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Off-road jacks

The jack relies on pressure from the exhaust system for inflation, therefore the exhaust must not have any holes, spot-welded chrome extensions or gas leaks otherwise it will not be able to build up enough pressure to inflate the bag and lift the vehicle more details on - https://www.carid.com/mean-mother/9...BpxxX2jAqyvYAn14xr3a54N-AZ174tLYaAtBBEALw_wcB
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Wonder how much of a leak is a problem. With true dual exhaust you could pump off either bank (only 1 has to be leak free!), but with a crossover pipe you would need a plug for the other tailpipe. Seems like the size is the advantage. If the top of the drum is 1ft^2, it only takes 20psi to lift 3000 lbs. Getting just one tire off the ground would be even less. Seems like with the right adapter you could get it pumped up off the exhaust then switch to on-board air for the lifting. Anybody have experience with them? Seems less death-prone than a Hi-Lift, unless it pops.
 
diesel4me said:
I have a factory pickup truck jack,I think its GM,(they used to be mounted on the front inner fender well)--that has a long crank handle,a wide base,and the "piston" in it is in two telescopic sections (like a antenna on a radio)--it'll fit under an axle tube with a flat tire,and has enough height to lift it up high enough to change a pretty large tire..

It looks much like this one...I think some Ford trucks came factory with similar ones too..View attachment 263097
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I still carry one of these and add block underneath as needed.
 
I do have mixed feelings about trusting a harbor freight item to get my tire changed in the middle of nowhere. Their reliability is famously lacking for such a critical thing.
 
Blue85 said:
I still carry one of these and add block underneath as needed.
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Yeah...but that method causes problems when your tire is already flat. :doah:

Massive lift range isn't needed, but with the tire popped the stock jack was too tall to fit under the axle tube. I didn't get a good picture, but we wound up using my short floor jack to raise the axle high enough to get the blocked factory jack underneath.

That incident is what talked me into buying the aluminum racing jack. Solves both problems, as long as it isn't broken. :crazy:
 
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Blue85 said:
Wonder how much of a leak is a problem. With true dual exhaust you could pump off either bank (only 1 has to be leak free!), but with a crossover pipe you would need a plug for the other tailpipe. Seems like the size is the advantage. If the top of the drum is 1ft^2, it only takes 20psi to lift 3000 lbs. Getting just one tire off the ground would be even less. Seems like with the right adapter you could get it pumped up off the exhaust then switch to on-board air for the lifting. Anybody have experience with them? Seems less death-prone than a Hi-Lift, unless it pops.
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I've watched air bag jacks be used in recovery missions after accidents and they are quite impressive what they can lift--however I'd be paranoid a muffler clamp or one of the other 100 sharp objects on a vehicle's underside might puncture it and let the vehicle crash back down..might be unlikely ,with them being constructed so tough,but still a possibility..

Another thing that could happen,if the exhaust being used to inflate it happens to contain some unburnt fuel ,like if the engine was misfiring or had a dead cylinder..then you'd have a air bomb waiting to go off instead of an air jack!..

I know someone who had one of those "air pumps" you screwed in place of a spark plug to pump tires up,this seemed like a cool idea,using the engine as an air compressor--only drawback was you were filling your tires with a fuel/air mixture that is quite explosive..
A friend who worked in a tire shop 20 years told me of one incident when a tire guy was dismounting a tire with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth when the bead was broken,and it went "whoof" and set his beard and hair in fire in a flash!..(that taught him not to disobey the "No Smoking" sign in the shop!..)

The coolest "jack" I've seen for a vehicle is on of all things,a Citroen,a french car that has 4 hydraulic struts,that are controlled by 4 levers on the dash,much like a heater control in our old square bodies..
You can adjust them individually to alter the stiffness of the suspension and raise or lower the ride height--and if one tire happens to go flat,all you need to do is raise the other 3 wheels to maximum height and lower the one with the flat tire all the way,and the hydraulic cylinder sucks the tire up into the wheel well,and the car balances itself on the other 3 wheels..

Would it not be cool to have two double acting hydraulic cylinders mounted to the frame,one in the rear,one up front,with a load spreader bar on the piston end,that could be used to lift the whole rear or front end off the ground when you need to change a tire ?...
I think it would..I bet many more injuries result from jacking up a vehicle (or having it fall off the jack) ,that changing the tire does..
Anything to get yourself off a deadly interstate shoulder faster is worth having,IMO--..
 
diesel4me said:
I've watched air bag jacks be used in recovery missions after accidents and they are quite impressive what they can lift--however I'd be paranoid a muffler clamp or one of the other 100 sharp objects on a vehicle's underside might puncture it and let the vehicle crash back down..might be unlikely ,with them being constructed so tough,but still a possibility..

Another thing that could happen,if the exhaust being used to inflate it happens to contain some unburnt fuel ,like if the engine was misfiring or had a dead cylinder..then you'd have a air bomb waiting to go off instead of an air jack!..

I know someone who had one of those "air pumps" you screwed in place of a spark plug to pump tires up,this seemed like a cool idea,using the engine as an air compressor--only drawback was you were filling your tires with a fuel/air mixture that is quite explosive..
A friend who worked in a tire shop 20 years told me of one incident when a tire guy was dismounting a tire with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth when the bead was broken,and it went "whoof" and set his beard and hair in fire in a flash!..(that taught him not to disobey the "No Smoking" sign in the shop!..)

The coolest "jack" I've seen for a vehicle is on of all things,a Citroen,a french car that has 4 hydraulic struts,that are controlled by 4 levers on the dash,much like a heater control in our old square bodies..
You can adjust them individually to alter the stiffness of the suspension and raise or lower the ride height--and if one tire happens to go flat,all you need to do is raise the other 3 wheels to maximum height and lower the one with the flat tire all the way,and the hydraulic cylinder sucks the tire up into the wheel well,and the car balances itself on the other 3 wheels..

Would it not be cool to have two double acting hydraulic cylinders mounted to the frame,one in the rear,one up front,with a load spreader bar on the piston end,that could be used to lift the whole rear or front end off the ground when you need to change a tire ?...
I think it would..I bet many more injuries result from jacking up a vehicle (or having it fall off the jack) ,that changing the tire does..
Anything to get yourself off a deadly interstate shoulder faster is worth having,IMO--..
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I had these cars back home.
We used to drive on 3 wheels when we got a flat to get to a repair shop.
I miss them so nice to hugging the ground on highway then get to off road, pull the lever and up you go .
 
Blue85 said:
Wonder how much of a leak is a problem. With true dual exhaust you could pump off either bank (only 1 has to be leak free!), but with a crossover pipe you would need a plug for the other tailpipe. Seems like the size is the advantage. If the top of the drum is 1ft^2, it only takes 20psi to lift 3000 lbs. Getting just one tire off the ground would be even less. Seems like with the right adapter you could get it pumped up off the exhaust then switch to on-board air for the lifting. Anybody have experience with them? Seems less death-prone than a Hi-Lift, unless it pops.
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I have used them, they are built for 4 bangers, a v8 with leaks will pump it no problem
 
Mastiff said:
Do you put them under the body, or axle? Or more to the point, do you have to manage suspension droop?
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You can put them anywhere you want.
If you want to make sure to lift the axle put a wooden board on top, and pump it.
As far as droop with a hi lift, the solution is to chain the axle to the frame.
No amount of lift on a jack can lift a modified rock crawler with soft springs high enough from the body to lift the axle and change tires.
 
campfire said:
Yeah...but that method causes problems when your tire is already flat. :doah:

Massive lift range isn't needed, but with the tire popped the stock jack was too tall to fit under the axle tube. I didn't get a good picture, but we wound up using my short floor jack to raise the axle high enough to get the blocked factory jack underneath.


20160820_103502-jpg.212783


That incident is what talked me into buying the aluminum racing jack. Solves both problems, as long as it isn't broken. :crazy:
Click to expand...


Damn that looks like a good way to die
 
A quality scissor jack still seems like a great option if such a thing existed. They can pack small compared to how high they can lift, and they start low. It doesn't look like anyone has tried to make one though, at least not that I can find for sale.
 
Scissor-style is really common for RVs. You can get up to 30" lift, 2-3 tons, but they are really hard to crank at higher loads. You need to have a suitable top plate for an axle tube or whatever.

UF48-979031_10_250.jpg
 
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