Hydraulic bottle Jack
Submitted: Tuesday, Jul 20, 2004 at 13:46
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DrewT
Went out and replaced my original Prado120 screw-type bottle jack the other day (a 1.8tonne job with a lift range of 205 - 485mm = 280mm lift)
Have since found that the aftermarket bottle jack i purchased (a 6tonne job from SuperCheapAuto with a 125mm lift) hasn't got sufficient lift for my tyres.
I'm running 265/70/17 tyres & therefore would need a 186mm lift (70% of 265) in the case of the rim touching the ground & needing to jack the wheel high enough to fit a new wheel. Front wheels are actually worse because the official lift point is the chassis rail & therefore you also have to allow for the
suspension expansion as
well.
Did a search on the internet and the only (reasonable) size jacks anywhere near this lift are approx 12tonne jacks with a 155 or 170mm lift. Then you have the additional complication of the closed height being too great to fit under the car (not to mention that you can't store it away in the original jack storage spot
Yeah sure I could run the flat tyre up on a block of wood; or use both the original and aftermarket jack, or original jack and airbag in tandem to eventually reach the right height etc .. but surely there is a nice squat jack out there with a decent lift capacity & decent lift height
Has anyone discovered one??
Reply By: Muddy 'doe (SA) - Tuesday, Jul 20, 2004 at 17:28
Tuesday, Jul 20, 2004 at 17:28
Drew,
As pointed out above, I would love to hear your reason for changing the jack.
I had cause to remove the front drivers side wheel the other week. Had to remove all the clay from my little adventure that had worked its way into the back of the alloys and was throwing the wheel balance out.
Parked on level concrete I stuck the jack underneath and started winding. There was 10" of free space before the jack touched the bottom of the chassis rail. After reading Roachies comments then this would obviously be a bit different if the tyre was completely flat. When I got to the top of the jack the tyre was still just touching the ground with enough weight that I could not get it off the studs. I let it down again and stuck a 2' block under it. This time it was fine. The Cooper AT's are about 10mm bigger in radius than the originals so that must be the difference.
The jack was pretty slow though. A slightly faster one would be good. If there was a 3 stage version that was the same size it would be perfect I reckon. Let me know if you find one.
Cheers
Steven
AnswerID:
68682
Follow Up By: DrewT - Tuesday, Jul 20, 2004 at 18:31
Tuesday, Jul 20, 2004 at 18:31
Reason for changing the jack was specifically to get one rated for a heavier load. The original Prado jack is rated for 1.8tonne. A heavily loaded car with perhaps an additional towbar load (camper?) would I hope still not exceed 1.8tonne on one wheel, but it sure adds a heap of extra load onto what appears to be a small screw type jack. I really have no evidence that the original jack can't do the job but was going with popular opinion that you are better off with a heavy duty jack, and preferably a hydraulic rather than screw or scissor type.
Looks like i'll be going back to the original Prado one with additional packing underneath until i find a hydraulic one with enough lift!!
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329213
Reply By: Peter 2 - Tuesday, Jul 20, 2004 at 20:06
Tuesday, Jul 20, 2004 at 20:06
Toyota has been making that type of jack for nearly 30 years, never seen one break yet. Would never rely on a hydraulic jack alone, the original jack with a larger base would be nearly as solid as a stand. The comment on laying hydraulic jacks on their side is valid too, any decent ones will have an arrow on the side to keep uppermost when using them sideways, cheap ones won't.
I'd keep the original and carry the hydraulic one as an additional spare, two jacks might get you out of trouble one day.
AnswerID:
68711
Reply By: Member - Rick (S.A.) - Tuesday, Jul 20, 2004 at 22:50
Tuesday, Jul 20, 2004 at 22:50
Drew T
I agree with Peter 2 that 2 jacks are better than one. And I feel for your position - I did a similar thing a few years ago with my Patrol. The mechanical screw jacks are Blood&*^$#%^!! hopeless, especially if there is a serious weight to lift. And on a new 4 x 4 a highlift jack is (unfortunately) useless, so that is not a realistic option...........
Anyhow, what I now do is carry the bull bag/power jack/exhaust jack, and use it in sand/bogs etc if stuck. If necessary I will use it to change a wheel or assist with a lift prior to using the bottle jack.
But for changing a wheel in road or track circumstances, I use a 6 t bottle jack. I have a 30 cm extension arm for the pumping handle so I am nort risking things by lying under the vehicle while jacking. I find this set up at least halves the time to swap a tyre over & I get less frustrated. I also carry a strong (read : not Super Cheap $ 6.00) wheel brace, with the correct socket end distinguished by a bit of paint sprayed on the arm & nut housing. And I carry two x HARDWOOD 3 " blocks of timber.
So here's how:
1) acknowledge that if the tyre is dead flat or v low, you may have to take 2 bites at the cherry. Jack as best possible, or use the exhaust jack; Use the blocks of timber to rest the vehicle on. MAKE SURE IT IS STABLE: DO NOT GET UNDERNEATH, prior to your second elevation/bite of the cherry.
2 ) NORMAL SCENARIO: get your base plate out, put
the block of HARDWOOD on the base plate; put bottle jack on top of that - position it under the chassis/axle - screw the extension out as far as possible before utilising the hydraulics, & go for it.
Use a hidey-hole in the rear compartment/under a seat/ etc to store base plate &
the block(s) of Hardwood. Store it out of the way 'cos although it has to be accessible, the main criteria is convenience of utilisation of space, not the ability to change tyres. By that i mean if you acess rear for fridge/camping /cooking/personal/food etc items, you will do this 100 times for every time you need the jack. So they are numer uno. not a lousy jack.
Hope this helps
AnswerID:
68743