Jacking Off Road - Best Practices

[broadicustomworks]

I carry a Power Built in one of my Rigs (whatever My wife is wheeling on the trip, and shortened farm jack (48in with the bar cut down to 37", so it fits inside the back with a bolt to the rollbar) in the Bronco.

Farm Jacks are dangerous tools, I seldom use one for lifting a vehicle, but the versatility for other uses in recovery is pretty undeniable. (Breaking beads on tires, short winch jobs, Lift and push to move a vehicle).

The Power Built bottle/jack stand linked several times above is by far my favorite tool for lifting a vehicle though, I store the handle, cradle, and cradle pin separately in the vehicle tool box, and secure the base/bottle with a simple l-bracket and screw knob from a hardware store.

I'd like to see your mount design. I already have some ideas, but I also tend to overbuild or over-engineer stuff too like it has to survive re-entry from orbit.
Thanks @popo_patty for the dims given on the base. Helps with planning out the eventual mount and knowing how much space it is going to take up vertically as well.

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[zuke]

I'd like to see your mount design. I already have some ideas, but I also tend to overbuild or over-engineer stuff too like it has to survive re-entry from orbit.
Thanks @popo_patty for the dims given on the base. Helps with planning out the eventual mount and knowing how much space it is going to take up vertically as well.

You're gonna hate the way I mount stuff But I'll snap a pic and post it tonight...

 

[cynicalrider]

I just bought the kit to make a tauler jack!

Yeah I have a kit and the jack sitting in the garage, thinking about gusseting the foot pad though.

You're gonna hate the way I mount stuff But I'll snap a pic and post it tonight...

I am thinking about picking on eup for the other truck so interested in what you come up with.

 

[MsPickles]

I thought about the standard bottle jack, but I was worried about it leaking with varying altitudes, air pressure changes. So the old F250/350 screw jack it is, with some mods to make it work for stability in soils.

 

[DriveAllNight]

I sometimes have to laugh at comments about the high lift/ farm jack, I was/am a child of the 70s and growing up this is what cars had including my parent's cars, but never called by those names. They were just car jacks.

When the scissor jacks came on the scene, people would say they are crap and unsafe.

Times change, knowing how to properly use things helps, but we all do sketchy sh!t sometimes.

None of this matters to this thread, just putting everything into perspective. For me it's about what works best and is portable enough.

There's no place for the high lift inside and I don't want it on the outside. I use the scissor because it's out if the way, but I hate them. That 3ton lift looks nice and the price is right, but I wish you could fold it down. A swivel base plate that folds, and the ability for it to lay on its side, as is, it takes up a decent amount of floor space. I wouldn't have a problem snapping and tightening a few pieces together before having to jack up if it means better storing options.

 

[Mike T]

A lot of people swear by the off-road floor jacks. I bought a badlands to see the hype. Just wasn’t impressed honestly, sure it’s a great Jack and works in a variety of terrain. But it’s just sooo heavy and expensive and takes up so. Much. Room.

I got the power built bottle Jack, it’s safe, light, jacks up really high and has built in Jack stand as well. Used that, hi-lift and badlands off-road Jack. I prefer the power built bottle Jack now. It works on my lifted bronco just fine.

https://motleyind.com/products/3-ton-all-in-one-jackstand-bottle-jack?_pos=1&_sid=a2b833725&_ss=r

How have I never seen this before! Looks like a great set up. Edited to remove dimension question

 

[timhood]

I sometimes have to laugh at comments about the high lift/ farm jack, I was/am a child of the 70s and growing up this is what cars had including my parent's cars, but never called by those names. They were just car jacks.

When the scissor jacks came on the scene, people would say they are crap and unsafe.

Times change, knowing how to properly use things helps, but we all do sketchy sh!t sometimes.

None of this matters to this thread, just putting everything into perspective. For me it's about what works best and is portable enough.

There's no place for the high lift inside and I don't want it on the outside. I use the scissor because it's out if the way, but I hate them. That 3ton lift looks nice and the price is right, but I wish you could fold it down. A swivel base plate that folds, and the ability for it to lay on its side, as is, it takes up a decent amount of floor space. I wouldn't have a problem snapping and tightening a few pieces together before having to jack up if it means better storing options.

The biggest dislike of the scissor jacks was how many times the screw has to be turned to lift and lower the wheel. Once I started using the DeWalt cordless impact driver to remove and reinstall lug nuts, it was an easy mental connection to use it to drive the jack. The PowerBuilt bottle jack seems like the best overall option in an off-road scenario. Of course, I think it's worth carrying this, too:

Might not even need the jack in some cases.

 

[DriveAllNight]

The biggest dislike of the scissor jacks was how many times the screw has to be turned to lift and lower the wheel. Once I started using the DeWalt cordless impact driver to remove and reinstall lug nuts, it was an easy mental connection to use it to drive the jack. The PowerBuilt bottle jack seems like the best overall option in an off-road scenario. Of course, I think it's worth carrying this, too:

Might not even need the jack in some cases.

Yup, you just described what I do

 

[Draughon]

Nobody? Just me? Okay, I'll see myself out...

 

[zuke]

I'd like to see your mount design. I already have some ideas, but I also tend to overbuild or over-engineer stuff too like it has to survive re-entry from orbit.
Thanks @popo_patty for the dims given on the base. Helps with planning out the eventual mount and knowing how much space it is going to take up vertically as well.

As promised it isn't anything Pretty;

Whenever I'm mounting a power built jack, I just find an edge to tuck it under on one side, and then put a rivnut or stud somewhere on the other side so I can use a threaded knob to lock it down with either an L-bracket, or a straight bracket if I have to go to the floor. This particular Pic is in the back of my TJ Rubi, I have a similar setup for it in my Wife's JKU, But that's up on the lift as I'm doing major axle renovations (She managed to actually rip her Front D44 in half at the last Big Dogs event!)

I have a Farm Jack in the Bronco, I believe that they should be kept in the vehicle when ever possible, as weathering is really hard on them, and I don't want it to fail when I want it...

They are easily cut to any length that is practical, and by cutting a 48" down, I was able to fit it upright in the back, and run a bolt into one of the existing threaded holes in the roll bar, Doing that really minimizes the amount of space you lose in storing one, and an ARB or a Tauler would actually consume more space than this does..

 

[cynicalrider]

As promised it isn't anything Pretty;

Whenever I'm mounting a power built jack, I just find an edge to tuck it under on one side, and then put a rivnut or stud somewhere on the other side so I can use a threaded knob to lock it down with either an L-bracket, or a straight bracket if I have to go to the floor, This particular Pic is in the back of my TJ Rubi, I have a similar setup for it in my Wife's JKU, But that's up on the lift as I'm doing major axle renovations (She managed to actually rip her Front D44 in half at the last Big Dogs event!)

I have a Farm Jack in the Bronco, I beleive that they should be kept in the vehicle when ever possible, as weathering is really hard on them, and I don't want it to fail when I want it...

They are easily cut to any length that is practical, and by cutting a 48" down, I was able to fit it upright in the back, and run a bolt into one of the existing threaded holes in the roll bar, Doing that really minimizes the amount of space you lose in storing one, and an ARB or a Trauler would actually consume more space than this does..

Theoretically yes but with far less ability to lift.

I believe when all said and done the Tauler jack will be only 25-28" tall with a max lift of 50+"

Also Big Dog's ftw.

IMG_0505 by MJH Creations, on Flickr

This was from when I last went in 2018 after we ran Pott's and half the Shenandoah and Allegheny Overland Loop.

IMG_0529 by MJH Creations, on Flickr

 

[HighVelocity]

This is an unfortunate sequence of threads:

 

[MNBigfoot]

I sometimes have to laugh at comments about the high lift/ farm jack, I was/am a child of the 70s and growing up this is what cars had including my parent's cars, but never called by those names. They were just car jacks.
......

I'm a farm kid from the same generation, we called our High-lift jack (that was general found in the rockbox on the tractor) either a "High-lift jack" or a "Farm jack". While are car jacks from the 60's and 70's had a similar design, we called those car-jacks but never a Hi-lift or a Farm jack either.

 

[EGSquatched]

Does everyone have the 2 ton or 3 ton power built jack?

Any issues with fitting it under the frame with a flat tire?

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