23 replies to this topic

[ntsqd]

Years ago one of the Dune Buggy Brigade (he in the camo boonie hat) bought the predecessor to the ARB exhaust jack and tested it out in his driveway. With the flat bottom of the dune buggy and his nice driveway slab he could roll the buggy in any direction he wanted to take it.

 

About a year later we finally had a use for it. Under my buggy, in Odessa Canyon of the Calicos. Punctured the sidewall of BFG's newly launched and high thought of "Tri-Guard Sidewall." The offending point wasn't very big or very sharp. I wasn't impressed.

 

 

I do not like hydraulic jacks for field use. Seems like the orientation that I need to use it in is rarely upright, and that is the only orientation that they work in. I've grossly exceeded the GVWR of the truck in the loading on my old Toyota pick-up's mechanical screw jack and it's like a Timex.

I do carry a skidplated small hyd. floor jack for changing tires on the FSB and the racers that I use it to chase, but I went out of my way to scrunge up the missing bits from the junk yard that were needed for the fSB's own mechanical jack to be usable.

[Wango]

J Hanson,

Thank you for a great article. Like some people, i have had to start with cheaper options, and work my way up to better and costlier alternative jack options. I won't tell how many of the jacks mentioned in your article i currently own, but suffice it to say that over the last three years, i have added several.

I will be soon moving my hi lift jack out of its box on the back of my bed, along with the bottle jack beside it. Replacing them with the humvee jack (permanently) and bringing one of the others as dictated by terrain.

I have had two tire failures with our camping rig, both made much more difficult by the jacks i carried. Now, i am much more confidant in my  ability to change tires safer and easier.

I still hope to never use any of them again!

[Smokecreek1]

Thanks for adding more info to this ever important subject. Like Lighthawk. I too have a Camel racer adapted  High Lift/shovel combination  on the rear of my Granby Four Wheel  Camper (with all the adapters so I can use it on with my F150).  I also carry a bottle jack and both a tow rope and a jerk rope, the issue Ford jack and for good measure. I have a "come-a long-just in case !"  Boy some of those new types sure look interesting but I don't know if I have the room for any more new things to get "unstuck " with! 

 

I've spent a good part of my life in play and work in the back country over these last 50 or so years. and  getting stuck or helping  someone else getting "Unstuck"  goes with the experience!  Except for those times when  I had a winch available,  a shovel, some 2x4's (or any nearby brush, rocks, fence posts, etc.,)  and a jerk rope and my  ever present :"Handy Man" Jack usually got me :"Unstuck"! Even with all the above mentioned problems with the handy man jack, it still has been my main "go-to" tool over these years and its' dependability and durability  is why!  Of course, old age, a bad back and experience will also tell you when it's time to stop and think before you get into a situation where you get  stuck in the first place!

 

Smoke

[Old Crow]

Several years ago I saw a post about using hockey pucks with these Humvee jacks and thought I'd give it a try yesterday.  I had bought pucks off Amazon and picked up a 1-1/8" hole saw from my local Ace Hardware.

 

The reason these jacks need an adapter is they have a pin at the top.

 

First photo shows the pin.  It's diameter is just under 1-1/8" and it's just over an inch high.

 

 

Second photo shows a single puck on the pin.   Pucks are nominally  3" in diameter and 1" thick but these measure a tiny bit over.

 

 

Third photo shows a double-puck on the pin.  I used 1/4x20 machine screws, 1-3/4" long. I used a 1/2" spade bit to countersink them.

 

 

As I drilled out the pucks I noticed the vise was putting a bit of a pattern into the rubber of the pucks.  I decided that's a good thing and patterned the surface of the pucks.

 

All three adapters fit in the jack's canvas carrying case.

.

 

Edited 12/5 to add:

 

Test lift with the double-puck didn't go well.  See post #20.

Edited by Old Crow, 06 December 2021 - 01:13 AM.

[JHanson]

Very clever! I wonder if you could countersink the screws a bit more and dish the top on to fit more securely under a solid axle?

[ntsqd]

Maybe with one of these:

 

https://www.arbortec...us/turbo-plane/

 

[craig333]

Or machine an adaptor to fit a https://safejacks.co...for-bottle-jack

[JHanson]

The only issue I can see with the hockey-puck hack is whether the material is configured to withstand that kind of compression. Clearly they're designed to be abused, but not in that particular fashion! 

 

Besides material, the advantage to the Agile Off Road adapter is its security whether set as an axle or a chassis support.

[ntsqd]

I'd be more inclined to make some tabs etc. that the pin locates in and weld them to the vehicle that will carry the jack.

[Old Crow]

The only issue I can see with the hockey-puck hack is whether the material is configured to withstand that kind of compression. Clearly they're designed to be abused, but not in that particular fashion! 

 

Besides material, the advantage to the Agile Off Road adapter is its security whether set as an axle or a chassis support.

 

It appears you're onto something.   This afternoon I tried lifting the front corner of my Transit using the double-puck adapter and didn't like what I saw....

 

 

Yikes!