Exhaust jacks....

[bertie_bas205]

Do any of you use these things? They attach to yer exhaust and can lift up to 4t....


Any input/views would be appreciated..





Bertie.

[CarpeDiem]

I've seen the draper 3ton ones in use, seem handy enough in certain situations, and reasonably priced.

[Roger]

This info. might be a bit late, but yes I have a Draper one.

Never needed to use it in anger yet but as it cost me about £10 I couldn't resist it.

In theory it should be ideal for use on sand and mud as it will spread the load well.

Only time will tell.

Roger

[SimonWH]

Make sure the lift is enough for your vehicle. There are jacks that are designed for cars with a 1 ton/300mm lift. Just about as useless as it is possible to be for an offroad truck.

The 'serious' jacks seem to be made in AUS and cost a packet.

I guess its a compromise between highest lift, weight capacity and pack-down size. No point carrying a huge one if it takes up more room than a jack.

I've had one on my wish list for a while.

[bertie_bas205]

I know there are cheaper ones out there.....

I'll buy a couple and try em out...

Simon, would ye be interested in one???





bertie.

[Damian]

The good thing about an air jack is that you can shove them under your axles, better than putting a Hi Lift under your bumper and then remembering you have long travel suspension!

[Roger]

You have got me wondering now Bertie.

I must try mine out.

Roger

[SimonWH]

[leeds]

[Roger]

www.ironman4x4.com list the Maxi exhaust jack, 4.2t lifting capacity, 750mm lifting height.

Cost is $240 Aussie. dollars

Roger

[4x4rick]

[Roger]

I have just had a trial run of my "Draper" air jack.

Picture 1 shows a successful lift with the wheel 3" off the ground.

3 other attempts failed. One under the chassis rail, one under the diff. and another under the axle adjacent to the wheel.

Points to note:-

1) getting a kink free hose is critical.

2) you get covered in soot and ex. gas when you remove the hose.

3) positioning the bag is fiddly.

The second picture shows the bag fully inflated. That is a 24" rule in front of the bag.

The air bag stays in the garage. I will use the Toyota bottle jack with a plywood base plate.

The air jack would better suit a lighter vehicle.

Roger

[Roger]

Put the hose assembly through the washing machine along with my work clobber.

30 deg. wash and the rubber funnel that you shove onto the ex. has split.

Poor quality.

Roger

[SimonWH]

Just another point, These are not only useful for changing a wheel, they can be used to get you out of the soft stuff, particularly sand where you might need to raise yourself to get sand ladders underneath.

And if you have onboard air it wouldn't matter if your exhaust was knackered, although it would take ages, you can fill them using a compressor and suitable adapter.

Probably not wise to have this as your ONLY method of jacking a vehicle but they're certainly useful enough.

[terence]

a bridging ladder between the chassis rails can sometimes be used to increase the positioning under the car

a square of carpet also helps asa shoe for it to protect it from stones and spread the load on soft sand / mud.

the use of biodiesel will make filling and unfilling a more pleasant experience altogether

[bertie_bas205]

[Roger]

Last comments from me.

It's a ****** to get back into it's bag.

It could be used to push a vehicle sideways, away from a tree or wall.

Roger

[sae70]

I destroyed two of the Draper ones testing them @ some length

Points to note:-

Keep them well away from anything hot, sharp or uneaven

Don't use it to lift the back end up as the whole vehicle rotates over the air jack till it falls off

In order to get the Draper one that I was testing to correctly inflate lifting my Vitara required engine revs around 3500rpm And then BANG

Personaly I would not bother with any of 'em cheap or expensive! Not even for light vehicles.

Get a Hi-lift some waffles & spend some time playing with them learning to use them correctly

Here's some pics,

[sae70]