Jacks, Alternatives (1 Viewer)

[bhs]

Having recently had a puncture, which of course recked the tyre, I had to call the breakdown service because the jack supplied with the van was not up to the job, rated at 1750 Kg I suppose it might lift the rear quarter of a laden van in theory but it was not budging with the dainty little ratchett device supplied, base vehicle is 1999 ducato on hymer 574, standard 3500kg max, the fiat handbook says jack should only be used on unladen van, that is never going to happen with a Hymer body,

question is what are sensible alternatives, am so close to max load I have taken tow bar off already,

I have a small bottle jack that says 2 ton, don't believe that either, it Halfords brand

thanks again

 

[sdc77]

Some people use inflatable bags which are awesome and I wish I had one..

 

[2657]

Screwfix used to do an 8 ton bottle jack at reasonable money, they still do:

Broken Link Removed

If you can't get the jack under because of the deflated tyre then`either carry a block to run up onto or if possible run onto the spare.

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[Lenny HB]

Any of the DIY jacks rated at 2 ton are not going to do the job, ideally a 5 ton trolly jack but heavy if you are tight on payload. I recently used a mobile tyre fitter he had an aluminum 2.5 ton trolly jack it was about the same size as a 5 ton steel one it lifted the van with ease, it was a professional one so not cheap. A 5 ton bottle jack would probably do it, but bottle jacks have a very small contact area so not very stable unless modified.

Edit:
Just looked at aluminium trolly jacks only part aluminium and weigh around 28kg, so forget that idea.

 

[deleted-member02]

I had the same problem last summer, supplied tools are far from good enough.

Now carry a 5t bottle jack (8t would be great but quite heavy) and torque wrench.

Screwfix stock them both at reasonable prices.

In the event of breakdown RAC Europe were excellent, service couldn't have been better.

 

[scotjimland]

If you decide on a bottle jack, check that it can actually fit under the axle with a flat tyre.. and as mentioned it has a small contact area it is better suited to other lifting and pushing jobs around the workshop..

for wheel changing, a trolley jack is preferable, but as said, quite heavy..
don't forget to also carry a pair of axle stands .. Machine mart has a good selection ..

Best calling the breakdown man , changing yourself should be a last resort..

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[bhs]

would prefer breakdown assistance but am already 2 call outs towards our alotted 5 (scenic)
Also expecting some pretty isolated territory if the trip goes to plan.

 

[vwalan]

lifting under the axle on many coach builts wont give enough wheel arch room to get the wheel off . you have to lift the body and let the wheel dangle on the axle . many get caught out by this .
usually there will be jacking points to allow this to happen

 

[Peter A Forbes]

Remember to get hold of a set of wheel chocks.

If you need to jack the back end of the van up, that's the handbrake end on most vehicles. While one wheel 'might' hold the van on a gradient, you wouldn't want to find out it didn't the hard way.

Our Discovery has a transmission handbrake so either rear wheel off the ground = no handbrake. Chocks are supplied in the tool kit.

A couple of bits of 4" X 2" X 12" long will do the job in most situations.

Peter

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[pappajohn]

lifting under the axle on many coach builts wont give enough wheel arch room to get the wheel off . you have to lift the body and let the wheel dangle on the axle . many get caught out by this .
usually there will be jacking points to allow this to happen

Agreed Alan, but many jacks dont have the neccessary lift to get the wheel clear of the ground.
if you put the jack on blocks to get the amount of lift needed, when you lower the jack the chassis may not be high enough to release the jack.

A rock and a hard place.

I have a 2 ton bottle/scissor hybrid which is low enough to fit under most axles.