Thread: Bottle jacking

Bottle jacks and their screw predecessors have been being used without axle stands to change tyres for at least 100 years, so I can't really see a problem.

Any convenient part of the axle can be used, I usually use the section just behind the lower link attachment at the rear, and on the weld outboard of the front radius arm at the front. Two important points - chock the other wheel on the same axle, and use a flat plate to spread the load of the jack on soft or uneven ground. And never get under the vehicle when supported only by the jack - make sure it is up high enough to clear the spare (inflated and possibly with more tread) before removing the wheel with the flat tyre.

The previous owner of my 110 had ditched the LR jack and replaced it with a bottle jack, so i have never used anything else.

John

Originally Posted by JDNSW

Bottle jacks and their screw predecessors have been being used without axle stands to change tyres for at least 100 years, so I can't really see a problem....

John

- Thanks John - yes I am clueless.

Originally Posted by Scallops

- Thanks John - yes I am clueless.

No, I would not say that - perhaps did not think before typing or perhaps did not know a lot of motoring history.

Chassis or bumper jacks started being used in the 1940s, but did not become common, at least in this country, until the sixties, but even then it is quite easy for people to have grown up well into adulthood without ever realising that there was another way of changing tyres, one that came first, and is still the standard for any vehicles except light passenger vehicles.

Actually, screw axle jacks certainly go well back into the 19th century for horsedrawn vehicles, and possibly well before that, although I doubt they were in use before the introduction of screw cutting lathes at the end of the eighteenth century, by Ramsden, Wilkinson or Maudslay depending what you call the first screw cutting lathe.

John

wow, i'd never thought about when screw jacks were invented or used.
dan
the jack you have bought might need an adapter or something just to make the top of it a bit more positively secure when jacking, remind me at the meeting and i will show you the disco jack and why i say this.

Can I just say that I'm interested in getting one of these. However the problem is I still need to take my normal jack because if I have a suspension failure (like a spring break) a bottle jack isn't much use to me

It seems from reading similar threads over the years here that people prefer bottle jacks. They come standard with truck cab Defenders but my Wagon has the long stem jack. I've only ever needed to use it to change tyres and luckily this hasn't occurred often enough for me to have a strong opinion about which jack is better.

Last flat I got out on the road i think I borrowed the bottle jack from another person and it did seem easier to use.

It is the storage of the long stem jack under the seat that can be mildly irritating and my motivation in getting a bottle jack would derive from this. I'd want to leave the stem jack behind though Capt Rightfoot's comments re fixing suspension probs are duly noted.

What is the cause of people's dislike of the standard Defender jack - is it just ease of use/storage?

This is my main worry with them.

Defender jack warning

You could argue that this could happen with any jack but I think the defender one is far more prone to it.

ok if you all want a good jack, try to source a disco one jack, it's a little beauty.