Jack question

Bought my first Land Rover Defender 90 and I'm going through all the parts and accessories. I fancy myself a pretty good trouble shooter, but I'm a bit perplexed at how the jack works. The part that takes the vehicle load and moves up and down the screw mechanism seems to be upside down, but I do not see any way of removing it and flipping it the other way. Should it not point 90 degrees out vice down?

Does it come apart? If yes, the vertical bit might be upside down. Have a look at this photo of the 3 bits:

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgu...act=rc&uact=3&dur=435&page=2&start=15&ndsp=21

Mine is that way up too. Since the pivoting section fits into the hole in the crossmember, it has to angle downwards as you lift the end of the vehicle. Try it and you'll see how it works.

Just tried it out...sure enough, it works when you stick it in the holes in the back and front of the vehicle. Thanks for the help!

It's still a very awkward and not entirely stable way of lifting the vehicle. If you just want to get a wheel off, a small bottle jack under the axle is much quicker and easier. They're small enough to stow away under a seat or in the cubby box too.

Brown said:

It's still a very awkward and not entirely stable way of lifting the vehicle. If you just want to get a wheel off, a small bottle jack under the axle is much quicker and easier. They're small enough to stow away under a seat or in the cubby box too.

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Would a small bottle jack actually reach.. would it not need to be a long reach type.. ?? asking as i dont like the jack that comes with it either and looking for better / safer alternatives

Hairball said:

Would a small bottle jack actually reach.. would it not need to be a long reach type.. ?? asking as i dont like the jack that comes with it either and looking for better / safer alternatives

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a few pieces of lumber to make up the difference helps

Yep...just ordered me a small bottle jack. I had to crank the supplied jack nearly all the way to the top just to get the rear wheel off the ground half an inch.

I got a merc sprinter bottle jack as thats a double extension type and that works great.

Happily lifts high enough to get the axles onto axle stands.

There's usually loads of the Mercedes ones on eBay. Or bottle jack from a discovery will do the trick

+1 for the bottle jack. The supplied ones are horrible.

GuamBomb said:

Yep...just ordered me a small bottle jack. I had to crank the supplied jack nearly all the way to the top just to get the rear wheel off the ground half an inch.

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Get a bottle jack from a disco. They are a double lift version, so they lift to approx 3 times the height of the bottle jack in it's closed form. They also have a little cradle on on the end of them so that they fit onto the axle to reduce the possibility of slipping. Don't get a generic bottle jack as the end of the is just rounded - there is no safe way of using them on a defender's axle. If you do a search for some pics, you will see what I mean.

The trouble with the standard jack is that it lifts the body- fine on an ordinary car but not so good on a landy with lots of suspension travel. I carry a trolley jack in the back instead- not the most practical solution but easy to deploy if needed.

Put a strop between axle & chassis and get yourself a HiLift jack!

Oldseadog said:

Put a strop between axle & chassis and get yourself a HiLift jack!

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not great on the side of the road with passing traffic every time with 4ft of handle sticking out !

would much rather tuck a little jack under the axle for that situation

richard_paradox said:

not great on the side of the road with passing traffic every time with 4ft of handle sticking out !

would much rather tuck a little jack under the axle for that situation

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Errrr ... my landie has lickle holes on the front and back, so all I have to do is chock the wheels on the other axle and it's perfectly safe to lift and place the axle stand(s).

The handle is nowhere near the road traffic!

Oldseadog said:

Errrr ... my landie has lickle holes on the front and back, so all I have to do is chock the wheels on the other axle and it's perfectly safe to lift and place the axle stand(s).

The handle is nowhere near the road traffic!

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I have them on the back on the sides with the rock sliders front ones removed for the bumper I forget mine isn't standard some times :5bbanghead: