Thread: How does a service truck lift the rear of a 3?

I was surfing the net and found a source in the USA for the Bushranger X Jack for about $US250 plus tax plus shipping.

I think it is about the same model you have; 4 ton lifting capacity, lifts 30 inches, and is 36 inches in diameter.

OKoffroad.com Recovery Gear - Power Jac

This really does look like the answer to safe lifting in the winter.

I assume that you just set the bag on one side or the other at about where the front and rear doors come together?

Regarding lifting on the left side, I assume lifting where the doors come together misses the air compressor and does not cause the air tank any damage either?

Yes, probably made in China, but I assume designed in Australia as it appears pretty durable and tall enough to lift a 3.

I was under my 3 at the rear looking for tie down points on the weekend and noticed on each side, four holes total in the vertical portions of the boxed frame members, (2 per side, each approximately 24 mm id), a foot or so forward of the rear bumper.

These holes looked like they could be used for Defender style JATE rings.

I wondered if anyone had installed anything like JATE rings to the rear of a 3?

I was not looking for what I would call a recovery point - there is a good one where the trailer electrical plugs into, but instead was looking for somewhere a conventional North American tow truck could hook its "security chains" - that is what I call them anyway. Some of our older tow trucks have a sling thing at the rear that used to work well when all our vehicles were rear wheel drive and had a frame.

The security chains were usually wrapped around the rear axle or hooked to the frame. Now most vehicles lack both a frame and a conventional solid rear axle, (as does the 3).

Off the shelf JATE rings suitable for a Defender would not fit on the 3. The frame on the 3 is about 100 mm wide vs about 80 mm for the Defender and the location of the referenced holes means the JATE rings would have to have longer verticals than is required for the Defender. A standard Defender JATE ring about 85mm inside width.