I think that is my next move. Use the one I have to lift high enough to get a bigger one under. I'm happy that if I had a puncture I'd find something to drive the flat wheel onto (wood,stone,kerb etc) to get the van high enough to get the jack under.
Maybe I should rephrase that, I can't be sure the specialist would have been able to split the pulley I just think they would have had a better chance with experience and specialist tools.That's an interesting trading model the garage has - "we're not competent, therefore you pay more".
Like the look of this but as it's only rated for 2000kg is it not rated strong enough to lift a Transporter? Or am I being thick because essentially you're only lifting one corner of the van to change a tyre so the weight to lift is actually less than 2000kg?
I went with "you are only lifting one corner "
and side by side it looked a hell of a lot sturdier built than the VW one !
Down to personal preference I think .Both do the job ,personally I found that unless you carried a heavy duty bottle jack ,the ones I tried didnt quiet give me enough lift and I needed to carry a bit of wood with me to be a bit more stable on the ground
I have this one:-
The 2 tonne version of yours is what I bought first, the range of lift was 168-316 which sounded all right but in practice only just got it off the ground once the suspension dropped with the lift! Whereas your 5 tonne one is much better at 207-402 ,just a bit bulkier to store in my van ,so went with the scissor jack which so far has been great as it goes from 95 up to 442 and surprisingly very stable !!
I ha
I have tried using the VW jack a couple of times, and just don't trust it at all
I have a couple of trolley jacks for routine maintenance but these are the bottle jacks I carry in the van. The small 2 ton I already had but got the 5 ton specifically for the van. 5 ton is more capacity than I need but it is the lifting range that matters and this jack will get a wheel clear of the ground and it is still quite compact. As above the small jack is just to raise the body a bit if the tyre is flat. Agree that a plank, rock etc would do but I just know that when I get a flat I will be halfway down Glen Torridon sideways rain blowing a hoolie in the dark and I will just want to get the job done. ( and probably my ocd as well).
Does that give you required clearance to change a wheel?
And do you use some sort of axle stand as a safety precaution once raised or not?
TBH given the range of suspension heights wheel/tyre sizes etc you will probably have to measure your own set up to be sure what jack would work. To see if a jack would fit under the jacking point with a flat measure the gap and then deduct the height of the sidewall to your tyre, not exact but close enough. To get the lifting range I jacked up the van with a trolley jack till the wheel was clear of the ground and then measured the height of the jacking point from the ground.
I certainly would, unless you were my ex wife, who I would encourage to use the VW supplied jack with no axle stands, I would help by rocking the van while she was under it.
