Bottle jacks

I use a 12ton bottle jack. I actually have 3 bottle jacks but the 12 ton gets mostly used. I bought at harbor freight tools when they where on sale.

 

A 20-ton jack will be more than sufficient. You will want to make sure you can actually do the deed before you try it on the road though. Meaning, make sure you can undo the lug nuts... if they have been put on by your typical truckstop ape, they will be about 3,000,000 ft. lbs. and a little tough to undo. Also, make sure you can properly re-torque them when done. I carried a 3/4" drive socket set that would do the trick, or you could set yourself up with an air or electric impact gun. You'll probably have to add some air capacity if you go that route though.

Having said all that, and having changed dozens of blown tires in the field (lots of Dayton wheels ), these days I'm happy to call for the service truck. That and the fact that blown tires are a much rarer occurrence these days if you properly maintain them.

 

Be careful with those cheap Made IN China bottle jacks. I own two, I had to use them for an air bag replacement on a bus. One was for jacking the axle, the other was used for jacking the body. I use a 3'-4' breaker bar for leverage, they are killers. One of them takes double the pumps to get the bus jacked in the air. Much easier to just buy an air bottle jack. I also have the manual socket set to remove the lugs myself. I do have a 1" IR impact and a 8 gallon 5.5 HP gas air compressor too. I've never tried by hand, but BELIEVE me, some people will overtorque them, I always use torque sticks when I use my impact. I've stripped threads out myself on accident with my impact, who ever owned the vehicle before me, they put LH studs on a RH axle, I didn't notice with all the paint. After close inspection after stripping two threads out, I realized what was happening. These are stud pilot wheels. Most modern trucks today have hub piloted.

 

Remember you can't lift 20t with a 20t jack.
At least not easily.
Best to have a jack with 3 times the capacity you want to lift.
Always store the bottle jack standing up right.
Jack it up and lower it at least once a month or the small ball seals can get sticky and not work when you need it most.
Oil or lubricate the screw out section so it does not corrode and seize up.
If you need to bleed the jack best to do it with the entire jack completely submerged in a bath of oil.

 

Oh, sorry.... I thought this was about a BOTTLE of JACK. Sorry, as you were.

 

I guess your planning on hauling cheap frieght if YOU can't afford good tires and the services calls.

 

Read the post - it's for his TOYHAULER.

 

OOP's, My Bad.... I withdrawl my post.......