My most newbie question yet... Jacking up my soon to be lifted XJ

[WhileInTheWild]

So I was naive and I thought, hey I'm getting my XJ lifted next week so the stock bottle jack will become a door stop so I need a hi-lift jack and it will basically be used in the same manner but just lift higher. As they say assumption is the mother of all **** ups and it seems this was one...

For garage use it seems like a floor jack and jack stands are the way to go so that seems fairly straightforward but what about on the side of the road or on the trail? Is it best just to jack the wheel with the hi-lift and the helper strap/hooks for the wheel and then get a jack stand under the axle, remove the tire, put the spare on, jack it up again, remove the jack stand and then let it down?

I was thinking rock sliders might help but from what I've been reading that is a no no, same with using my hitch or front tow hooks so I really don't know know the right way to do it, I've also seen mention of just using wood blocks with the bottle jack but surely that wouldn't be that safe?

I've just had to change several tires here in Houston already (not on my XJ) so I want to be correctly prepared if I ever need to, after all that is why we carry a bulky spare with us. Any recommendations would be much appreciated!

[4.3LXJ]

I have found the best jack for tire changing is a scissors jack. There are two tier and three tier jacks. And you can weld a nut on them like the Aussies and use an impact on them and make them really fast. The high lift is really no different than the old fashioned bumper jacks with cars in the 60s and 70s. The thing I never liked about them is with those soft suspensions you had to lift the car up really high and sometimes they fell over. The high lift has the same possibilities. However, the high lift does have its uses. The equipment you got with yours would allow you for instance to jack one wheel up and put rocks etc under it if needed. The right tow hook could be used as well as the right slider. It depends on how their made. But the biggest concern with them is the jack sliding off. A hitch is fine as long as it is class ii or better. I have lifted my XJ with a sky crane that way many times, including its first repair which was a spring center pin. It just depends again on how it is set up

[nickxj94]

I lift mine on the reciver in back and winch bumper I'm front. Yes they're wobbly when you jack them up, just make sure you scotch the tires with a rock or something.

[Mudderoy]

Tell me more about not hi-lifting from the sliders? Oh maybe it's different since mine are an integrated slider and frame stiffener.

[nickxj94]

Tell me more about not hi-lifting from the sliders? Oh maybe it's different since mine are an integrated slider and frame stiffener.
I've also lifted mine on the slider once, never hurt anything.

[downsy]

Properly installed rock sliders are a good lift point for a Hi-Lift. If your rock sliders can't takea high lift jack you need other ones.

How much of a lift did you put on the Jeep? Cause the bottle jack is designed to go under the axle not the body so it would take a significant tire size increase to not be able to use the stock bottle jack on a lifted XJ. It's goes up pretty damn high.

[WhileInTheWild]

Yeah the thinking I could not use the bottle jack with my lift was one of those bad assumptions so it will stay for tire changes with the hi-lift for recovery situations.

[bigjim350]

I have 6.5" lift on 33's and the factory bottle jack still works fine for mine

[WhileInTheWild]

Yeah it was a blonde moment, I've always jacked from jack points on the frame on past vehicles and thought there was no way the bottle jack could do that once the jeep is lifted but doing it on the axle makes complete sense now.

[cantab27]

6117



mmmm.....doing something wrong :smiley-taunt002:

[WhileInTheWild]

Wow even I know that is a big no no.

[TimmyTXJ]

I just read this article the other day, you might find it helpful Jason.
http://expeditionportal.com/jack-of-all-trades-3/ :)

[07Negative]

Hi Lifts scare the snot outa me. I use bottle jacks under the axle housing. I have some 10" long cut rail road ties laying around for added height. Chalk the tires and I use jack stands for RV's with like a 10K lbs rating. I have a hi lift, but avoid using it b/c of how unstable it is.
Great article by the way. That website is a great resource for information.