So after a year finally came across a affordable lifting air bag. $230 delivered, Ebay. Usually much more. 15 ton capacity with a 9" lift capacity. Will carry a assortment of plywood to space as needed. Weighs under 12 lbs. will add a six foot extension hose with a bleed hole and a shut off ball valve. Merry Xmas for the coach. Will fit under the front axle with a flat tire. Mike thanks for the great idea!
Scott
Cool tool:
https://youtu.be/t35wO6hToyc
I carry a more primitive version of this in our FJ Cruiser for off-roading. It attaches to the exhaust.
Saved our butt! Or could have. I hit a rock on a very rough trail, and put a big hole in the side of our front tire. We jacked it up with the supplied jack, and the car fell on top of the jack! We used the air bladder jack to lift it up again and change the tire. I was surprised how stable and easy to use it was. That jack you got would be even better!
Second part of the story... We got the spare on, and it lasted TWO-TENTHS of a mile. The tire was never used, but was ten years old. Everything but the sidewalls gone. Learned my lesson well after several miles on a very rough road riding on the rim, and the purchase of two tires and a replacement rim.
I have lifted the front of the FT with a big bottle jack. Works OK, but pretty scary!
Wow lifts Toyota counterbalance with 30 psi. Should work great for the coach. Gathering a assortment of plywood blocks to use to shim up . Very happy with the new tool. Made up a short service hose with shut off so you don't go under coach while using, EVER.
What are you using as an air source Scott? Looked those up and it looks like they normally run them off a pressurized tank of some kind, with the regulator set at 200psi. Did you get the check valve setup with it, so it can release on it's own?
Scott,
Once you have to lift a coach that is on the rim with that air lift bag you will be glad you have it. Using it just once will justify the cost. Now I have to tell you that with you being a tinkering kind of fellow you will find all kind of uses for that.
Mike
Wish I'd had a couple of those 22 years ago. I lifted the back of a 50 ft boat high enough to change out drive boots on twin mercruisers with two log skidder inter tubes . They kept wanting to shoot out the sides just about the time it was beginning to lift the boat but a friend and myself finally got them snug enough with nylon rope. Took a little diving under the boat to get situated but the end result was positive. The physics of it is amazing. The store bought unit on dry land should move some metal.
Got a link Scott?
Just coach air. Rated 122 psi 15 ton. Installing a six foot lead hose with air control valve, and will probably install a #80 restriction hole to slow down going up and coming down. Doesn't have all the secondary locks but I'm also not putting personal under it. Thank you again Mike for the great idea, and your right the secondary uses are endless.
Scott
MaxiForce KPI- 17 Air Lifting Bag | eBay (https://www.ebay.com/itm/194595173739?hash=item2d4ec6b56b:g:71MAAOSwa4dhsVBj)
So I've been watching for a affordable one for like a year. They do come up but generally most sellers are too hi. They are used by the fire department and they are certified for ten years I believe. Just means that you should be using with personal under them. They do need to stay out of the sunlight to reduce us damage probably. I would buy one that shows lots of use in wear also. I paid $230 delivered. Check with your local fire department for timed out ones. Be worth a Franklin for sure
Scott you are costing me a fortune trying to keep up with you. Just bought this one.
Paratech MAXIFORCE Air Lift Bag Pad KPI-10, 11.4Tons Capacity 12" X 18" | eBay (https://www.ebay.com/itm/324950488346)
DW is saying the same. I guess I'm a expensive date
Thanks Scott. One question I have ben wondering is how do you change a tire on these, besides calling Coachnet or similar. Would you use this for that? If so, would you fee comfortable potentially crawling underneath it with this holding it? Or did I miss what your use case is?
Not Scott but I did have something to do with him spending $
1. Proper size socket 1 1/2"x 3/4" drive, torque multiplier, brake over bar
2. Yes If the front tire has a blow out or get cut down and you are on the rim this will slide under the axle and get it up off the ground. As it can be difficult to get most any jack under the axle due to it being too tall.
3. NO
Mike
The 2000 models take a 1 5/16" socket.
Well I sure wish you had said that a couple minutes earlier, I just Hiked to the coach got out my wheel socket thinking I was losing my mind and verified it was 1 5/16, even double checked it was the a good fit on the coach. LOL
Scott
I dont get under anything without mechanical stands in place. Unless its a matter of life and death IMO
Interesting I have been using 33mm which is a perfect fit, so I guess 1 5/16th and
33mm is the same size.
Coaches with Budd wheels the nuts are 1 1/2. The rear is both 1 1/2 and square socket.
The coaches with hub centered wheels (metric) use the 1 5/16 (1.312) or the 33mm (1.299) socket.
I should have also added a torque wrench for tightening the lug nuts on reassembly.
Mike
Spend a month at his place Chuck! The dollars were flying! lol
Scott is the man and his knowledge and expertise are beyond most out there, especially me! So proud to have met both Scott and Kim and consider them wonderful caring people who go above and beyond to help a friend in need! I know I said this before, but thank you , thank you to Scott and Kim for rolling out the red carpet for me and your great assistants in repairs!
Ha Ha Ha hardly. I think your looking at this from a different perspective. Look at all the money you saved and the preventive maintenance costs will all be lost because it won't be counted because it will now will never be spent. So sure you spent some money but saved tons getting ahead of problems. The squirrel in the air filter was a first, I always worried about dust and bugs.
So 1.312-1.299= .013
You would hardly think that 13 thousands would make much of a difference. Since day one I felt the 1 5/16 seemed loose but just never imagined it could of been metric. Actually complained about how loud the impact was knowing the noise was coming from the socket. I actually had purchased the SAE socket since all mine were limited to sets at smaller sizes. Guess ill be watching eBay till I find what I want, snap on 33m semi deep 3/4 drive six point impact. Please dont tell DW I'm looking for more tools! LOL
Scott
Tractor supply has some decent quality bigger sockets,not Snap-on quality but good.If at "Q" check the flea markets.
With this thread kind of drifting now would be a good time to remind owners that Metric wheels (hub centered) the lug nuts are righty tighyt lefty loosey. Where if you have Budd wheels (stud centered) the left side studs are left hand threads and the right hand side are right hand threads. So don't strip/break/ruin the left side studs and lug nuts by going the wrong direction to remove the lug nuts.
Mike
I have a torque multiplier for anything that requires a lot of force but bought a 300lb torque wrench and use it with Mariner's Choice Never Seez for a 41% (or better) torque reduction. So, I use a tiny 1/4" battery impact to run the nuts down and then torque our U300 wheel nuts to 300 lbs. Never Seize Mariner's Choice Anti-Seize (https://neverseizeproducts.com/mariners-choice/) Eliminates the chance of galling and rust/corrosion is prevented.
For those who don't believe, you can install tell tale arrows over the nut and optionally under the nut cap if you have one.
wheel nut indicator | eBay (https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_nkw=wheel+nut+indicator&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_odkw=class+8+big+rig+wheel+nut+arrows&_osacat=0)
Pierce
3/4" Drive Metric Deep Impact Sockets 33mm Hex (2.2" deep) (JQ-5633-34) | eBay (https://www.ebay.com/itm/223970218455?hash=item3425aa51d7:g:BlYAAOSw8AJefNAo)
$15 delivered to your doorstep. I have a bunch of no name impact sockets and have never had one fail, but they stay home. If I'm down line failing tools is unacceptable to me. Too many years on the road. Biased. I think I'm probably the only person going to Q with no desire to go to the vender's (this year)
I have found that with impact sockets it doesn't matter if they are a name brand or cheap
sockets they both seemed to me to wear the same.
Never Seez with it's lower torque requirement and anti rust properties is a reason to never have to use an impact wrench. Just a 300 lb max torque wrench. The bar on it is plenty long that anyone can easily loosen the lug nuts. No wear on the socket!
Big rule here is to never let a tire shop tighten your lug nuts.
Pierce
Pierce, are you saying that by using Never Seez we can legitimately reduce the wheel stud torque from 450 to 300 lb.ft. with no risk of lug nuts loosening up over time?
If you use never-seez you need to lower the torque setting or you will over torque
the nuts.
Remember Pierce has the bigger studs and nuts known as Budd wheels and you have the smaller metric hub center wheels.
Correct! As I posted above, you reduce the torque by 41% so if you wanted to torque to 470 lbs, you would only have to torque to 282 ft/lbs or for 500 lbs, you would only have to torque to 295 ft/lbs. A dab of Mariner's Choice on both the threads and nuts reduces the torque requirement a little further.
Yes, different sized wheels/studs may have different torque requirements. Go to the Alcoa site for your wheel's torque requirements and nut size. I used an example for our U300. You also need to check to see if you have left hand threads on the driver's side of your coach. I just bought an old log splitter where the seller tried to remove one of the wheels. He broke off one stud as he never checked the thread direction.
I bought ours from one of these on ebay's site: 300 ft lb torque wrench | eBay (https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313&_nkw=300+ft+lb+torque+wrench&_sacat=0)
Pierce
IMO deviating from the manufacture recommendations is unrepresentable in front of a judge. DWMYH, but. installing per recommendations and torquing with approved tools closes the liability door. If these were approved practices the manufacture would include and recommend them and alter their written recommendations. I'm not saying your wrong or that it may work, just not approved. Thus not approved for me. Again IMO That said NeverSieze makes outstanding products! 👍👍
Scott
I love NeverSieze too just not on my wheel studs.
Tools needed to change tires (https://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=43081.msg433095#msg433095)
Probably the reasons NeverSeez is not in all the manuals is:
Quite a few different brands and quite a few types within the different manufacturers. All with different percentages of torque reduction. Lots of liability issues because of this. Mariner's Choice is the one I use and has a stated torque reduction of 41 percent. Any anti seize/NeverSeez of different brands will have a different torque reduction and could be dangerous if undertorqued. See the brand here: Never Seize Mariner's Choice Anti-Seize (https://neverseizeproducts.com/mariners-choice/)
A 300# torque wrench is not high enough for our coach with compounds with less than the 41% reduction.
The none of the compounds are designed to be put on the mating surfaces, only the threads. Another reason for not being recommended by the manufacturer. People don't read the directions.
Again, the nut position indicators are an excellent way of telling if a nut is coming loose. Cheap and instant installation.
Pierce
Mike, please tell me this one more time like I am a 4 year old. I recall my 94 GV was diffrent "not lefty loose" & I forgot what my 03 is. I purchased new tires end of 2017 and I think 03 was ....... I forgot :-(
Al,
If I remember correctly your old coach (225) had 6 lugs/studs pre wheel. It has been a long time sense I worked on one of those and I am not sure if the left side has left hand threads but I think that they are left hand threads. Hope someone with a 225/240 will chime in for sure.
Your '03 Grand Villa will have hub centered wheels which will be right hand threads all around (both sides) The 33mm socket is what will fit yours.
Mike
Our 1993 U300 has left threads on the driver's side. Pretty easy to look at the threads and tell which way the nut will come off even if only one or two threads are showing. Nut and/or end of the stud may have a mark too.
Pierce
Just replaced a very well used tool with a shiny new one. Old one still worked but got bent up again in the bronco suspension. Thought I would share since I've tested to the point of destruction but yet it still worked over the past couple of years.
LED fluorescent replacement bulb. Modified and put a cord on the end. You can stick it in anywhere you want and have really nice light.
Scott
b^.^d