Highlift Jacks, Axle Jacks And Accessories
The tension can be set on a torque wrench so you can apply the correct amout of torque to the bolt to be tightened. Wheel studs should be tightened to 125 N-m
The frequent tyre changes have led to a learning curve which was both hazardous and entertaining.
How not to watch your car fall off your jack
So far I have not managed to do this but I am sure I will achieve this some time in my career. Place stones at the wheels and put the hand brake on. I have had a near miss when I parked on the camber of the road to change a tyre and the vehicle weight shifted when I jacked it up and it slid side ways.
How not to spend hours lifting an overloaded car.
The first wheel changes I did, I did not have a jack that would fit between the axle and the ground which was usually rock hard gravel. I took out the spade and tried to dig down but this was difficult as the ground was rock hard and the space limited by the axles and springs. This obviously failed. I jacked up the back of the vehicle and the springs were tensioned such that the bumper was 1,2 meters off the ground and the flat wheel still made some contact with the ground. I could fit our Toyota jack under the axle if I dug a small hole. The hydraulic jack required supreme effort to wind up despite the weight being taken by the high lift jack.
I then bought a jack with a mechanical screw mechanism with very low clearance. This would get the axle off the ground if I acted like Tarzan as the weight of the vehicle made the first three or four turns a Herculean task. So now I carried a Highlift jack, a hydraulic jack and a screw jack. So I bought another 4 ton hydraulic jack just in case !!!
I then discovered a tyre hook for the high lift jack. You put the hooks into the holes in the tyre rim and jack the car up using the tyre rim itself. Once the tyre is not making contact with the road you deploy the two hydraulic jacks easily and take down the highlight jack. I have dumped the low profile screw jack.
Voila, all done in a jiffy!
How not to watch the car sink into sand while you change the tyre
An essential item is a jack plate. I have a solid 7 kilogram plate of stainless steel about 50 by 30 cms which I put under the jack to stop it sinking into the sand. This also makes an excellent cutting board, hot plate or counter weight. Every safari vehicle should carry one. Sand ladders, tin plates, crates, cloths, spare wheel or all of the above may all be used in an emergency as a jack plate.
Dumped Items
I bought another 7 ton jack which was too heavy and I dumped it for a 4 ton jack, I carried a pair of car stands which were used but only rarely. I decided to leave them at home last trip as two hydraulic jacks and a high lift jack should suffice. I have not missed the car stands, so far, although they were useful on one occasion when we had the car in for a bit ion bush mechanics. Hopefully future fish mechanics will have their own. (wishful thinking!)
Essential Items
The essential items in my narrative so far are
A torque wrench
Highlift jack
A wheel hook for the Highlift jack
2 hydraulic jacks
A jack plate
Spare front and back wheel studs
Spare wheel nuts
2 Spare tyres
Decent quality all terrain tyres
How not to watch your car fall off your jack
So far I have not managed to do this but I am sure I will achieve this some time in my career. Place stones at the wheels and put the hand brake on. I have had a near miss when I parked on the camber of the road to change a tyre and the vehicle weight shifted when I jacked it up and it slid side ways.
How not to spend hours lifting an overloaded car.
The first wheel changes I did, I did not have a jack that would fit between the axle and the ground which was usually rock hard gravel. I took out the spade and tried to dig down but this was difficult as the ground was rock hard and the space limited by the axles and springs. This obviously failed. I jacked up the back of the vehicle and the springs were tensioned such that the bumper was 1,2 meters off the ground and the flat wheel still made some contact with the ground. I could fit our Toyota jack under the axle if I dug a small hole. The hydraulic jack required supreme effort to wind up despite the weight being taken by the high lift jack.
I then bought a jack with a mechanical screw mechanism with very low clearance. This would get the axle off the ground if I acted like Tarzan as the weight of the vehicle made the first three or four turns a Herculean task. So now I carried a Highlift jack, a hydraulic jack and a screw jack. So I bought another 4 ton hydraulic jack just in case !!!
I then discovered a tyre hook for the high lift jack. You put the hooks into the holes in the tyre rim and jack the car up using the tyre rim itself. Once the tyre is not making contact with the road you deploy the two hydraulic jacks easily and take down the highlight jack. I have dumped the low profile screw jack.
Voila, all done in a jiffy!
How not to watch the car sink into sand while you change the tyre
An essential item is a jack plate. I have a solid 7 kilogram plate of stainless steel about 50 by 30 cms which I put under the jack to stop it sinking into the sand. This also makes an excellent cutting board, hot plate or counter weight. Every safari vehicle should carry one. Sand ladders, tin plates, crates, cloths, spare wheel or all of the above may all be used in an emergency as a jack plate.
Dumped Items
I bought another 7 ton jack which was too heavy and I dumped it for a 4 ton jack, I carried a pair of car stands which were used but only rarely. I decided to leave them at home last trip as two hydraulic jacks and a high lift jack should suffice. I have not missed the car stands, so far, although they were useful on one occasion when we had the car in for a bit ion bush mechanics. Hopefully future fish mechanics will have their own. (wishful thinking!)
Essential Items
The essential items in my narrative so far are
A torque wrench
Highlift jack
A wheel hook for the Highlift jack
2 hydraulic jacks
A jack plate
Spare front and back wheel studs
Spare wheel nuts
2 Spare tyres
Decent quality all terrain tyres
Wheel hooks attached to high lift jack and hooked into the wheels hubs.
