My Regency manual calls for safety jack stands when working under the coach, heavy enough to support the frame. Question is what is heavy duty enough and what type are adequate? The entire coach was weighed and was 38,000 lbs. I have seen blogs that say "block" the frame. I don't think wood, bricks or typical auto ratcheting type jacks are what they mean. Any advice?

quote:

Originally posted by Tom K:
I have seen blogs that say "block" the frame. I don't think wood, bricks or typical auto ratcheting type jacks are what they mean. Any advice?

The use of bricks will cause issues as these can crumble or break in half. The typical auto ratcheting type jacks are not safe under a bus/truck chassis. Stay away from these...

We carry blocks of Oak Wood on our service trucks and these work quite well.

Pressure-treated wood is also quite dense (It's yellow pine).

Just around the corner, at a junk yard, there is a car that is jacked up Tennessee style. It sits on four stacks of tires, each stack four tires high. I'll try to get a picture.

Old railroad crossties make wonderful ramps. (Chainsaw needed) and also support blocks

quote:

Originally posted by Bill N.Y.:
The typical auto ratcheting type jacks are not safe under a bus/truck chassis. Stay away from these...

Do not trust your life to Chinese metallurgy or quality control.

quote:

We carry blocks of Oak Wood on our service trucks and these work quite well.

Yup.

In the Army, jackstands were not trusted in any shop or hangar. This was way before Chinese jackstands. Nor were ramps allowed. We used only what was called cribbing. This was (I think I recall) four-by hardwood stacked 90 degrees each layer. I think they were only a couple of feet long. Maybe three. And, the vehicle had to be level. No just lifting one end.

It was actually a violation to work under your own car up on jacks.

The following is my posting on this same subject. Note my solution at the end. Please take note of the discussion, there are many good points in it.My Jack Stand Posting

These stands were very heavy duty, and we were only doing radiator duty so the wheels still would have caught the coach before it squashed anybody. You can't see it in the pic but the rear wheels WERE chocked.