Sad Safety Reminder

[Dorn Hetzel]

Well, I was going to put a fence around it and size it to fit the bird with entrance steps at one end. Probably only make it 4 or 5 feet deep and run a drain to a downhill location so it won't hold water. Thinking about building a "bird house" over the pit later and just having the pit underneath the birds normal parking spot

On Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 9:01 AM, bubblerboy64 <"jehdds@hotmail.com"> wrote:

I think you are entirely correct about the pits. I use a quick

change oil place to have the oil in my cars changed. They have a pit

which you drive over. It's situated in a garage with a garage door in

front of and in back of the pit (drive thru). I noticed it was their

practice to have the customer drive into (and therefore over) the pit

and then exit the car to wait in the waiting room while the oil was

changed. The problem being that with an average length or short car

the customer if he walked around the back of his car as would be your

typical path to get to the waiting room he was exposed to the very

real chance of falling into the pit. I saw this situation and told

the owner he was absolutely NUTS to operate this way. I don't know

if it was my effort or not but I noticed the next time I was thru

there they had covered the back part of the pit so that a person

would have to go under the car in order to hit the pit. It would

worry me a lot to have a pit on my property. If it wasn't covered it

would fill with water and what ever. I guess for some it's a good

option but for the average guy I think you are better off farming out

the work that requires a pit to do the work. Lets face the reality

of this stuff. If you can afford to own and fuel one of these things

cash can't be that tight to risk your life. I think some of our

problems are (well I know they are) that we don't want to admit to

our limitations and especially as we age. Age can bring experience

and good judgment but it also can bring a stubborn attitude that "I

can still do this".

John Heckman

central Pa

1973 FC

>

> PIts are wonderful to work in. They are also a huge liability as

falling into one can be lethal. Building codes in many areas do not

allow them.

>

> Pete

>

>

> -------------- Original message ----------------------

> From: Pete Masterson

> > I believe the shocks where stopping the droop of the axles, so

the

> > stress wasn't on the air bags -- From what I could see, they were

not

> > over-extended. This may not be true on older coaches -- but it

> > appeared to be the case on my '95. Indeed, on some modestly

sloping

> > camp sites, the leveling jacks will bring the wheels completely

off

> > the ground, so BB must have engineered the suspension to allow

for that.

> >

> > CCW in Riverside does not have pits -- I'm told they're looking

for a

> > new location (for the complete facility) as they've outgrown the

area

> > they have, so they're not investing anything extra in the

facilities

> > they have beyond basic necesities.

> >

> > When the wanted to do a full examination of the underside (and

wash

> > the bottom of the engine, etc.) they used 6 "wheel jacks" --

huge

> > hydraulic jacks that cradle each tire and raise up the coach

> > (controlled by a computer that keeps them all moving together).

It

> > was an amazing thing to see. (I saw several busses raised up with

the

> > things while I was there.)

> >

> > However, for some aspects of the service, the work was done next

to

> > the "Blue Bird" section of the CCW facility. For example, the

air

> > dryer was removed (to be rebuilt) with the coach slightly raised

to

> > let the technicians roll under the coach on creepers. I think

the

> > technicians would be very happy to have a service pit -- and

perhaps

> > one will be made available in the future when CCW finds, builds,

and

> > moves to a new facility.

> >

> > When I was at Henderson's Line-Up in Grants Pass Oregon -- seeing

how

> > they worked on the coach from their pit made it very clear what

an

> > advantage it was. To tell the truth, I wish I had room for a pit

for

> > the maintenance items I handle (but that's far from likely to

ever

> > happen).

> >

> > Pete Masterson

> > '95 Blue Bird Wanderlodge WBDA 42

> > El Sobrante CA

> > aeonix1@...

> >

> >

> >

> > On Jun 9, 2008, at 5:28 PM, David Brady wrote:

> >

> > > This may not be true for all Wanderlodges, (I think it is), but

> > > on my LXi the shocks will stop the drooping axles before the

> > > air bags, thereby eliminating load on the air bags. I called

Koni

> > > and Justin assured me that each shock can handle 8500 lb of

> > > dead load (tension) in this static configuration; consequently,

> > > there's no risk of damaging a shock.

> > >

> > > David Brady

> > > '02 LXi, NC

> > >

> > > bumpersbird wrote:

> > >>

> > >> Pete,

> > >>

> > >> I've seen some shops use the technique of using blocks under

the

> > >> jacks to get the wheels off the ground and to get the coach in

the

> > >> air. I may be wrong but I think their is an issue of the air

bags

> > >> being strained beyond thier extension limits.

> > >>

> > >> Don't get me wrong I've had the wheels off the ground via the

jacks

> > >> several times, but I don't like to do it and I think it could

easily

> > >> damage the coach.

> > >>

> > >> I would suggest a pit or a lift for the safest way for working

under

> > >> anything.

> > >>

> > >> Sometimes we take safty for granted, we think we know what

what were

> > >> doing, most of us have spent a lot of time working on our

coaches and

> > >> we know them intimatly. She can and will bite, if you don't

mind her.

> > >> You just can't be too careful.

> > >>

> > >> Kurt Horvath

> > >> 95 PT-42

> > >> Fayetteville TN

> > >>

> > > <snip>

> > >

> >

>