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Jacking up a RV7

Yes

Remove tie downs, recommended to jack at this location by all. I used a bolt in lieu of tie down, a piece of 2x6 wood with hole to accept bolt head for alignment, jack piston on other side. Wood distributes the load a bit and obviously makes more stable vs jacking on the bolt head alone.
 
I just used these to jack a -8 and a -9a. I tied an old car jack to the tail for weight and only lifted one wing at a time just enough to get the wheel off. The wing jack was a harbor freight bottle jack propped up on some 4x4 cribbing that was screwed together for stability. The jack had a divot drilled into the jack pad for these points to go into so the plane didn’t slide off.
 
I made a couple of these, and used some smoothed-off grade 8 carriage bolts in the wing tie-down mounts as jack points.

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I made a couple of these, and used some smoothed-off grade 8 carriage bolts in the wing tie-down mounts as jack points.

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Same here , only thing to be cautious of is the amount of fuel ahead of your jack points if you do both sides at once , center of gravity will have you doing a nose stand as the tail comes up on conventional gear A/C ! How do I know this 😬
 
Same here , only thing to be cautious of is the amount of fuel ahead of your jack points if you do both sides at once , center of gravity will have you doing a nose stand as the tail comes up on conventional gear A/C ! How do I know this ��

Yes, I was warned ;). I have a ring in the floor that I use to secure the tail down with a cam-lock tie-down strap for that purpose, although so far I've only used the things for main gear tires/tubes/brakes one at a time. I bought a little $20 Harbor Freight scissors jack that I use for the nose gear (just had a flat a little earlier in the week).
 
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I jack up a single side maingear leg at a time with following.

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I used galvanized pipe caps, drilled and fitted with 3/8-16 #8 bolts. This provides a more secure jack-to-airplane interface.
 

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I just used these to jack a -8 and a -9a. I tied an old car jack to the tail for weight and only lifted one wing at a time just enough to get the wheel off. The wing jack was a harbor freight bottle jack propped up on some 4x4 cribbing that was screwed together for stability. The jack had a divot drilled into the jack pad for these points to go into so the plane didn’t slide off.

Hi Tom, I have the Baron jacks and they fit under the wing .I just wanted to make sure that the tie down ring was the proper place to jack the plane. Thanks Tony
 
I also have a nice wing jack that I made from the long Harbor Freight jack and use the Bogrt Aviation Jack Points. However, I get nervous using it.

I welded a 12" piece of 3/4" steel rod to an old scissor car jack and just remove the axle nut and slide it into the hollow axle. It is long enough for me to slide the wheel out onto the steel rod and then I lower the axle down onto a block of wood with a groove cut into it to hold the axle. Very, very stable and low to the ground. I can do both sides and have total confidence even while getting in and out of the RV. Then, I just put the loose wheel back on the steel shaft, jack up the axle about an inch and slide the wheel back & tighten up the nut.

To keep the same bearing adjustment, I used a permanent marker to mark the nut exactly where I removed it. Can't adjust it with my little scissor jack method. I've checked it a couple times while hanging from the wing jack and it never needed adjustment.

Now that my landings are better and I am practicing long rollout wheel landings, I haven't needed tires or brakes for a long time. Just FYI, I don't want to risk a flat so I use Michelin tires and a new Airstop tube each time I change tires. I do flip them half way thru their life and keep the same tube. Have collected a number of tubes and keep a spare in my fly-away tool kit.
 
Hi Tom, I have the Baron jacks and they fit under the wing .I just wanted to make sure that the tie down ring was the proper place to jack the plane. Thanks Tony

Tony, if you are just servicing the tires, it’s a little safer to do one side at a time and also keep weight on the tail so the plane doesn’t nose over. The jack points may be a little behind the CG, or at least behind the mains. If you still want to take off both tires, then jack one side, remove the tire, and set the plane back down on a 4x4 under the axel, then jack the other side! The tie down points should be threaded 3/8 x 16 thread, and about an inch deep or so..
 
I saw someone use a plastic 55gal drum cut in half and filled with concrete with a hook in the middle. Tied that to the tail of a plane being jacked up.
 
I’ve been flying my plane for a few months but now it’s time to match drill my wheel pants and get them square, etc. I can envision this taking a fair amount of time, and once started, I don’t want to move the plane after I’ve marked the centerline, etc. ……

Do I need to be concerned with jacking the plane so the mains are off the ground and leaving it there for an extended period of time using only the wing tiedowns while I’m getting everything done? Oh, yeah, and it’s also full of fuel at the moment.

Thoughts? No big deal? The wing tie downs are designed for this? Or do I really need to let it rest on a sawhorse or something similar under the fuse at the spar so the entire weight of the plane isn’t supported by only the wing tiedown points?

Thanks for any advice.
 
Jack stands

I’ve been flying my plane for a few months but now it’s time to match drill my wheel pants and get them square, etc. I can envision this taking a fair amount of time, and once started, I don’t want to move the plane after I’ve marked the centerline, etc. ……

Do I need to be concerned with jacking the plane so the mains are off the ground and leaving it there for an extended period of time using only the wing tiedowns while I’m getting everything done? Oh, yeah, and it’s also full of fuel at the moment.

Thoughts? No big deal? The wing tie downs are designed for this? Or do I really need to let it rest on a sawhorse or something similar under the fuse at the spar so the entire weight of the plane isn’t supported by only the wing tiedown points?

Thanks for any advice.

I had the same concern. I got a bit more involved but it worked awesome. Basically a lift and two serious jack stands under the center section. I was never concerned about stability and never had to redraw center lines. I wrote it up as an article for Kitplanes.
Shoot me an e-mail (below) for the draft. Photos are on my blog (below).
 
I also Use the RV Jack Points ( mentioned above) Best thing ever. easy and super safe.
 
Motorcycle lift entire plane

This isnt a wing jack but worked great for me when I was working on my brakes and wheel pants. It is a HF motorcycle life with a wood box. It lifts all 3 wheels off the ground if you get it balanced properly. It is not stable enough to get in the plane but plenty to work on the wheels.
 

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Mac - are the those tabs welded to the jack reservoir can?

Just bolted. My A&P put them on when he did the brake pads. No big deal, he tells me.


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Just bolted. My A&P put them on when he did the brake pads. No big deal, he tells me.


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These tabs, Mac - - it is a little fuzzy when zoomed but can not firmly say if that is a sleeve or welded to the jack. Sorry, I responded to a 2021 post. :eek:

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These tabs, Mac - - it is a little fuzzy when zoomed but can not firmly say if that is a sleeve or welded to the jack. Sorry, I responded to a 2021 post. :eek:

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Sorry, I misunderstood that you were talking about the wing jack. I think the image you're referring to is one I had copied from a Kitplanes article. Attached are the ones that I built. The upper ring is a sleeve that slips over the jack body and has 4 tabs welded to it, each with a hole for the 4 support arms.

One caveat....the bases of those jacks are not identical dimensions, one to the other. I put tabs on the bases so I could remove the whole jack from the assembly and placed the tabs on the base on one in exactly the same place as the other, and the second jack did not quite fit....needed a little help from a ball pein hammer
 

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