Thread: What vehicle jack should I carry?

I carry a 1/2 inch thick piece of marine ply wood in the battery box to place the jack onto too stop the jack from sinking into mud.

Originally Posted by Samblers

What kind of vehicle jacks are people carrying for their Defenders?

I was off-road yesterday, which reminded myself of my need to get a suitable replacement for the factory bottle jack, which may be OK on the tarmac and at home, but might not be very suitable on rough/ loose/ slightly un-even ground… which lets face it is usually when you’re going to have to change a wheel.

Read some of the +/- regarding Hi-Lift jacks - is this what most people have???

Cheers, Sam

Base plate and bottle jack for changing tyres, hi lift for recovery jacking (filling in holes, etc).

Do Defenders come with a bottle jack? Mine came with a mechanical jack that was ok until I fitted 2" lifted springs, then it would lift it high enough, as it anchors on the chassis and you have to lift the springs until they stop extending. I now have a D2 bottle jack so I am not wasting time and energy lifting from the chassis but from the axle. I also carry a hi-lift jack but use it so little, that I forget how they work.

Jeff

Hmm... maybe the LR supplied bottle jack is OK then...

I suspect Hi-Lift jack would get seldom used

My tip, high-lift jacks don't fair too well when you use it to bend out a bent bull bar, do they Jeff?

Bottle jack 99.9% of the time. base plate 20cm x 20cm of 12mm ply board.

When using the high lift jack I have to put a steel rod through my rear coils to capture the coil to the relocation cone otherwise the travel exceeds the hi lift jack travel. it gets all very iffy using a high lift jack on the rear. The centre of weight bearing it too high my liking. I try to avoid the high lift jack unless absolutely necessary. that said i still carry one permanently in the truck.

MLD

Is that the LR-supplied bottle jack (thats what my 2010 110 came with) or a longer-travel equivalent?

I might pass on the Hi-Lift and work on making my bottle jack more accessible (its buried under the passenger seat behind my aux battery )

There is a good thread re high lift jacks in the recovery subforum (sorry on my phone so can't post a link)

The bottle jack is certainly a safer option for changing tyres, but may struggle on rougher surfaces / roads.

Hi

Watching a LR Training video a couple of weeks ago reminded me how useful an air jack can be as well, especially on sand

+1 for the high lift jack thread as well, some excellent info there

Steve