Use of the jack?

[toyboxII]

Hi all--would like answer as to the use of the jack supplied by Toyota. We have a 93 Itasca Spirit and I discovered that the jack is missing. We have had three Toyotas and I have never had to use the jack, but should be occassion arise, does the jack that is supplied by Toyota lift our motorhomes? Whenever I have had a tire problem, we call emergency road service. I like to keep my baby in great shape and will replace the missing jack, but want to know if it will do the job or if I should carry something that will. Thanks in advance for your input.

[desertrat]

Hi all--would like answer as to the use of the jack supplied by Toyota. We have a 93 Itasca Spirit and I discovered that the jack is missing. We have had three Toyotas and I have never had to use the jack, but should be occassion arise, does the jack that is supplied by Toyota lift our motorhomes? Whenever I have had a tire problem, we call emergency road service. I like to keep my baby in great shape and will replace the missing jack, but want to know if it will do the job or if I should carry something that will. Thanks in advance for your input.

I have not had to use the scissor jack that came with my 1988 Horizon, but a 6 ton hydraulic jack is one of the first additions I made. That cheesy little scissor jack looked like a toy and was intended to be used on a small truck without thousands of pounds of camper thrown on the poor beasts back. Jacks are cheap. Check Northern Tool or a tool place like that. Go big with the jack weight rating, bring 3/4" plywood bases and some kind of stands to stabilize her once she's up in the air, and you'll be fine.

Also, you might want to consider a beefier socket/wrench just for those lugs. I carry a 1/2" bar with a 3/4' socket on it, in addition to a 3' piece of iron pipe to slip over the handle to gain leverage / mechanical advantage or whatever it is to make it easy to crack those bad boys loose.

Good luck and don't forget to check that spare tire.

Steve

Edited September 29, 2009 by desertrat

[turtle]

The "scissors jack" that came with your RV is a leveling jack and is NOT intended to raise the vehicle to change a tire.

http://www.shop.classacustoms.com/product.sc?productId=51

The stock Toyota screw type post jack will work but using a good hydraulic bottle jack is a lot smarter and easier. A bottle jack will take up the same space as the stock Toyota jack does.

[scottperkins]

I am also looking for a jack to use and prefer heavy duty

scissors jacks of the proper rating but I cannot seem to locate

any. The Military HumVee was issued a Scissors jack that would

work but they are hard to find and no one seems to make

any heavy duty larger scissors jacks these days. As last resort'

I will get a hydralic bottle jack if I have to but they

are bulky and dont offer much lift range. Also the minimum

height you start off with is pretty high so be careful with

that. You might not be able to get it under your camper

when it has a flat.

I would especially be worried about how to jack it up

if I was on soft ground.

IF you or anyone runs across any good deals, let me know.

Scott in Atlanta

( as a last resort, I might consider using TWO of the leveling

scissors jacks at the same time if I was stranded and it was an emergency ) The leveling scissors jacks wont jack up

a Toy Camper because the jack handle is purposely too flimsy

to allow that much force to be put into the jack.

[Gulfstream Greg]

I think for the front wheels the stock toy jack is OK but not the back. Get a hydraulic.

[desertrat]

I have not had to use the scissor jack that came with my 1988 Horizon, but a 6 ton hydraulic jack is one of the first additions I made. That cheesy little scissor jack looked like a toy and was intended to be used on a small truck without thousands of pounds of camper thrown on the poor beasts back. Jacks are cheap. Check Northern Tool or a tool place like that. Go big with the jack weight rating, bring 3/4" plywood bases and some kind of stands to stabilize her once she's up in the air, and you'll be fine.

Also, you might want to consider a beefier socket/wrench just for those lugs. I carry a 1/2" bar with a 3/4' socket on it, in addition to a 3' piece of iron pipe to slip over the handle to gain leverage / mechanical advantage or whatever it is to make it easy to crack those bad boys loose.

Good luck and don't forget to check that spare tire.

Steve

Just FYI, sorry bout my misinformation on last post here. The socket is a 23mm, not 3/4" as pointed out in another post.

[Foxy]

We have a 91 which came with a screw jack, not a scisors. It works fine but we also carry a 6 ton hydraulic bottle jack which we often use for leveling. We bought a set of nesting aluminum jack stands for leveling and for safty when working under it.

The bottle jack and the toyota jack are almost the same height so no advantage/disadvantage of one over the other. With two, you can get a start somewhere and then get the other in a better start for the heavy lifting. We use one of the 4way lug wrenches as it gives much better leverage.

[Tom W]

There's a advantage to the stock Toyota screw type it doesn't need oil that gets low when you need it (not very often) I tried mine it will do the job on the road,at home I use a bottle jack.