Installing a suspension lift on your Jeep Wrangler is one of the most exciting and most common upgrades any Jeep owner can think of. Lifting your Jeep results in better approach, departure and break over angles, as well as the ability to put on larger tires. When you install larger tires, that’s when you actually increase your vehicles ground clearance. Since the lowest point on your live-axle Jeep is the differential, and it’s part of the axle, only increasing the size of your tires will give you more ground clearance. One aspect of installing a lift and putting on larger tires, which many Jeep owners forget about, is the ability to change your new tires in case you get a flat. Due to your axles being raised, your factory “scissor” jack becomes unsafe to use (remember: since the axle tubes are the proper jack points on your Jeep, it’s the tire size that impacts the location of those points and not the amount of your suspension lift).
You have to consider what you want to use from now on in the event of a flat tire. There are of course several options available. The simplest is to get yourself a couple of pieces of 2×6 lumber and store it somewhere in the Jeep. They would be wide enough to provide a stable base for your stock jack and would raise the jack about 3 inches from the ground.
Other options are: an aftermarket base for the factory jack, a high-lift jack, a bottle jack, or an inflatable exhaust jack.
Here is a good video explaining the differences and advantages of the different options.
A high-lift jack is a very useful recovery tool and can perform several functions on the trail, however it was never really designed for tire changing and can be very dangerous if you are not careful when using it.
A bottle jack is a very good option for lifted vehicles, especially for maintenance performed in your garage on a hard, level surface. It is however a very heavy tool with a small footprint, that will need to be stored in your Jeep, together with probably a couple of pieces of 2×6 lumber serving as a base in soft terrain.
Inflatable exhaust jack offers a very wide footprint preventing it from sinking on soft surfaces, however it will not provide much lift, is very bulky and heavy making it difficult to store inside the Jeep, and is quite expensive. For those reasons exhaust jacks are not very popular in offroading community.
After considering pro’s and con’s of all the options I decided that for everyday driving as well as wheeling trips, I am going to stick with the factory scissor jack. It comes standard with a Jeep, it’s compact, easy to use, much more practical and safer to use than a Hi-Lift jack for changing tires and stores away nicely and out of sight when not in use.
For all the maintenance tasks I perform on my Jeep, I keep a floor jack and a bottle jack in my garage as well. Based on experience installing my lift kit, there are situations when you might need all three jacks at the same time.
Since the stock jack will get extended beyond it’s safe limit when using on my lifted Jeep with 35″ tires, I considered simply carrying couple of pieces of 2×6’s, however after coming across the AEV’s Jeep JK Jack Base and seeing how it perfectly fits inside my rear floor compartment, I decided to give it a try.
I understand that due to it’s pretty high price, it might be considered a luxury item by some Jeep owners.
From the manufacturer:
“AEV’s Jack Base provides 3-1/2 inches of additional lift height to the stock Wrangler’s “scissor” jack – allowing tires of up to 37″ or more to be changed with ease and stability. Many people don’t realize that the stock jack won’t work to change larger tires until it’s too late, leaving them stranded on the side of the road or worse, on the trail. The large 7.5″ x 10.5″ base gives the jack better stability in off-road and soft soil conditions. Handy compartments in the base store your AEV lug nut extension and the OE wheel lock key. The Jack Base is shaped to fit neatly into the JK’s rear floor compartment and can also double as a wheel chock to prevent a disabled vehicle or trailer from rolling.”
AEV’s Jack Base provides 3-1/2 inches of additional lift height to the stock Wrangler’s “scissor” jack and has a molded indentation for your jack.
The large 7.5″ x 10.5″ base gives the jack better stability in off-road and soft soil conditions.
AEV’s Jack Base can also double as a wheel chock when you work on your Jeep in your garage or driveway.
The Jack Base is shaped to fit neatly into the JK’s rear floor compartment, provided your Jeep has the side-mounted subwoofer.
If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to comment below.
June 28, 2020 | azoffroading.com
