StuartO Posted May 7, 2017 Share Posted May 7, 2017 A neighbouring Dutch MH was using inflatable wheel levellers (i.e. Chock substitutes) which I hadn't seen before - seemingly a clever Getman idea you inflate using a tire inflator pump and they cater for a wheel lift of up to 14cm, so about 6 inches. They help to avoid sinking into soft ground too. The supplier's website is www.flat-jack.de and they cost about 110€ each. They appear to be simply an oval piece of tough plastic sheeting welded around the edge with a Schrader-type inflation valve on one of them sop it's not exactly high tech. I would guess the manufacturing cost is quite low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve928 Posted May 7, 2017 Share Posted May 7, 2017 Given that almost all of the movement that we feel in our van when parked comes from flex in the tyre sidewalls I'd have thought that this system would exacerbate that and that the van would be wobbling around to the extreme. I suppose you could than crank up stabilisers to firm things up but it still doesn't seem ideal. Interesting though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony44935 Posted May 7, 2017 Share Posted May 7, 2017 Just had a look on You Tube, they look quite good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted May 8, 2017 Author Share Posted May 8, 2017 Steve928 - 2017-05-07 9:12 PMGiven that almost all of the movement that we feel in our van when parked comes from flex in the tyre sidewalls I'd have thought that this system would exacerbate that and that the van would be wobbling around to the extreme. I suppose you could than crank up stabilisers to firm things up but it still doesn't seem ideal. Interesting though. I wondered about that - whether it would be like being on a waterbed, but remeber you only have two or at most three chocks in use at once, so the MH would always have at least one "foot" on the ground. The Dutch guy who showed me his inflatable chocks was very enthusiastic about them. Having checked the supplier's website, I see they only claim a maximum of 12cm of lift, rather than the 14cm the Dutch guy had quoted to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Drew Posted May 8, 2017 Share Posted May 8, 2017 They look like a flimsy copy of the Lock and level we used to use on our caravan https://www.locknlevel.co.uk/ the bigger single version I have will lift to over 6 inches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted May 8, 2017 Share Posted May 8, 2017 This product’s primary purpose is to protect the tyres of vehicles that are in irregular use. I can see the potential advantages when used for motorhome levelling http://www.flat-jack.de/en/air-pillow-camper.html but do you really want to spend around £100, and would you want to be fiddling about with inflating the ‘air pillows’ on a campsite when it’s bucketing down with rain? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monique.hubrechtsgm Posted May 8, 2017 Share Posted May 8, 2017 There are some good German makes. Not the same as Derek advised. They lift up to max 12 cm. Are very rigid built and anti slip in a sense that they not fly away under your motor home under traction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted May 9, 2017 Share Posted May 9, 2017 Monique The only product of this type I can find is the “Flat-Jack” one (German-made and reviewed in Promobil magazine in February 2015). Perhaps you could provide webpage links to the alternatives, please? Regarding my earlier question “...do you really want to spend around £100...?”, I’ve just noticed that the quoted cost of €119 is for a SINGLE Flat-Jack “Camper Plus” air-pillow. Consequently, do you really want to spend around £200 (for a pair of Flat-Jack pillows) and would you want to be fiddling about with inflating them on a campsite in bad weather? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted May 9, 2017 Author Share Posted May 9, 2017 I'm on a riverside site in the Dordogne and a pair of these levellers would have been perfect because the ground was a bit soft and my chocks just kept digging in and I had to give up and change pitches. I agree these things are expensive and maybe they have a limited application but they do seem to me to have a place. At least they will be light to carry and should also be easy enough to deploy and inflate; I would probably use a portable battery pack/compressor, to serve as a backup starter pack as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted May 9, 2017 Share Posted May 9, 2017 I carry four Milenco ‘Grip Mats’ http://www.milenco.com/products/safety/grip-mats If the ground looks soft I put them under the tyres and if I need to use my leveling ‘ramps’ http://www.milenco.com/products/levelling/mgi-t2-midi-levels I put the ramps on the grip-mats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monique.hubrechtsgm Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 Derek the name is E-Muk airlift. Some data: 11 tons max per wheel. At 3.5 bar lift 16 cm, at 6 bars 18.5 cm. Max 20 cm. Impressive product. Start whit a pair. Not cheap at about 270 euro each and a weight of 3.6 kilo but saw figures 4 kg too. You drive on inflatable and pump up. How you drive off? They have schrader connections for air same as you tire. You can use your fix and go kit but not whit the latex bottle connected. Look at you tube about them. The original site is www.emuk.com/hebekissen-html. But their are traders all over the EU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 Thanks for the feed-back. The EMUK product has a higher lift, but over £400 for a pair of “Air Lifts” is a real off-putter. There’s a recent review here https://felsundwald.de/air-lift/ that includes a comparioson with the “Flat Jack” equivalent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.