Bottle Jack for Motorhome - recommendations

[VXman]

Looking for a bottle Jack for the motorhome.

A quick search of 4 ton jacks brings a range up from £17 - £28 with a height range from minimum around 180mm/190mm to maximum of 340mm - 370mm

Any particular recommendations or shallI just go with the cheapest?

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[robnchris]

I think a 4 ton might not be big enough, it will be certainly working hard, we have an 8 ton makes easy work and so much more trusting.

 

[poppycamper]

I think a 4 ton might not be big enough, it will be certainly working hard, we have an 8 ton makes easy work and so much more trusting.

They dont say size/weight of moho... but I have to disagree... if just for wheel changing you are only lifting one corner of van so IMV 4 ton would be adequate....

 

[LesW]

If it's just for changing wheels, ie lifting corner of your vehicle, you wouldn't need a massive lifting weight.

 

[robnchris]

They dont say size/weight of moho... but I have to disagree... if just for wheel changing you are only lifting one corner of van so IMV 4 ton would be adequate....

Are you just going on the figures or have you tried lifting one corner of the vehicle.
We had the Autotrail Arapaho and tried lifting one corner at the rear axle to service the brakes, a four ton bottle jack wasn't happy with this task, we bought a 10 ton trolley jack and up it went no worries and we felt a whole safer, axle stands were placed once desired height was achieved.
Don't skimp on safety.

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[Richard n Ann]

I'd have thought a rating of 4 tonne would be plenty. I've got a 2 tonne trolley jack and it easily lifts any corner of the van.

 

[VXman]

They dont say size/weight of moho... but I have to disagree... if just for wheel changing you are only lifting one corner of van so IMV 4 ton would be adequate....

4250 KG max weight but probably not at that level generally.

Surely jacking up for one wheel change it only needs 1.25 ton.

My scissor jack managed ok changing a wheel back in September but thought a cheapish bottle would be better and more compact.

 

[TheBig1]

a 4 tonne is plenty enough, but most of the cheap ones are Chinese made rubbish with a very optimistic capacity on the sticker. Go with a named brand rather than cheap for the sake of safety and you get a warranty if it leaks, let alone fails mid way through changing a tyre

 

[steve69]

If you get a bottle jack, you may need to keep a thick wooden block with it. It's surprising just how high you have to jack up a wheel to get it clear of the ground.

 

[JockandRita]

My mechanic pal got me a (brand new) surplus one from the local Royal Mail Fleet stores. It came out of an Iveco Daily, and sat on a shelf for a couple of years.
At 4 x tonnes and with an excellent extension (aided by wooden blocks), it served our 5.5T Hymer well on corner lifts.

Cheers,

Jock.

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[Two on Tour]

I thought that like us, you had a levelling system on your van Jock, a hydraulic jack in each corner for wheel changing if needed?

 

[Northernraider]

No point buying a 4 tonne when you can get a higher rating for a similar price .

I have 2 , a 10t and a 8t , I carry both. Both were less than £20 each including delivery from eBay Both are at least 4 years old and used regularly.

 

[JockandRita]

I thought that like us, you had a levelling system on your van Jock, a hydraulic jack in each corner for wheel changing if needed?

We do Paul, however...............

At 4 x tonnes and with an excellent extension (aided by wooden blocks), it served our 5.5T Hymer well on corner lifts.

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[Two on Tour]

I must admit that I would not feel as safe lifting just one corner of our van to change a wheel with a bottle jack on a wooden block as I would being stable with all four jacks lifting the whole van squarely off the ground to change a wheel.
By the way, remind me to show you the next time we meet the flat end of one of my fingers I got when over 2 tonnes of trailer and car slipped off the jack trapping my finger when changing a wheel.

 

[bigwood]

I may be being a bit picky but no matter what capacity jack is on offer they all seem to have a small head on them as standard. The jack from my last Discovery had a shaped head to fit under the axle making it less likely to slip.I have seen a hard rubber pad you can add to the head of a jack.
At home I have a 3 tonne trolley jack but only the standard Transit issued scissor jack in the motorhome. There’s no way I would try and remove the rear wheels at the roadside. The tyre fitters use two trolley jacks to clear the wheel arches.

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[Mikeco]

If you have a puncture I doubt if you will get a bottle jack under a jacking point, I certainly cannot and I have tried at least 3 different ones.

 

[JockandRita]

I must admit that I would not feel as safe lifting just one corner of our van to change a wheel with a bottle jack on a wooden block as I would being stable with all four jacks lifting the whole van squarely off the ground to change a wheel.

But I didn't have the pleasure of hydraulic levellers on the Hymer Paul, and the Fiat scissor jack was downright dangerous, and not man enough for the job in my opinion.
I only raise the axle enough to get the wheel off, rather than raise the body.

Sorry to hear about your flattened finger.

Cheers

Jock.

 

[IRHP]

I may be being a bit picky but no matter what capacity jack is on offer they all seem to have a small head on them as standard. The jack from my last Discovery had a shaped head to fit under the axle making it less likely to slip.I have seen a hard rubber pad you can add to the head of a jack.
At home I have a 3 tonne trolley jack but only the standard Transit issued scissor jack in the motorhome. There’s no way I would try and remove the rear wheels at the roadside. The tyre fitters use two trolley jacks to clear the wheel arches.

I bought one of those rubber pads which looks like an ice hockey puck. My trolley jack head split it first time I used it. I made a couple of steel spreaders to fit in suitable jacking points.

 

[IRHP]

I bought one of these, does the job well. https://www.toolstation.com/draper-hydraulic-bottle-jack/p88557

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

Unfortunately I had a rear offside puncture last year on the way to drax, I pulled into a service station and changed the wheel using the scissor jack supplied with the van , the jack fitted the lifting point easily and was fairly easy to turn the mechanism with the tools supplied in the kit.
The van is 3.5t and appeared to be steady on the jack. No issues getting it under the jacking point or raising it high enough to take the wheel off and put a new one on, ( 15 " wheels).
I was on tarmac and flat and in retrospect it was better than using a bottle jack.

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[VXman]

I must admit that I would not feel as safe lifting just one corner of our van to change a wheel with a bottle jack on a wooden block as I would being stable with all four jacks lifting the whole van squarely off the ground to change a wheel.
By the way, remind me to show you the next time we meet the flat end of one of my fingers I got when over 2 tonnes of trailer and car slipped off the jack trapping my finger when changing a wheel.

I don't think any small, light, portable solution will be perfect safety wise. It is for very rare, one off situations, As I did back in September with a scissor jack I would just take it slowly and carefully. Raise only an inch beyond wheel size off ground, put punctured wheel under to protect from possible collapse. Keep hands and fingers away at all times, or for minimal time necessary, if in a difficult situation call breakdown.

 

[Drexl]

I bought this Silverline 10t version off amazon. Have used it several times and it works well. I use a large thick steel washer between the jack and the lift point as the jack head is a bit small.
Amazon product ASIN B0015NRKI6I don't carry it in the van - the std scissor jack will do for an emergency wheel change.
Main reason for the capacity is the min / max lift fits my PVC jacking points better than smaller versions. Also less effort cranking the handle. The handle in 2 parts easily falls apart but can be semi permanently joined together with silver tape.

 

[steve69]

Unfortunately I had a rear offside puncture last year on the way to drax, I pulled into a service station and changed the wheel using the scissor jack supplied with the van , the jack fitted the lifting point easily and was fairly easy to turn the mechanism with the tools supplied in the kit.
The van is 3.5t and appeared to be steady on the jack. No issues getting it under the jacking point or raising it high enough to take the wheel off and put a new one on, ( 15 " wheels).
I was on tarmac and flat and in retrospect it was better than using a bottle jack.

Wait till you have to raise a front wheel. Different kettle of fish with the scissor jack. You need muscles like Popeye to get the wheel clear of the ground.

 

[BouncyBoatFolk]

If you have a puncture I doubt if you will get a bottle jack under a jacking point, I certainly cannot and I have tried at least 3 different ones.

I've seen mention of using Milenco levelling ramps, or other bit's of wood most of us carry to get some elivation under the offending corner before resorting to the bottle jack which sounds a good plan, but I've yet to test the theory!!
Mike.

 

[jockaneezer]

I've got a machine mart hyd bottle jack in our van which works great, but it has the same problem as every other "budget" jack in that the two piece handle, combined with the slop in the pumping linkage means there is a lot of wasted travel when you're actually using the jack. I got an 18" length of 3 /8" BSP pipe which has improved things.

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[the1andonly]

Once you've got your perfect jack time to get an imperfect folding jack stand. Not perfect but ive got space to carry one where i couldn't carry one of my decent ones.

 

[autorouter]

4250 KG max weight but probably not at that level generally.

Surely jacking up for one wheel change it only needs 1.25 ton.

Think of a table with a leg at each corner. If you raise one corner, the weight is taken by your corner, and the opposite corner. The other two legs are off the floor. So you are taking half the weight of the table, not a quarter. So for a 4250 kg max weight you need at least a 2125kg jack. In fact a bit more if there's more of the weight on the back axle and that's the one you're lifting.

 

[BouncyBoatFolk]

Think of a table with a leg at each corner. If you raise one corner, the weight is taken by your corner, and the opposite corner. The other two legs are off the floor. So you are taking half the weight of the table, not a quarter. So for a 4250 kg max weight you need at least a 2125kg jack. In fact a bit more if there's more of the weight on the back axle and that's the one you're lifting.

Tables don't have suspension, would having to compress the corner opposite to the one being lifted not affect the lifting load as well in some manner?

 

[JockandRita]

I never raise the body to remove a wheel, unless the wheel arches are so deep as to create a problem.

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[autorouter]

Tables don't have suspension, would having to compress the corner opposite to the one being lifted not affect the lifting load as well in some manner?

If the wheels were equally loaded, the weight on the jacked wheel would vary from a quarter to a half of the vehicle weight, as the jacked wheel lifted. The opposite suspension would compress. The other two wheel suspensions would gradually decompress, and would eventually lift off the ground.

The point is, if you only cater for a maximum load of a quarter of the MH weight, as was suggested, you are on thin ice.