Worst Jack Ever??? Your Vote

[macrover]

OK...so it's Valentines day....my wife meets me downtown for a nice dinner....of course on this day the inner sidewall of the passenger rear tire decides to get a puncture!!! Long story short...after a cab ride to rescue her...me in my suit, side of a busy road trying to jack up the darn truck and change the tire.

The LR3 in my opinion has THE WORST JACK EVER....worse than my Datsun 510 back in the day. More specifically the delicate two peice handle is an absolute peice of $$#@. Ok so maybe I had the jack slightly....and I mean ever so slightly off dead straight....which the manual says is bad. I'm slowly cranking cranking and what happens, the jack handle breaks...metal fatique and completely snaps. I'm then reduced to doing 1/4 turns of the jack with a stubby bent handle....took FOREVER.

So my question to the board...worst jack ever? and what has anyone replaced it with? Looking for a better jack handle.

 

[joey]

Sad to say, but it looks like they are still using the same jack that has been in the Disco for years... My recommendation is take the jack (for size purpose) go down to you local auto parts store or Napa, or Sears and match the size to a nice jack... throw old one away and install nice shiny new jack. Issue gone.

 

[toddjb122]

Sad to say, but it looks like they are still using the same jack that has been in the Disco for years... My recommendation is take the jack (for size purpose) go down to you local auto parts store or Napa, or Sears and match the size to a nice jack... throw old one away and install nice shiny new jack. Issue gone.

Does that work?
I would love to do this, but didn't know I could find an OTS jack that would fit in the same place?

Heck, if anyone has found a replacement jack that fits the bill, let us know! I'd order it online today just so I have it if I ever need it.

 

[trm2]

For some reason the Goodyear tires seem (to me) especially prone to punctures--I've had a few including a sidewall. But, on the bright side, I've had so much practice that I just changed my last tire two weeks ago from start to finish in 12 minutes with the stock jack..... Maybe LR should have contests......

 

[tommithy]

Or maybe LR should put decent tires on a vehicle that is supposed to go everywhere.

I dumped the crapyears before I even hit 15k. Bought some synchrones. and now I have some 18" rims coming and will probably put some Zeon LTZ's on those.

 

[nwoods]

I use an 8 ton bottle jack. it's, stout, solid, and sturdy. However, you long travel air types might max out it's reach before getting a tire off the ground. You'd have to lower it to access mode and see if it still works. My jack was pretty cheap at AutoZone.

NW

 

[umbertob]

I think a bottle jack is standard issue for 5-seater Disco/LR3s with spring coils in Europe (there is a cutout for it in the accessories shelf), but all air suspensions models get the cheapo scissors jack specifically because of the limited reach of the bottle jack mentioned by Nathan. Lowering to access mode would make no difference - as you raise the car, the suspensions just keep dropping all the way to super extended height.

 

[roverman]

RR bottle jack definitely doesn't work on LR3. I've used it with a thick block of wood on the driveway, but definitely not smart on uneven terrain.

 

[nwoods]

Yes, thats true, but my truck did not have a bottle jack initially. There are so few like mine in the States, they had no idea the jack was supposed to be different! I did eventually receive a LR bottle jack, but it's a tiny little thing. I much prefer my 8ton auto parts store unit, which has considerably more throw, and is more stout & stable.

I think a bottle jack is standard issue for 5-seater Disco/LR3s with spring coils in Europe (there is a cutout for it in the accessories shelf), but all air suspensions models get the cheapo scissors jack specifically because of the limited reach of the bottle jack mentioned by Nathan. Lowering to access mode would make no difference - as you raise the car, the suspensions just keep dropping all the way to super extended height.

 

[Bily Lovec]

I used my jack yesterday, I thought it worked just fine. The wheel chocks are a nice touch...