Thread: New D3 bottle jack

They aren't the most stable things in the world, but neither is the factory scissor jack.

You wouldn't find me under the vehicle with either jack.

I don't see a problem with it. Am I missing something?

Cheers, Steve

Using the air jack for fixing a flat is more of a "scare-scare" than a "no-no". I've had to use the air bag twice when had a flat on sand. I do the following:

1. Remove the good spare and loosely tie a rope or strap around it. Then place the good spare tyre on its side (when in sand, outside down to protect the rim struts),
2. Do a really good job of chocking all other 3 wheels (or the D3 will just flop off the air-jack - very spectacular but sad), then use the air jack to lift the D3,
Slide the good spare tyre under the frame between the air-jack and the flat tyre (so if the bag suddenly deflates it lands on the tyre - probably damaging the tyre and rim but at least not causing the D3 to roll or land on me). Make sure that the rope/strap handle is outwards for pulling the tyre out later,
3. Take the flat tyre off, install another rope/strap on the flat tyre, then slide it under the frame next to the good spare tyre (rope/strap on outside), then
4. Slide out the spare tyre using the rope/strap and install the spare on the axle,
5. Slide out the flat tyre using the rope/strap,
6. Deflate the air jack, and finally
7. Put the flat tyre where it belongs for transport.

By doing this, at no times are my hands or body ever under the D3 unless at least one wheel+tyre is under the frame to catch it should the air jack fail, and the D3 is also protected from rolling should the air jack deflate. It's also a good idea to have all other passengers stay out of and well away from the D3 while doing this.

Crikey! A well thought out process, indeed, but a bit of a saga too it seems. Good to know about if a wheel change is needed on soft sand (so long as one is packing an air jack, that is!), but I'm now wondering which is the lesser drama for your bog-standard flat on the side of the road situation? Bottle jacks appear to have their issues with size and lift - unless someone has found the magic unit that is squat enough to fit yet lifts high enough to get the replacement wheel on. And the air jack- well, I'm still of the mind that I've read plenty of places that it's a bit dodgy (well, potentially dodgy anyway) - and DMJ's procedure seems to underline that. Anyone found a really small fold-up trolley jack?

If you drop a car on yourself the fire brigade will likely use an compressor powered exhaust jack to lift it up again.

The Jag XJ220 came with an air bag jack for changing the spare.

They are like any "tool" which lifts 2.5t a foot in a the air. Observe and understand the risks and you'll be fine.

My jack does not deflate that quickly when you open the valve and the material is fibre reinforced so that damage does not result in a pop. It is under quite low pressure after all.

I've looked at it and decided that air jacks are the least bad of the options.

Cheers, Steve

Air bag is the best option for the D3. They are more versatile as they can be used on all surfaces. They are much more stable than the one LR supply.
I carry a single axle stand with the air jack when ever I go on a trip in case I need to get under the vehicle. Other wise for on road I will use the scissor jack or call LRA.

Okay - so, does anyone want to nominate a decent air jack then, bearing in mind the likely dual uses of lifting the vehicle out of a bog once in a while and making the occasional wheel change when not on flat bitumen? I know this has probably been covered plenty of times elsewhere on the forum, but since we've weaved our way through bottle jacks and other options to get to this point it might be useful to bring some suggestions in here too.

Sorry, I read this thread a while ago, and read it again just then, and can't find an easy summary for the Bottle Jack. What is the recommended minimum height, and what is the required maximum to clear the extended mode? Today at SuperCheap Auto I saw a Pro Lift 4000kg jack which has a minimum clearance of 204mm and a maximum of 391mm. Will this do the job?

I looked at this one as an option - figured the minimum height might just fit under chassis rail with a flat, but that the lift would be insufficient. As yet, I've not found one anywhere that appears to give the necessary combination of low minimum height with sufficient overall lift.