Re: [A/S] Lifting a Bambi With A Jack

[Inlandrv@xxxxxxx]

Hi Harvey. Caravanner Insurance many years ago also developed a number of 
suggested changes to the Airstream Manuals. Why? Real simple. Some of the 
Airstream procedures in fact caused losses for the insurance. This happens to 
be one of them. Everyone agrees that if you used the "jack" labels as the 
place to locate the jack, that you must be very careful. Some people suggest 
a wooden block. Same problem, in that it must be carefully placed. If not 
carefully placed, you will bend the frame, or the jack will slip and punch a 
hole in the underbelly, and sometimes punch a hole in the floor. Therefore 
with these things in mind, it is best to place the jack on the axle mounting 
plate. The axle mounting plate is a vertical piece of metal that is welded to 
the side of the frame and protrudes downward about 2 inches. "This is not the 
axle", but the axle plate. Since most jacks have a slot it the jack face, 
then the likelihood of the jack slipping is nil, which we would also agree is 
much safer. Caravanner Insurance paid out all to many dollars to repair 
coaches that had damaged underbellys, because of jacks slipping and boards 
going through them.
And finally, Airstream did not write those manuals. A publishing company 
wrote them, and every manual published has mistakes in it. The real question 
here is what is the safest and most fool proof method to raise a coach. When 
you consider that many folks have tunnel vision and do not see the possible 
adverse results of doing something, just a little bit different from the 
instructions. Therefore Caravanner Insurance always looked for ways to help 
Airstream owners "better help themselves". It was part of my job to find 
dangerous or hazardous things, come up with a solution, and prove it. When 
proven, it was implemented so as to reduce the companies loss ratio. There is 
no intent here to prove who is right and who is wrong, but to demonstrate 
that there sometimes is a better and/or safer ways to do things. 
Harvey, there are still some folks who really believe that you can SAFELY tow 
a 31 or 34 foot trailer with just a ball and overload springs with a half ton 
truck. It really sad when the state of the art is not readily accepted by 
all. And yes Harvey, one must never under any circumstances place a jack on a 
Henschen axle. I will have an article soon covering the Henschen axles on a 
web site. Hope this better explanation is helpful, and resolves the issue. 
And finally, as of this date, the manufacturer of the older chassis, Henschen 
Industrial, also state that "the jack labels are for stabilizing jacks ONLY, 
and are NOT lifting points.     Andy