Advice on a jack

Had the TJ down at camp for a couple days, and when getting ready to leave, discovered I had a flat.
After 17 years, this is the first time I had to use the OEM jack...and it is a real piece of crap. The Jeep was sitting on railroad ballast, and I had a grand time getting the jack positioned and working; finally had to stick an E-tool under it.
So, I want to get a more serviceable jack, and suggestions on how to mount it. It may be seventeen more years before I need it, but I'm not going thru' today again.
Suggestions? It is an '04 Rubi, with original size tires, no lift.
Thnx,
Moon

 

Got a pair of 3-ton floor jacks in the garage but I doubt they would fit nicely in the jeep. Something more compact would be a 6-ton bottle jack that fits in a box and takes little interior space. Consider a reliable HD scissor jack. The high-lift jack can be effective but that jack requires safe practices to avoid it's dangerous reputation. Whichever you decide keep a jack pad or wood block for the base to keep the jacks from sinking into the dirt.

 

aggrex, funny you should mention that wood block; had one for years, but the lack of space finally led to its departure.
The track ballast was really uneven (under the jack and under my back; railroad track ballast is fist-sized chunks of stone), and a wood block would have helped.
Frankly, I'd like to avoid crawling underneath in the future...the poor function of the OEM jack, and positioning it, were the two main problems.
So I was (may change my mind) thinking about a high-lift...what is their dangerous reputation? They look much like the bumper jacks all cars once used.
Thnx,
Moon

 

LOL I grew up in the era of American cars with high-lift type bumper jacks and they worked well but could easily hurt you too. The high-lift is bigger and can raise a vehicle quickly but it tends to become less stable the higher you go. People have been injured when the high-lift jack sways or shifts so it’s not the safest jack for flat tires or routine maintenance but great for versatility and emergencies thus it’s the official hood ornament seen in many jeeps. Bottom line is practice makes it safer and for example bottle jacks under the axle for a flat tire is somewhat safer.

 

Point taken, and 'care' will be the watchword, tho' I have little faith in the OEM jack; it repeatedly tried to slip on the axle.
Any hi-lifts, and their attendant mounts, that yinz like?
Moon

 

If you move towards the high-lift type jacks probably best to go with the original and definitely not the HF farm version. I like the off-road base selections on Amazon but a section of 2x6 could work too.

 

Being specific, are there brands you like?
Moon

 

For many years, I have been using a bottle jack and a 6"x 6"x 3/4" plywood base for on the trail. When on a hill and have to remove a tire, I winch to a tree, rock, or another vehicle so the Jeep does not move. In the old days we could use tire plug kits and onboard air, which I still carry. Have also changed axles, leaf springs, and u-joints on the trail. Once we wrapped a winch cable under a Jeep to keep a broken axle housing together.

 

Jim Beam, you are hard core!
I understand the merit of an axle jack, as it can be much more compact. But flat-on-my-back on track ballast has convinced me, no more crawling under to set a jack. Trust me, if saying un-Christian things could have placed that jack, it would have been done in a jiffy. And I was a half mile from nowhere, and by myself. I'm not a young man.
Sooooo, back to picking a jack. Hadn't realized "Hi-Lift" was a brand, not a generic term.
So, how long will I need, for ordinary tire changing? Shorter would be handier, and ideally I'd like to store it inside.
One thing at a time; how much jack will I need to get the Rubi high enough to change a tire?
Thnx, gang.
Moon

 

How high you need a jack to raise a vehicle depends on the suspension system, and weather or not you are on a hill, rocks, or whatever. Sometimes a jack can be used for other things like pushing a fender away from a tire. In the thirty plus years I have been Jeeping, I have only seen a high lift used once, and that was to get a CJ2A over a step and that was because the driver was to lazy to get his winch set up.

 

Jim Beam, point taken, but my jack use will be more of a 'change a tire' than an offroad problem solver.
My suspension is bone-stock, as is the tire size on the Rubi.
Moon

 

JIm, don't know where you are located, but I suspect we may have met on a trail somewhere. Ever use the old trickle gas into the carb when you fuel pump goes south (and you forgot the spare) trick?

 

Maybe it's stating the obvious, but most time I see folks changing a tire they lift the vehicle way too high. No matter what kind of jack it can become unstable and you will have to lift that heavy a$$ tire to get it on the lugs.

 

If you use a bottle jack, it can be placed directly under the axle. Where a bumper style jack like a HiLift the suspension has to be lifted also. My CJ came with a scissor type jack and went into the trash years ago.

Most of the wheeling I have done is in the SoCal desert and mountians, I have poured lots of gas downs carbs.

That why it is always an advantage to be with a group or club. Like connecting the vehicle to be repaired in that position to another vehicle with a strap or use a winch.

 

Jim, I haunt the same areas. Red CJ-8.

 

Had a scissor jack years ago for a VW Bug, when the jackport under the running board rotted out from the tinworm.
After advice here, and Jo at HighLift, I ordered a 48". Kind of overkill, but mounting method is still a work in progress. I've a mount to go on the roll cage on order, and a jack that size is supposed to fit behind the back seat. It hasn't appeared yet, and the jack does seem like overkill. I understand why the factory went with the bottle jack.
Every time I can turn the TJ around, rather than backing up two miles, I'm happy with the SWB. Any other time, wish I'd gotten the stretched version. But that choice was 17 years ago...
Moon