PART 7: Jacks

Mention the word jack and what usually comes to mind, in the 4x4 context, is the hydraulic bottle jack or scissor jack that your vehicle is supplied with from the factory.

However, when it comes to vehicle recoveries, the standard jack is very limited. If your vehicle is fitted with a lifted aftermarket suspension, that standard jack will simply not be able to lift the wheel off the ground if you have a puncture or some other wheel/tyre issue. It does not have enough travel. Quite frankly, even with standard tyres and suspension, a typical OE bottle jack is short on travel – just look at the images on this page using the OE jack to change the wheel of a (stock standard)