Sprinter jacking points

racefan · 02-04-2022, 12:41 AM

I have a Freedom Elite on a Sprinter 3500 chassis. I’m wondering what people use for rear jacking points. (I have a 12ton air/hydraulic bottle jack) I jacked it up using a jack point that the manual says, but it had to raise it quite a ways before the duals came off the ground.

Bill Johnson · 02-04-2022, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by racefan

I have a Freedom Elite on a Sprinter 3500 chassis. I’m wondering what people use for rear jacking points. (I have a 12ton air/hydraulic bottle jack) I jacked it up using a jack point that the manual says, but it had to raise it quite a ways before the duals came off the ground.

can't you jack the axle up

racefan · 02-04-2022, 01:21 AM

I’ve read that you shouldn’t but I don’t know if there’s a valid reason or it’s Mercedes legal dept. speaking😁

Bill Johnson · 02-04-2022, 02:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by racefan

I’ve read that you shouldn’t but I don’t know if there’s a valid reason or it’s Mercedes legal dept. speaking😁

Iv'e done it on cars and trucks for 50 years. It you jack the axle up it only has to go up just over an inch to get the wheel off the ground. Why jack the frame, then you need to raise the frame as high as the springs sag

racefan · 02-04-2022, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Johnson

Iv'e done it on cars and trucks for 50 years. It you jack the axle up it only has to go up just over an inch to get the wheel off the ground. Why jack the frame, then you need to raise the frame as high as the springs sag

I used a factory rear jack point and had to raise it WAY higher then I was comfortable with.

Hooligan2 · 02-05-2022, 04:05 PM

Warning is that the axle tube or the differential pumpkin can be severely damaged by jacking there. Mercedes cautions that jacking on the frame outside designated points may cause damage.

Definitely Limits options for placing jack stands?? My tire shop did not know requirement.

Bill Johnson · 02-05-2022, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hooligan2

Warning is that the axle tube or the differential pumpkin can be severely damaged by jacking there. Mercedes cautions that jacking on the frame outside designated points may cause damage.

Definitely Limits options for placing jack stands?? My tire shop did not know requirement.

We have a class C motorhome. We want to do a brake job on the back wheels. We were wondering what is the safest way to jack up the back end. We do have a 12-ton bottle jack and 2 12-ton jack stands. The manual recommends placing the jack right under the axle tube where it is c-clamped to the leaf-springs. If class C motorhomes do it why can't a Sprinter chassis take it? This other photo is a Newmar class A in the shop under the axle.

Bill Johnson · 02-05-2022, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hooligan2

Warning is that the axle tube or the differential pumpkin can be severely damaged by jacking there. Mercedes cautions that jacking on the frame outside designated points may cause damage.

Definitely Limits options for placing jack stands?? My tire shop did not know requirement.

I found this also It's two automotive repair guys that answer questions. TOM: My guess is that Ford’s advice is geared toward you, the owner of the vehicle. And it assumes you’ll be using the jack that came with the truck to change a tire.

RAY: That jack is small, and really is for emergency use only. It’s designed to lift up only one corner of the vehicle, because that’s all it needs to do to allow you to swap out a tire.

TOM: So Ford, and every other manufacturer, creates jack points near each of the wheels. Those are reinforced spots that can handle the full weight of that corner of the car when you raise it up in the air.

RAY: They don’t want you to jack up the car using some other point that’s not reinforced, because if your improvised jack point fails and the top of the jack punctures the vehicle, the truck could come down on top of you. And that’s no fun.

TOM: But if you have a hydraulic floor jack that’s capable of lifting the whole truck, then there are other points you can use, if you know what you’re doing.

RAY: This dealer did know what he was doing. The “pumpkin” (the rear differential that looks kind of like a pumpkin, that sits in the middle of the rear axle) is designed to carry the full weight of the truck when the truck is on the ground. If it couldn’t, the axle tube would break. So we know it can carry the weight of the truck when it’s in the air, too.

TOM: And, in fact, that pumpkin and axle are designed to carry much more than just the weight of the truck. Since you have a pickup, chances are you’re also going to be doing what? Picking stuff up with it!

RAY: So with a proper jack, the pumpkin is a perfectly acceptable jack point. We do it all the time, too. I looked up the thickness of the axles on a British small motorhome like this and the axles are about 5/16 inch thick, that is a lot of steel

Hooligan2 · 02-05-2022, 06:10 PM

Mercedes must have seen the same show. Mercedes manual after two pages of instruction on jacking includes the following;
"Only position the jack on points intended for this purpose. Do not place the jack on the leaf spring or the differential case, you could otherwise damage the vehicle"

Sprinter uses a unibody frame which lacks the rigidity of a truck frame so there may be a valid concern.

Bill Johnson · 02-05-2022, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hooligan2

Mercedes must have seen the same show. Mercedes manual after two pages of instruction on jacking includes the following;
"Only position the jack on points intended for this purpose. Do not place the jack on the leaf spring or the differential case, you could otherwise damage the vehicle"

Sprinter uses a unibody frame which lacks the rigidity of a truck frame so there may be a valid concern.

Since 1969 almost all my vehicles have been unibody. If you jack up the motorhome by the axle there isn't anymore weight on the springs or frame than if the tire is holding it up. Going down the road and hitting a bump adds a tremendous amount of weight to where the springs connect to the body but jacking it up doesn't put anymore weight on the springs or frame

Bill Johnson · 02-05-2022, 07:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hooligan2

Mercedes must have seen the same show. Mercedes manual after two pages of instruction on jacking includes the following;
"Only position the jack on points intended for this purpose. Do not place the jack on the leaf spring or the differential case, you could otherwise damage the vehicle"

Sprinter uses a unibody frame which lacks the rigidity of a truck frame so there may be a valid concern.

This post has been on the internet from years and years ago. no one knows why sprinter says that only jacking points can be used, many people think it's the shape of the jack that it only fits the jacking spots and using it anywhere else the curve in the top of the jack doesn't fit other places. in 2014 the RV manufactures covered up one of the jacking points in the rear and when the owners contacted them they said they wouldn't fix it, so without a jack point on that side no one ever jacked up that side of the camper

Hooligan2 · 02-06-2022, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Johnson

........................ in 2014 the RV manufactures covered up one of the jacking points in the rear and when the owners contacted them they said they wouldn't fix it, so without a jack point on that side no one ever jacked up that side of the camper

Always a workaround. Also not in Sprinter manual..

Bill Johnson · 02-06-2022, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hooligan2

Always a workaround. Also not in Sprinter manual..

I love this one. I think that truck is built on the Sprinter chassis and he's welding jacking pads under the truck

Bill Johnson · 02-06-2022, 05:33 PM

The more I blow it up it looks like he's welding the gas tank

racefan · 02-07-2022, 06:18 PM

I just talked to a Sprinter repair shop.(only does Sprinters & Sprinter motor homes) He didn’t see a problem with jacking the rear at the axle using the spring perch like the drawing that Bill Johnson shared. He thinks Mercedes saying “don’t jack using the axle tube” is the legal dept. speaking.

racefan · 02-15-2022, 12:55 AM

I solved my problem. I had an old scissor jack and cut the cradle off and it fits the bottle jack perfect. I bolted it on so it can be removable if need be. I took two 4”x12”x1/4” steel plates and welded them to make a stabilizer plate and used some flat bar to make tabs to hold the jack to the plate. I lifted the rear at the axle tube where the springs mount. Worked great and didn’t have to lift it so far up to get the tire off the ground.

Bill Johnson · 02-15-2022, 02:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by racefan

I solved my problem. I had an old scissor jack and cut the cradle off and it fits the bottle jack perfect. I bolted it on so it can be removable if need be. I took two 4”x12”x1/4” steel plates and welded them to make a stabilizer plate and used some flat bar to make tabs to hold the jack to the plate. I lifted the rear at the axle tube where the springs mount. Worked great and didn’t have to lift it so far up to get the tire off the ground.

Fantastic job, Did you put on street slicks, lol