I’m thinking about making some axle stands to support a bus weighing circa 11 tonnes. There are proper lifting points on the front and rear subframes which are low to the ground so as a result the stands don’t need to be particularly high, maybe 600mm to allow decent access under the vehicle. They also don’t need to be adjustable.
Firstly, if anybody thinks this is a bad idea feel free to say so I’ll not take offence. Whilst I consider myself competent when it comes to working on large vehicles (I should be by now) I’m not a know-all so will take any comments on board. Over the years I’ve seen many a vehicle supported on sleepers etc. and it’s still common practice, rightly or wrongly, although it’s not really an option here (some could be strategically placed as insurance) and I’d rather use proper stands anyway. You can obviously buy stands for large vehicles but I haven’t seen any that would fit into the lifting points without modification. I’d be lying if I claimed cost wasn’t at least a consideration but I genuinely haven’t seen anything suitable as they all appear to be designed to go under an actual axle. So this is why I’m considering making something.
For the stands my thinking is a thick base plate with a square hollow section upright and triangular gussets on all four sides for stability, all welded together obviously. The top is the interesting part. To fit the lifting points (which are like pockets) I’m thinking of using a thick square plate ‘cap’ with a length of round bar on it’s end attached to it which will locate into the pockets. This may not be necessary depending on the diameter of the uprights themselves; 100x100 square section for example won’t fit.
What do you guys think and has anybody done something similar? If anybody has any thoughts regarding material thicknesses I’d appreciate it; my natural inclination is to over engineer things…. One final point, the weight isn’t evenly distributed, it’s very rear-heavy. That said a 5 tonne trolley jack will lift each corner to keep things in perspective (and no that isn’t what I would normally use!). Am I actually overthinking this?
Cheers.
Firstly, if anybody thinks this is a bad idea feel free to say so I’ll not take offence. Whilst I consider myself competent when it comes to working on large vehicles (I should be by now) I’m not a know-all so will take any comments on board. Over the years I’ve seen many a vehicle supported on sleepers etc. and it’s still common practice, rightly or wrongly, although it’s not really an option here (some could be strategically placed as insurance) and I’d rather use proper stands anyway. You can obviously buy stands for large vehicles but I haven’t seen any that would fit into the lifting points without modification. I’d be lying if I claimed cost wasn’t at least a consideration but I genuinely haven’t seen anything suitable as they all appear to be designed to go under an actual axle. So this is why I’m considering making something.
For the stands my thinking is a thick base plate with a square hollow section upright and triangular gussets on all four sides for stability, all welded together obviously. The top is the interesting part. To fit the lifting points (which are like pockets) I’m thinking of using a thick square plate ‘cap’ with a length of round bar on it’s end attached to it which will locate into the pockets. This may not be necessary depending on the diameter of the uprights themselves; 100x100 square section for example won’t fit.
What do you guys think and has anybody done something similar? If anybody has any thoughts regarding material thicknesses I’d appreciate it; my natural inclination is to over engineer things…. One final point, the weight isn’t evenly distributed, it’s very rear-heavy. That said a 5 tonne trolley jack will lift each corner to keep things in perspective (and no that isn’t what I would normally use!). Am I actually overthinking this?
Cheers.
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