Exhaust Jacks

Submitted: Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 15:49
ThreadID: 28553 Views:8531 Replies:11 FollowUps:16
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Has anyone had any bad experiences with exhaust jacks. Thinking of getting one to carry in the camper trailer. Other option is a High Lift jack. Have a Hilux with a standard jack. Carry a hand winch so do not need a highlift for winching.
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Reply By: ellmcg - Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 16:02

Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 16:02
Well you don't need specific jacking points with the exhaust jack, and there's virtually no limit to how low you can start - very handy for the odd occasion when one's jockey wheel turns feral...

Just make sure the end of your exhaust is nice and round before trying to use it.
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Reply By: Member - MrBitchi (QLD) - Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 16:15

Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 16:15
Nope. Only good. Much safer than a Hi-Lift IMO.
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Follow Up By: cokeaddict - Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 17:00

Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 17:00
I agree with John here....
excellent tool for emergencies.

As for the "sharp objects" theory..well yes its true, but common sense here will help alot. I carry 4 of the old potato sacks with mine for when i need to lift the vehicle. I use the sacks for every lift..be it on sand or rocks. Mostly for the protection of my bag after all, it is another investment. Never let me down yet.

Ange.
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Reply By: signman - Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 16:19

Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 16:19
Just ensure there's no sharp screw points or jagged edges where you place it under the vehicle.
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Reply By: Coyote - Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 16:44

Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 16:44
I've steered clear of em for anything other than sand.. I have "heard" that you ned to be pretty carefull with placement of them, ie if you can't get them squarly under a certain point, they may not lift straight up.. I e pictur a vehicle bogged up to axels, and you can only get 1/2 the air bag under a side rail or bull bar.. once you start to lift, they roll out from under the car, therefore a high lift jack would be better (assuming you have a big base plate for the jack...).. comes down to horses for courses.. great for the sand where getting proper setting under the car is a simple few shovel strokes, not so flash in mud.
Beauty of HLJ is - with a $30 mod from ARB you can attach it to your wheel and hence lift the bogged wheel out of the "muck" and pack in under it rather than having to lift the whole car...
you've heard the old saying "6 to one/ 1/2 a dozen to the other"
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Follow Up By: Member - Jeff M (WA) - Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 20:15

Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 20:15
Mate I've used mine on blue metal roads, concreate, pavers, gravel, sand and never had a problem, you do have to get them in the right position, but onces you've done it a couple of times it's a peice o' cake. I always get the floor mats outa d car and whack them above and below the bag, they are thick rubber and seem to give good protection, I reckon they are brilliant.
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Follow Up By: Blaze - Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 21:18

Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 21:18
Hi Coyote,

I use a air jack any time I need to lift the vehicle. I have been thinking maybe I should get a HLJ as well, and I am interested in the HLJ attachment you mention for the wheel.

I have a couple of questions and am guessing there are answers. If your rig is stuck in a wheel rut in mud, I think most will agree the diff is bottomed and the centre of the axle is 6 to 7inches below the surface of the hole, or your not really bogged. How do you mount this wheel fitting and also find a flat area to put the base plate on?
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Follow Up By: Member - Davoe (Widgiemooltha) - Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 22:37

Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 22:37
Blaze - she would need to be pretty soft stuff for you to dig the centre of the axle 6 or 7 inches down. Most vehicle stop going down when they sit on the diffs, bash plates etc. any way all you do is dig out a section under the hub out. have used hi lift and hub lifters numerous times for boggings and hangups without issue. I see alot of HLJ points that are useless unless you have an extra long jack because suspension travel will soak up 30cm of lift in a standard coil sprung cruiser
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Follow Up By: Coyote - Friday, Dec 02, 2005 at 09:20

Friday, Dec 02, 2005 at 09:20
The adaptor I got from ARB fits over the lifting point of the HLJ, it has two short straps with rubber coated hooks that fit into the cavities of your wheel, and at the lifing point there is a rubber "face' that spresses up against your tyre, giving you a three point lift (I can't think of a better way to describe it.. in fact when I get home this arvo I'll take a piccy and post it if anyone is interested) In the case you have described you would have to dig out a pad adjacent to the wheel you wanted to lift.. and lace a large pad eg block of wood or steel plate to sto pthe jack sinking.. but at least you don't have to get the jack under the vehicle.. using this method the lifting point of the jack only needs to get level with the top of your rim.. when considering the fact that the HLJ can lift from about 3-4 inches off the ground, you have apretty good chance of still getting into the lift position without too much digging.. Once you have lifted the wheel, you throw whatever you can find under it and then lower it back into position..
I have to admit , that although I think the HLJ is the best thing since sliced bread.. it isnt perfect for everything.. obviously if you have a flat, you stil need to have dedicated lifting points, or lift as per the above method.. then block up under the chassis remove the jack, change the wheel, then replace the jack to lift the car of your blocks inorder to lower again.. for the simple flat tyre scenario it is stil leasiest to use the standard bottle jack or exhaust jack.. my preference is KISS. .Keep IT Simple Stupid. Go the bottle jack as if you apply comon sense and jack on the flat not much can go wrong.. unlike the exhaust jack as per previous posts.. there is risks of explosions etc.. particulalry untidy if you alread have the weheel off and the air bag collapses, explodeds or roles...
Horses for Courses...
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Reply By: Gerry - Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 16:45

Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 16:45
Just need to be careful when using with turbo diesel as it can put excess pressure on the seals causing them to blow out. I have also heard that it can cause carbon buildup on the turbo rotor, but don't know how true this is.
Gerry
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Reply By: Member - JohnR (Vic)&Moses - Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 17:13

Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 17:13
Mal, I had one but you should ask Member Lucy - Ken, as he had one go off beside his head and furtunately Moses didn't crush him. (wasn't known as Moses then) It was on sand and there must have been an abrasion some where that caused the explosion. I prefer the flexibility of a highlift as it will also act as a hand winch too but you need a chain.

People with trailers seem to carry everything though, so why not?
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Follow Up By: Member - 'Lucy' - Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 18:44

Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 18:44
Ms Lucy here.

Just picture 'Moses' on his belly in very loose shellgrit type sand at ROBE.

Air Jack used to raise vehicle to clear sand under the guts.

1st snatch attempt by a Nissan - nothing

2nd snatch (a tandem Nissan & Toyota) - nothing much, about 2-3 feet forward and then all forward motion stopped (Moses flat of his guts on the sand again)

So I scooped out some sand in the exact same position under the vehicle as before, Bonz slipped the bag in and I gave it a quick boost of exhaust, bag inflates enough to move it around and get it positioned just so.

Apply exhaust boost and bag starts to inflate, Moses fidgiting around on the bag a bit - settles, expands , just half way into lift when KABOOM.

Vehicle just dropped to where it started from.

Yep! I was under the sucker watching things up close and nasty, with all the mental acumen of a 'towball snatcher on/in heat'. Looking back on it I thinkl I took one of those F***wit pills with breakfast that day.

Funny now that I look back on it, cause my hearing was ringing/deaf and all I could see bas BONZ's eyes bugging out of his head, cause he too was under there keeping an eye on proceedings.

RECOVERY OUTCOME:

Cleared all the sand from under neath with a long handle shovel (90C plus flies). Then cleared sand out the back to make a nice gradual runway, let the tryes down to athe Min., then Rockcrawler, in his Yota I might add winched young moses out backwards.

ADDENDUM:

The owner of Moses then makes the announcement - 'can't believe that happened, the truck only weighs 4.5t (plus)'

Yeah! and the rest (LOL)

Oh! and Des lexsic was buzzing around supervising

Ken
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Follow Up By: gramps - Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 18:58

Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 18:58
Bugger! What a sight. Who's got the video? Des ???
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Follow Up By: Member - JohnR (Vic)&Moses - Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 20:20

Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 20:20
Just a slight afflection upwards of the actual weight by nearly a tonne. LOL the video was captured by Aussiechef who hasn't been here in a while Gramps - Warren he is, a few short hours from Des. I haven't seen it though. Moses scorched the clutch too trying to reverse with the winch pull. Could have barbequed a steer with it.
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Follow Up By: Member - JohnR (Vic)&Moses - Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 20:25

Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 20:25
I think Bonz and Des seemed to do a trade on a long yellow handled shovel too from what I heard one day. Not that the other knew at the time..............
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Follow Up By: Willem - Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 20:48

Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 20:48
You lot remind me of the Three Stooges movies....hahahahahahaha

I am so sorry I had to leave a day early and missed this fiasco!!!!!
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Follow Up By: Member - JohnR (Vic)&Moses - Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 21:29

Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 21:29
None of us got ready for pole dancing in red jocks Bro...... ;-)
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Follow Up By: Willem - Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 21:32

Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 21:32
Thats because you are a bunch of sissy's lol
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Follow Up By: Sand Man (SA) - Friday, Dec 02, 2005 at 09:08

Friday, Dec 02, 2005 at 09:08
Well, we ALL saw the video that night around the non-camp fire. (just a big circle of chairs). Aussiechef set his Laptop up on a camp table and played it for all to see.

What a funny sequence of events. Was most amused, but also glad it hadn't happened to me. And then there was Eric, but that is another story.

John just let all the ragging go over his head. On ya John!

Bill


I'm diagonally parked in a parallel Universe!

Member
My Profile  My Blog  My Position  Send Message

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Reply By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 19:18

Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 19:18
I've had one for about 5 years, and must say, I find them a great idea, but pretty much useless in practice.

Main hassles: Too easy to perforate them - they easily slip a bit sideways when inflating and before you know it, one of those body bolts has gone thru it.
They are just as unstable as a highlift jack when inflated;
If you're bogged, it can be hard to dig under a suitable spot to place it.
There are too few places under a modern 4wd to support them - If they can't go under the twin fuel tanks, the exhaust, or the flimsy sump guards, then theres not much left apart from balancing tricks on the chassis rails.

I went back to the high-lift jack, and have fitted jacking points at all 4 corners. And the high lift makes a great beadbreaker.

Cheers
Phil
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Follow Up By: Member - JohnR (Vic)&Moses - Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 20:22

Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 20:22
Thats the way Phil unless you have a trailer to carry 'great ideas'
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Follow Up By: Rick (S.A.) - Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 22:40

Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 at 22:40
Like others, I've found the bull bag good in some circumstances - e.g. sand, where one can easily move a bit of material so as to locate them properly.

But it can be tough to hold the hose spout onto the exhaust pipe at high bag pressures (when near to full inflation).

As Phil G mentions on his response, the walls also need to be 'straight' before inflation so that they lift vertically, Vs both vertically & a little horizontally, which often results in a sideways slip. A sideways slip may help with unbogging, but not commonly. The sideways effect is often just a mildly frustrating waste of time & energy.

A major drawback to using a highlift jack is a lack of purchase points on modern 4 x 4 's. HLJ's and curves are not comaptable!

After fixing too many flats in 2004 & 2005, it became apparent that the simplicity & speed of the highlift was very hard to beat. A quality 8 t hydraulic bottle jack, or a bullbag, were my jacking devices for the last few years. Having laid idle for about 10 years, I have now reverted to the highlift on my GU.

So, I have custom built jacking points, front & rear. The front jacking points are welded onto the front of the bull bar, one each side, adjacent to the rubber overriders.The rear jacking point is incorporated into the tongue in the towbar slot. This tongue is a purpose built solid slab of steel, machined to accomodate a rated shackle. It is both the recovery point, and due to a machined groove on the underside, a locator for the highlift .

I carry the highlift on a specaiily fabricated bracket on the roofrack, at the rear of the rack, over the back doors, as it were. I thought of mounting the HLJ on the spare, similar to the kaymar spare wheel bracket concept. For the extra 2 or 3 feet of height & what that will do to centre of gravity, Vs bouncing that weight on those door hinges, I went up.

I still carry the bottle jack, though, but not the bull bag.

As far as breaking the beads go, ask Phil for his invention.

Cheers
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Reply By: Member - Troll 81 (QLD) - Friday, Dec 02, 2005 at 02:27

Friday, Dec 02, 2005 at 02:27
I have used mine about 5 times and I find them excelent. One thing to watch out for is the exhaust pipe. I came very close to buring a hole in mine for not noticing that it was expanding under the exhaust

Regards
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Reply By: Member - Jeff M (WA) - Friday, Dec 02, 2005 at 10:54

Friday, Dec 02, 2005 at 10:54
All these uses of High Lift Jacks keep bringing up the ONE incident that happened to several members on here and say that there is a "risk of explosion". These bags are used all the time, I don't doubt this storey of theirs, but I don't know the full circumstances either, but I also have never heard of anything else like it ever happening regarding Exaust Jacks.

Now as far as saftey goes. If you are under a vehicle that is jacked up in your driveway with a good quality Trolly Jack or Bottle Jack on a hard level surface, you are a knob end. Because it's BLOODY dangerous! You always put axel/saftey stands to support the vehicle before venturing under. If you get under a vehicle jacked up wtih and unstable jack (HLJ or Exaust Jack) in off road conditions... Well let's all blame the tools hey fellas.

Personally I don't have room for a HLJ and for the amount of times I'd need to use a jack off road it's not worth it to me to cart the bloody thing around everywhere, plus the jacking points on my vehicle would be a major drama. The Exaust jack is in the car ALL the time, you'd never even know it was their, and then when one of those sticky situations come up out of the blue, it brings a big smile to your face when you grab it out the tool box.
AnswerID: 142103

Reply By: Mal P - Friday, Dec 02, 2005 at 18:27

Friday, Dec 02, 2005 at 18:27
Thanks to all. Generated quite a discussion. Consensus seems to be they are OK provided they are used sensibly. Point about the turbo seals is a good one. Plan to follow through with some of the manufacturers and will advise. Thanks again to all.

Mal P
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Reply By: willow2400 - Tuesday, Dec 06, 2005 at 14:09

Tuesday, Dec 06, 2005 at 14:09
Have just returned a bushranger air bag jack under warranty as the weld around the inlet has started to give way. It no longer holds our 80 up long enough to change a tyre! (I have heard the new extreme model is a better build though) Has only been used about 4 times. Had planned to use it on Fraser Island but didn't really need to. I agree with the other person who said good in theory but practically not much use. I have not made a habit of carrying one with me as we usually winch out of most trouble rather than dig. I guess that will bite me on the bum eventually. Sand ... the only time I really needed it I drove sideways off a dune at Stockton and it was useless because it had nothing to get a good footing on.
Have not got the jack back yet but if they send me a new one as a replacement and you want to buy it at a discount then let me know. Otherwise it will be going on eBay!
Cheers, DEavid
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Follow Up By: Mal P - Tuesday, Dec 06, 2005 at 15:38

Tuesday, Dec 06, 2005 at 15:38
Thanks for that. Might take you up on it. What part of the world do you live in??

Mal P
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