devonchris Posted August 10, 2007 Share Posted August 10, 2007 Has anyone used the scissor jack supplies by Fiat on their motorhome. Our motorhome is a Bessacarr E745 (aprox 3.8 tonnes). I used ours the other morning on the rear wheel, on a grass site with a board under the jack. To cut a long story short arrived very late on site nearly dark, leveled the motorhome on 'Fiamma' leveling blocks. In the morning found to our suprise the rear wheel had sunk with the leveling block. The wheel had sunk 3.5 inches below the surface complete with leveling block. All the other wheels ok. Without damaging the pitch even more descide to jack up the wheel a place a 4x2x 4foot peice of timber under the wheel and move to another pitch. Using the extention tube and ratchet supplied, this does not clear the motormome and gives only very limited movement of the ratchet one notch at a time, after one hour raised the motorhome to be able to place the timber under the wheel . Moved the motorhome ok. The extention for the jack was bent and now useless. Spent two hours digging out leveling block and repairing the hole with the farmer, found afterwards a rabbit burrow underneath. The tools supplied with the motorhomes seem cheap and useless. Thinking of getting a bottle jack any info (?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thai Bry Posted August 10, 2007 Share Posted August 10, 2007 Hi ChristopherSorry to hear about your woes, I do not really like scissor jacks, and would invest in a decent bottle jack, due to the weight of your vehicle.This is only my personal opinion, I'm sure an expert will be along to give you guidance. We got a bottle jack with our vehicle as part of the tool kit.Thai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted August 10, 2007 Share Posted August 10, 2007 Hi Chris, Yes I have certainly used ours in battle but on the M20 not on soft ground. No real problem at all and we don't have an extension the ratchet fits directly onto the scissor jack and as you say at first the movement is restricted between the ground and the floor of the van but gets easier as the van lifts. I had the wheel changed start to finish in under 40 mins so did not experience the problems you had. Bas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w1ntersun Posted August 10, 2007 Share Posted August 10, 2007 Hi, I am on a 3.85 ton chassis and carry a two ton trolley jack plus a sawn down biulders plank cut into various lenghts. After trying to get level in fields when its wet was a nightmare using ramps. OK in the dry. I just jack up the required corner and slip in the ramp sat on top of a section of plank. 10 mins max. Having just taken delivery of a new hymer which has a sort of traction control I will see how I go on . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BGD Posted August 10, 2007 Share Posted August 10, 2007 Scissor jacks (at least, the ones manufactured from soft cheese and supplied with almost all new vehicles) are in my humble personal opinion bloody useless and dangerous. I always carry a hydraulic bottle jack in the boot of my car - they take up less space if anything; and are much more versatile, and much quicker to use. I've just (last week) bought a 5 tonne capicity bottle jack to keep in the camper van too. Cost (here in Spain from a local motor factors) was $21.95 (about £15). Excellent piece of kit. And the two-piece "arm" can also be used as an extension to my wheel-nut brace to apply more force. Normal safety rules apply of course - NEVER work under your vehicle unless you've put axle stands etc in place too, just in case the jack should slip. My personal advice would be to junk your scissor jack forthwith!! Cheers, Bruce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hymer634 Posted August 10, 2007 Share Posted August 10, 2007 One thing to check with a bottle jack is that it will actually fit under the jacking point with a flat tire - most of the larger capacity ones might not fit under the rear point on an AlKo chassis. Check it now before you need to use it in anger. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devonchris Posted August 10, 2007 Author Share Posted August 10, 2007 thank you all for info i am going out with a tape measure and check before the boss starts. i'v lost my ear plugs chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigelmgpp Posted August 10, 2007 Share Posted August 10, 2007 I have two bottle jacks in my motorhome and had to use them on the M5 when the tyre went bang in the middle lane, I made it to the hard shoulder.What with the traffic going past at a very fast pace, it took me and my son ten minutes from start to finish to change the wheel and and put it all away and get going again. Which I was glad I brought them when I did in Aldis in France, six months before it happened. All the best Nigel Keep motorhoming Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest caraprof Posted August 10, 2007 Share Posted August 10, 2007 I understand what a hydraulic jack is but what's a bottle jack please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billbaillie Posted August 10, 2007 Share Posted August 10, 2007 It's also a hydraulic jack, but in a bottle shape rather than the trolley type jacks which are more popular these days. Smaller and more compact to store ina car/camper/motorhome. Look here for some examples: http://www2.northerntool.com/cat-1/90555.htm Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest caraprof Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 billbaillie - 2007-08-10 11:51 PM It's also a hydraulic jack, but in a bottle shape rather than the trolley type jacks which are more popular these days. Smaller and more compact to store ina car/camper/motorhome. Look here for some examples: http://www2.northerntool.com/cat-1/90555.htm Cheers Thank you for that. They're so cheap that it seems odd that scissor jacks are still supplied! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devonchris Posted August 11, 2007 Author Share Posted August 11, 2007 Update after measuring the motorhome lifting points to the floor and taking off the depth of the tyre went out and purchased a 2 ton bottle jack from 'Machine Mart'. Tried it out on my gravel drive, works perfectly and very easy to use. Even the boss tried it by telling her it was a hand vino pump. The scissor jack plus operating handle is 3.8 Kilo and has a s.w.l. of 1700 Kilo, the bottle jack complete is 3 Kilo a small saving in weight and lifts 2000 kilo, and is safer to use. (lol) (lol) chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 caraprof - 2007-08-11 7:57 AMThank you for that. They're so cheap that it seems odd that scissor jacks are still supplied!There is a significant weight disadvantage, the bottle jack normally being made from cast iron and also a size disadvantage but not by much.Smaller lighter bottle jacks that are available either have insufficient lift, bear in mind the lift is normally slightly less than two and a half times its closed height (you should note the lift required on for instance the Boxer chassis where the suspension travel needs to be taken up befor the axle gains sufficient height to clear a pumped up tyre), and the lift capacity (weight) is normally less than that required for a motorhome.BasP.S. That is just my experience with our Boxer and the bottle jacks that I have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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