the air bags at ride height or higher it will be pretty high in the air. From what I understand you still need to jack up the suspension H frame to match the height of the bags un-inflated so the mounting points are the same distance away.

[Gary Darby]

You can put jacks pretty much anywhere under the frame,  I usually put them near the cross members or near the hydraulic jacks.  I also usually put bottle jacks between the upper and lower frames to take the weight off the air bags and still leave room to work in that area safely.

On my coach I can put blocks under the jacks and lift the MH off the ground.  I have never put it on jack stands using bottle jacks instead, but I see no reason you could not lift it high enough to put jack stands in place.  It may be tough to get 6 jack stands level with the frame so maybe 4 jack stands and 2 bottle jacks.  Once the tires are off the ground you can take the tires off and service it however you want.

We don't have hydraulic jacks on this Bus, it's all air glide and leveling type system.

[Carl Boger]

I that case on the frame behind the rear tires, and on the frame either behind or in front of the front tires depending on how the frame looks ie which looks stronger.  The frame on these coaches are pretty robust, especially compared to newer coaches.

[Gary Darby]

This is the current setup in the image. We’re waiting on the parts.