Trolley jack for the D4

[simoncs]

Hi

I was thinking of getting a trolley jack to use in the garage.

Would 2.5t and 483mm extension be suitable?

eg
SCA Trolley Jack - Hydraulic, 2500kg - Supercheap Auto Australia (http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/online-store/products/SCA-Trolley-Jack-Hydraulic-2500kg.aspx?pid=218606#Description)

thanks

[101RRS]

I think you will need a jack with a higher lift - I have something similar and have to use blocks of wood on top of the jack to get the wheels up off the ground. You will need as a minimum to have the same height as the OEM jack.

Garry

[bbyer]

My trolley jack per the link below has about the same rating as your link but mine is an old one, (30 years now), and I think ratings were more conservative back then. My jack is an early Jet model out of Japan.

And yes, I think your newer one will not lift high enough. From the ground to the top of the saddle, on my Jet, the distance is about 21" (530 mm) and that is none too much.

Add to that another inch or so, the thickness of the pin adapter that I had made up to insert into the holes in the underside of the frame members and you have just enough to almost get an inflated tyre to clear the pavement.

I use a second jack, a little bottle jack set under an A arm to provide the additional lift to get the rubber clear of the pavement. Also, I then do not have to jack the trolley jack full height; I use it more to carry the vehicle load and the bottle jack to left the wheel clear. When I jack to full height, the wheels do their thing as the trolley jack moves inwards as the 3 tilts over.

I attached a couple of jpg's as the link below seems to display the intended file, but the naming is odd.

DISCO3.CO.UK Photo Gallery - LR3 miscellaneous/Power and Heated Seats Electrical Schematic (http://www.disco3.co.uk/gallery/displayimage.php?album=3801&pos=23)

[SBD4]

In Bodsys Brake Bible he recommends a jack capable of 520mm lift minimum. Chapter 3 is dedicated to explaining jacking and placing the vehicle on stands.

http://www.disco3.co.uk/gallery/albums/userpics/11748/Bodsys_Brake_Bible_V1.3.pdf

To others that will know, why can't you (trolley) jack from under the lower control arm? Doing this would get the tyre off the ground in no time. What damage would you risk by doing this?

[SuperMono]

After looking around for an Australian made automotive trolley jack without success, I bought the heaviest jack (Chinese made) I could find a couple of weeks ago.
Ended up finding an old stock unit at the local Autobarn that is built like a brick s*&%house compared to the current stock they had.

It still says 2.5tonne, but lift is at least 550mm and the castor wheels are about 3 times the size of those shown on the Supercheap site. Heavy bugger but it throws the D3 into the air easily and is quite broad and long so pretty stable.

Suggest that if you are not using the jack to make a living my methodology of weight and size is reasonable, otherwise invest in a quality bit of kit and pay a lot more money.
I am another that generally uses more than 1 jack to do a task on the 4WD, 1 to lift plus 1 to control. The lifter is now the trolley jack, the control either a 10tonne (2 stage) bottle jack (this lives in the car) or a 1.5tonne lightweight trolley jack.
You can never have too many jacks :)

[bbyer]

To others that will know, why can't you (trolley) jack from under the lower control arm? Doing this would get the tyre off the ground in no time. What damage would you risk by doing this? Well I am not in the know, but a trolley jack will work under the A arm with a provision - that it not carry all the weight of the vehicle corner.

Actually I have a mini trolley jack that I sometimes use under the A arm rather than the bottle jack, but I still use the big trolley jack to carry the weight of the vehicle.

Yes, I know the suspension assembly can carry the weight and dynamic load of at least one corner of the 3 but personally I do not like the idea of the dead load concentrated on the underside of an A arm - just does not seem right to me.

In spite of what I just said, for a front wheel, jacking only under a lower front A arm is really fast and does not seem to put any real stress on the jack or anything else. With about an inch of lift, the rubber is off the pavement, and the jack barely feels like it is doing any work.

I think the suspension just compresses a bit; the same does not seem to apply to the rear - the jack seems to have to work to a get a inch of lift, hence if lazy, I will on the front but not the rear. Hence on the front, I can change a tyre in about 10 minutes; the rear takes me about a half hour each side and with much huffing and puffing.

[Judo]

Can't help on the D4 specific part, but I was in Autobarn with my dad on the weekend and he wanted a new trolley jack. It was $100 more than a Supercheap special, so they knocked $100 off the price on the spot. Hint, hint....

[Graeme]

I use a trolly jack under the bottom of the shock/air-spring and lift the tyre just off the ground, with the suspension at on-road height. The suspension sometimes settles on other wheels a little but that doesn't matter. The jack is only lifting the shock's static load so just a little jack suffices. I use axle stands under the chassis if getting under though.

[simoncs]

thanks guys,

i was hoping for a simple solution that would have been quicker than using the OEM jack. But if it requires using two jacks then i can't see that being much quicker. I am not keen to start jacking up the car from other points to be honest (i guess out of ignorance more than anything), for a safety aspect.

I did see a highlight hydraulic jack on ebay that extends to 800mm - Perfect problem solved, except that they want $6000 for it :eek:

[Judo]

Exhaust jack?

X-Jack Exhaust Jack | ARB 4x4 Accessories (http://www.arb.com.au/products/arb-recovery-equipment/jacks/)

There are plenty of cheap ones around at Super Cheap Auto, Autobarn, Ebay, etc...

[101RRS]

Exhaust jack?

X-Jack Exhaust Jack | ARB 4x4 Accessories (http://www.arb.com.au/products/arb-recovery-equipment/jacks/)

There are plenty of cheap ones around at Super Cheap Auto, Autobarn, Ebay, etc...

There is no way I would use an exhaust jack as a garage jack.

There are plenty of trolly jacks that will do the job you just have to fund them - Gasweld have them and Cosco have a nice trolly jack that will do the job for about $160 I think.

I recently bought an Aldi 12v sissors jack and it will lift my car OK - well clear of the ground when placed under the chassis at the lifting points.

Garry

[stray dingo]

When I changed engines in my first car (vw beetle), I borrowed a truckie mate's trolley jack - about 900mm lift. Would do the job nicely - just takes two people to move it