10/21/2006 6:47p
I didnt want to keep hijacking someone elses thread, so i started this one..I was wondering what jack would work to change a tire on my truck, and where were the lift points.....i had contemplated a Hi-Lift jack,..but some of you have said they aren't that great....
The whole reason i started this thread was to find a jack for "OFFROAD" casualities..
I had seen a few companies that offered an exhaust jack,...but after looking at those companies a little closer,...none could do a lifted truck,...and if you look closely at thier pictures on thier sites,....none of them actually jacked the tire completely off the ground,...they only had pics of thier product jacking up the frame....which is useless,...atleast to me it is.
So because I couldn't find a product to suit my needs, and being low on cash......I made my own
I used a boat fender that washed up at the pier (I'm in the Coast Guard), some rope, fittings, ball valve, etc,..
pic#1.....it folds up smaller than this,,,but because it's a heavy duty boat fender,...and the rubber is pretty thick, it makes is difficult to keep it folded and take a pic at the same time,...remember these things are made to have 30 ton and larger boats squish them against a pier.
pic#2;.... unfolded....I got some rope, and made a net around it, just in case I have a blow out, rubber shrapnel wouldn't fly everywhere
pic#3 ;...shows how high it is un inflated,....but like I said it will squish smaller
pic #4 ...I put a 5 foot hose on it with a ball valve, so I wouldn't have to be under the truck or bent over to inflate it, and it makes it easier to deflate it.
pic#5... fully inflated...remember all it has to do is go under your axle.....so you dont need to inflate it this much...unless your axle is as high as my front bumper....lol
pic#6 ....28" high when air lift bag is on it's side....actual lift w/ squish, i lifted the truck up and it raise my front tire up about 11", probably could of went higher........then i dropped it, and put a couple small 4x4 wood blocks under it...and it raised it even higher
pic#7....49" high when air lift bag is on its end....w/ squish around 35" of lift( just guessing, it stopped before that, because i dont need to go that high).....when it is in this position ( best to lift it at the frame), it squish's the ends and makes a perfect rubber drum (like a keg shape)
pic#8 ....Just as another precaution, I used some heavy duty rubber tool bench material,...to stop any bolts, rocks, sticks, or anything else from puncturing the air lift bag..
Sorry i dont have any pics of it lifting up the truck,....trust me though it does exactly what i said it does,....i spent a whole day doing it,...
I live on base, and i did it about a hundred times, because the word traveled fast around the base that I made something out of a boat fender that would lift the front end of my 8,600 pound truck off the ground, so i had to prove it to each person on base,....it seems like every time i put it all away,...another person would come by the house and ask to see it..
Sorry guys for the crappy pics....it was raining out,...so all the pics had to be taken in my garage
whatcha think?
