Jacking it up

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Wawa Skittletits

Local Expert East Region USA
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Expedition Master I

5,079
Wilkes-Barre, PA, USA
First Name
Drew
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Hawley
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1537

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WRBZ674
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USN veteran
I'm gonna try the skid plate idea and do a write up just because I'm curious lol

Good idea or bad?
From the perspective of sinking into a soft surface it's great but it certainly comes with caveats. I imagine you've thought of this but it bears mentioning. With the wheels inop the jack will no longer be able to pull itself under the vehicle as it lifts. What will end up happening is it will pull the vehicle towards the operator potentially placing a lot of unintended force on the saddle and it's already limited side to side mechanical 'grip' on the lifting point. There are a ton of factors at play here but the bottom line is safety. I constructed a pinch weld adapter to rest in the saddle of the floor jack I primarily use at home to reduce the possibility of the vehicle coming off of the jack. That's on a smooth concrete floor where the chances are significantly reduced but the principle can be applied anywhere.
 

OldH1

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Saint Simons Island GA
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Roy
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Mohr
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10ton floor jack at the house and the factory jack for the road...I am lacking in recovery gear but waiting for expo east to do some comparisons from vendors and to see what everyone else is using as I just don't know enough at this point to know what I absolutely need vs what will just be added weight items and never used.
 

Levidale

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Gardendale Texas
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What I'm using currently
I made my own with a jack that comes with a truck and welded it on a 1.5 ton floor jack. I wanted to save weight by using a 1.5 ton for my Tundra instead of carrying around a 3 ton. The standard 1.5 would not go high enough. I'm only going to be lifting one tire anyway so it works.