Leveling ramps

[StarfireTed]

Hi one and all. I'm a new guy to this form of conversation. So here goes. I have a problem draining the roof of my AH Tracker FB. Its a very bad design and allows a lot of water to lay on the roof particularly during the months of winter. I am about to purchase some leveling ramps to raise one end and thinking of either the Trident 3 step maxi height or the MGI maxi T3. Is there a general user preference in the club. Ted :-)

[Tracker]

I have no views on which are the best ramps but I would suggest that you use them as a pair to effect an even gradient, either both on one side of both on the same axle.

 

That way you will avoid twisting the chassis which puts undue strain on the whole unit and it's construction joints and sealants which should help with longevity, less rattles and squeaks and most importantly hopefully avoid the dreaded water ingress through joints.

 

Generally the guiding principles to buying a set of ramps are, your ability to store them in the van, especially if they are wet and muddy (how big and easy to access is the locker you expect to use for them and preferably with outside access), the sort of use you expect to give them ( I found we needed them more on sites than on aires or for off site camping where it is genrally easier to get more or less level unaided).

 

If you don't otherwise need ramps a couple of wooden blocks or even paving slabs will do the job just as well at home

 

 

[colin]

We have Milenco Triple's, if buying again I would get Quatro's.

[StarfireTed]

Hi thanks for your comments, why would you go for Quatro's next time. Ted

[colin]

StarfireTed - 2016-01-25 7:52 PM

 

Hi thanks for your comments, why would you go for Quatro's next time. Ted

 

The Triples give 120mm of lift, on a few occasions this has not been enough, but I should note this is on a LWB van and also we have lots of spare storage space.

[StuartO]

A friend of mine had problems with water pooling on the roof and it was surprising how much he had to raise the front end to create a big enough gradient for the water to run off reliably.  Ordinary chocks weren't enough and he had to resort to making something bigger - fortunately of course he only needed to use these at home so they didn't need to be stored in the MH or carried very far.

 

Wooden ramps should be strong enough if you use a 9 by 3 floor joist.  I would suggest at least a six foot length of ramp for each side.  If is isn't high enough first time, just add more height.

 

[laimeduck]

I have triple milenco ramps which we use while touring, but I use simple solid concrete blocks (...Not breeze blocks!) at home during the winter months. My Benimar has a swimming pool on the roof! We need to ramp up the front by about 10 degrees to stop water pooling.

Any builders merchant will have the blocks at about £1.50 each - drive up onto the (double) blocks using the milenco ramps. 

The advantage I think is that flat on the blocks there is less tyre distortion than on the milencos, and the blocks are higher.

[Derek Uzzell]

I have a set of Milenco Quattro levelling ramps, but I wish I had never bought them!

 

Besides being long (81cm) and, consequently, taking up a lot of space in the motorhome if stored as a pair within the carry-bag supplied, the Quattro, Triple and Trident designs all have quite sharp transverse edges on each of their ‘steps’ that inevitably dig into the tyres when the motorhome is perched on the ramps.

 

This might not matter unduly if the motorhome is on the ramps for a short time, but I would not want to have my motorhome on Quattros/Triples/Tridents long-term. I’ve decided to replace my Quattros with Milenco MGI Midi T2 ramps that won’t provide the potential ‘lift’ of the Quattros but have a less aggressive step design and are significantly less bulky.

 

http://www.justmilenco.co.uk/epages/es134997.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es134997/Categories/Levelling/Levelling_Ramps

 

Having said that, I wouldn’t choose to leave my motorhome sat on MGI ramps for long periods either. My Rapido 640 motorhome also collects rainwater on the roof and to drain most of it off the vehicle needs to be tilted forwards. (Not what I would prefer, but the Rapido’s roof has a pronounced lip across the back so there’s no choice.)

 

I’ve tried using thickish concrete slabs under the rear tyres, but the tarmac where I park the motorhome isn’t 100% flat and the vehicle’s weight fractures the slabs. Now I use two pieces of kitchen-worktop screwed together. As laimeduck says about his concrete-block approach this allows the rear tyres to have a flat surface to sit on. I know that the kitchen-worktop sections are unlikely to have a long life, but I’ve got plenty of old worktop so that doesn’t concern me.

[Tracker]

The last time I used paving slabs I sat them on a double layer of carpet off cuts to stop them fracturing and it seemed to work OK.

 

When I last used 4" (or 6") concrete blocks I used spare driveway block paviour bricks to create a run up onto the blocks.

 

[colin]

Which reminds me, we where on the top end of Vancouver Island in an RV, no ramps and a slope which was too steep for comfortable sleeping, the site had 2x3 and 2x4 offcuts for fires, a bit of careful stacking and we where level.

[Geeco]

I have a AT Tracker FB and I use Milenco triple ramps while on the road. While they do bite into the tyre tread I have found that is possibly the reason it grips well when the tyre is wet & going up the ramp. I purchased the Milenco as I seem to remember a thread on here where there were some very positive comments made. I am happy with them in day to day use on the road. My Tracker is packed out in the open on level ground on a horse stud as I have no parking at home. Today I collected the Tracker and brought it back home to prepare for a trip this week. My drive has a good slope so when washing the roof I have no issues with water running off the front. It has been in the open for 6 weeks and when I looked on the roof there was a fair amount of dried dirt along the nearside front to back behind the luton.That suggests that water has been pooling on the roof. Mine does not sit unused for long so it has not been an issue for me. I would use the Milenco ramps if it was being left for a long period. The Milenco ramps have a curved shape at each level that seems to fit the diameter of the tyre section in contact so maybe tyre damage may not be an issue for long term use.

Cheers, 

[Derek Uzzell]

There are quite a few earlier forum threads that discuss levelling ramps. This multi-page 2010 example related to Milenco levellers specifically and provoked comments from the Milenco company itself.

 

http://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Milenco-levellers/19656/

 

If a motorhome is to be raised at one end to encourage rainwater to drain off the roof and the vehicle is to be static for an extended period, it will be desirable (and logical) that the tyres on the wheels that are being raised are stressed as little as possibly by the methodology employed to lift the wheels.

 

Ramp design means that some ramps will stress the tyres sat on them more than others, and it’s probable that Milenco Quattro/Triple ramps designed to ‘pocket’ tyres will be the worst offenders in that respect.

 

There are radically different ramp designs that SHOULD stress the tyres less long-term (examples on following links)

 

http://www.froli.com/en/service/innovative-froli-round-wheel-leveller/

 

 

but I’ve no practical experience of these.

 

My view is that, for short-term lifting (eg. on a campsite for a day or two), choose ‘stepped’ levelling ramps with an unaggressive top-surface shape that are as long/wide/high as can be comfortably stored within the motorhome.

 

But, for extended-duration lifting (eg. to drain roof-pooling rainwater) it’s better to raise the vehicle so that there’s a flat hard surface beneath the raised tyres. Whatever is used to achieve that end (concrete slabs/blocks, wood planks, etc.), the stress placed on the raised tyres should then be no worse than if the wheels had not been raised.

[EJB]

My 14 year old Tracker just throws it off when it moves......never caused a problem :-D

 

PS. Some Caravan/MH 'fridges have a problem when the vehicle is not level!!!

[BKen1]

My Knaus suffers the very same issue (design problem) the water pools behind the roof bulkhead.We dont have much rain but when it arrives I like to not have standing water on the roof,to over come this all I do is get a very absorbent material cloth dampen it and hang it over the side of the van ..presto within 15/20 minutes the water is syphoned off . See Pic.

 

Brian K