So, with the new tires, the little bottle jack just can't cut it anymore (it obviously sucked before, but with 28" street tires, it was somewhat useable).

So I need to buy a new one, and I think I'd like a hi-lift type as they're easier to stow than a hydraulic floor jack.

Only thing is, I can't think of a way to lift the front of the truck with one as I don't have a bumper or sliders yet.

So am I stuck with hydraulic?

 

Yep.

Hi-Lift is not for lifting on everyday use. It is for recovery. Those things will brain you if you ain't careful.

 

Yeah, I've used them on my family's tractors, I just don't want to have to deal with a bigass jack taking up half of my cargo space.... Oh well, that's what I was afraid of.

 

so buy a bigger bottle jack that you can screw out the threaded insert. You can get several decent adjustable bottle jacks for less than $30 that will meet your needs.

you are not limited to what toyota gave you. or use some 2x8 blocks or something to put under the jack...

something like this would work just fine:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=66450

 

you can also carry with you a spacer to put under the jack as well, just be smart in what you pick.

 

I'm guessing you don't want to hear about the mostly square piece of oak firewood I may have used to get enough lift out of the bottle jack so I could get jackstands under the frame to replace my rear coils....

 

lawl...so you don't want to hear about the bottle jack on firewood we used to take a tire off to replace a valve stem? WAY more stable than a hilift!!!

 

Yep, fractured my cheek bone last spring using a cheap one.
They can put you on your butt.

 

On the trail, most jacks suck. I'd like a bigger pad on top of that bottle jack. Maybe weld a piece of 'U' to it to hold the axle better and also a wider base. I've had them fall over in uneven dirt.

 

let me introduce to you the Lift Mate. I use mine all the time for jacking during repairs/maintenance because its fast.

 

Uhhh, only problem with that is you cant use it to change the tire, lol.

 

Lift it up using that, throw the jackstands underneath the truck, then remove the jack.

 

go to the folder you want to post in and click the new thread button on the left side. there is stickies etc on how to do this stuff with out thread jacking

edit you asked this question in 6 differnent threads???

 

smithy,

I will PM you in a minute.

Do not post in any more existing threads asking for help.
I just deleted 7 posts where you asked the same question in 7 different threads.

Fink

 

big fail on my part.
Oh well, i was just thinking that the average driver probably doesnt have a jackstand hangin out behind the seat of their pickup..

 

The average driver doesn't probably have a HiLift either. You can use lots of stuff as a makeshift jackstand in a pinch as long as you use common sense- some rounds of wood for instance

 

Spare rim with some 4"x4" wood stacked on top works pretty good too.

 

For an initial improvement, get a bunch of 1'x1' squares of plywood, drill holes to match those on the stock jack, get a couple bolts with wingnuts, and you've got a [slightly]higher jack that's way more stable on sand, etc. BTW, the all-aluminum floor jacks weigh 45 pounds, and are occasionally on sale for $100 at Sears...they're easily liftable with one arm, and IMO, safer and more convenient than the HiLift. You can use the plywood under the floor jack as well. Alas, it IS too big to stow behind the seat of a regular cab.

 

Just get a floor jack. They take up all of 2 square ft....

 

Using the spare tire is a good idea, unless you need to put it on.