1999 American Dream Jacking instructions

[Ro646a]

Tomorrow morning I am taking my recently acquired 1999 American Dream in for a new set of tires. I have read that some people have had problems with cracked or broken windshields resulting from improper leveling. I am aware of the correct method of leveling the three point system. That is explained in the owner's manual, but I can find no directions relative to the changing of tires.
I have looked through all of the literature that came with the coach and I can not find anything relating to jacking the motorhome when installing new tires. Can anyone shed any light on the topic? I don't want to leave the tire store with a broken windshield.

Thanks

[RLS7201]

dougrainer wrote:

RLS7201 wrote:
I see all sorts of replys as what not to do. Does any one know how to raise the MH to change tires?

Doug, why can't we raise our MHs with the hydraulic leveling jacks to change the tires? Most leveling jacks are rated for the weight of the coach. One would think that the frame mounting locations shouldn't be a problem. We all know jack stands are required.

Richard

Because the only thing keeping that RV up is hydraulic line pressure. If the line burst or a solenoid failed, or even if a jack mount plate broke loose, the RV would come crashing down in about 2 seconds and anything/anybody under or close by can be hurt or killed. If you do raise the RV with leveling jacks, install jack stands to support the RV if the jacks fail. BTW, I have experienced all 3 failures I listed above. NOT changing tires, just a failure of the jack system. NOT even a good idea to raise the RV with the jacks and crawl around underneath. You see reports all the time from people dying working on their Cars at home with no one around and the floor jack failed and the Car crushed them. AND, ALL the Leveling Jack manuals state to NOT change tires with the jacks(CYA). Doug

Thanks Doug,

As you and I both know, jack stands are absolutely mandatory.
It looks like your concern is hydraulic pressure failure, which I agree with. I had hydraulic line failure when trying to lift my coach off the jack stands. I was stuck there until I replaced all the old lines.

Richard

[eheading]

From personal experience after 90000 miles with an American Tradition I learned the hard way, if you are leveling or raising just one side of the coach, MAKE SURE you raise the single jack in the front first to allow the coach to pivot on that single point. Failure to do this can definitely pop or crack the windshield on these coaches. Unfortunately I proved this to be correct!!

Ed Headington

[Dutch_12078]

The last time I had a set of tires changed, I raised the coach on it's own jacks only high enough to give the shop's jack easier access. Since they only needed to lift the axles enough to clear the tires off the floor, there was no worries about frame twisting.

[dougrainer]

Ro646a wrote:
Assuming that the tire store uses their equipment to lift one corner of the coach at a time, won't that twist the body of the unit, possibly causing issues with the windshield??
That is my concern.

Raising the tire to clear the ground will not twist the frame. It is when you raise a LOT higher that the frame twisting happens. Doug

[dougrainer]

RLS7201 wrote:
I see all sorts of replys as what not to do. Does any one know how to raise the MH to change tires?

Doug, why can't we raise our MHs with the hydraulic leveling jacks to change the tires? Most leveling jacks are rated for the weight of the coach. One would think that the frame mounting locations shouldn't be a problem. We all know jack stands are required.

Richard

Because the only thing keeping that RV up is hydraulic line pressure. If the line burst or a solenoid failed, or even if a jack mount plate broke loose, the RV would come crashing down in about 2 seconds and anything/anybody under or close by can be hurt or killed. If you do raise the RV with leveling jacks, install jack stands to support the RV if the jacks fail. BTW, I have experienced all 3 failures I listed above. NOT changing tires, just a failure of the jack system. NOT even a good idea to raise the RV with the jacks and crawl around underneath. You see reports all the time from people dying working on their Cars at home with no one around and the floor jack failed and the Car crushed them. AND, ALL the Leveling Jack manuals state to NOT change tires with the jacks(CYA). Doug

[Ro646a]

I took it in today and everything went well. They cafefully, evenly lifted the front and then the back. Everything is fine.
Thanks

[hotjag1]

I have used the front jack to level the coach in a sloped campsite. The front tires were off the ground a couple of inches. I would have no problem doing this for a tire shop since there would be no twisting of the frame. Jack stands would obviously be used.

I would not try to raise the rear of the coach in that scenario(emergency brake and extreme weight)but cracking a windshield jacking up the rear shouldn't be a concern anyway.

[Johno02]

We had to have a tire changed once by emergency road service for a blown tire. I asked the truck tire tech if he wanted to use his jack or mine. He had me raise the side with my jacks, then put a stand under for safety. Change went well, and we were on our way.

[RLS7201]

I see all sorts of replys as what not to do. Does any one know how to raise the MH to change tires?

Doug, why can't we raise our MHs with the hydraulic leveling jacks to change the tires? Most leveling jacks are rated for the weight of the coach. One would think that the frame mounting locations shouldn't be a problem. We all know jack stands are required.

Richard

[Ro646a]

Assuming that the tire store uses their equipment to lift one corner of the coach at a time, won't that twist the body of the unit, possibly causing issues with the windshield??
That is my concern.

[doxiemom11]

We took ours to a truck shop for new tires and because they work on trucks, they had the equipment to raise the motorhome. They did not use our jacks to hike it up. They also did an alignment and replaced the valve stem extensions.

[dougrainer]

1. YOU NEVER USE THE JACKS TO RAISE THE MOTORHOME OFF THE GROUND TO CHANGE TIRES---PERIOD!
2. Any Tire store that would do it, should not be changing motorhome tires and I would not want them changing my tires.
3. I cannot believe that any qualified tire store would want the liability or even their insurance company would allow this type operation if they knew about it
4. A QUALIFIED Tire Store will have the correct Jacks to raise the RV to safely change the tires.
5. 3 point systems were designed to STOP chassis twisting at the front cap area. There are 2 designs of this type system. The first is the single front jack that is centered and cannot twist the frame when extended. The 2nd is a Powergear system that used 2 jacks up front with 1 solenoid and an equalizing T that caused BOTH front jacks to extend the same. The weight of the motorhome equalizes the front to prevent twisting. Doug

[hotjag1]

I had a 1995 American Dream and never had a problem with cracking a windshield. I did have a couple of tires repaired, but never replaced a full set. If I was really concerned, I would raise the front end with the hydraulic jack on the motorhome just to be sure that one side wasn't going to twist. I was never concerned about raising one side of the rear. With the engine bolted to the frame, I think it would be a lot less likely to flex. JMO.

[FIRE_UP]

MountainAir05 wrote:
Most will only jack up a single tire or front/rear end only when they change them , not the whole RV at one time. All Depends on the equipment they have to lift the Rv.

Well Sir,
They might do that in your area but, I've seen many, many times where all six have been off the ground at tire stores when getting new ones. I did it for the local tire store when I had mine changed. 99.999999% of the tire stores, even the larger ones for truck tires have completely level parking lots so, getting all six off the ground is no big deal. We're not talking camping here, just getting some tires replaced which, takes in the neighborhood of about an hour or two at the most.
Scott