Inflatable Jacks (Draper)

[Guest R B Lavell]

Has anyone experience of Inflatable Jacks? I am disbled, and a recent blow out on a rear neardside wheel with a steep camber road proved impossible to safely raise my vehicle for a wheel change. A call to Greenflag solved the problem/ I would like to think that l can do the job myself and think that an inflatable jack (3Tons) would do the job in an emergency. Advice would be appreciated.

[Guest Brian Kirby]

On balance, I think you may be better off relying on Green Flag, or whoever. It depends a bit on where your spare is located, and on the nature of your disability, but if the spare is under the vehicle, retrieval before jacking can be very difficult, and you'd absolutely have to use axle/chassis stands for safety before venturing underneath with any kind of jacking system. Getting someone else, better equipped to do the job, seems eminently sensible to me. Hope this helps Brian

[Guest Ian Stewart]

I carry a Draper 5 ton inflatable jack in the motorhome in addition to a 5 ton hydraulic jack. I bought the air jack purely for emergency use on *soft* ground, ie getting bogged down where no assistance was available and having to get something under the wheels to gain traction. Never had to use it yet but I've got peace of mind knowing it's there. However, I certainly wouldn't like to rely on it to change a road wheel, not even on flat ground never mind a camber. And I wouldn't change a road wheel on a public highway if there was an alternative, such as calling out a recovery firm. Just my personal opinion.

[Guest Mel B]

I'm with the other guys, why worry about being able to change the wheel? Ask yourself how often you've had to do this in reality? We've been motoring for over 25 years in both cars and motorhomes, and in all that time we've only ever had 2 flat tyres to contend with. I'm a great believer in helping yourself but if for nothing else than safety, I'd stick to letting the breakdown services do it, that's what you pay your membership for after all.

[Guest Ian Stewart]

How often ? Twice in ten years. Nearside on a caravan 90 miles from home on the M6 at the end of a 2,000 mile Continental trip and an offside-rear on the motorhome last year on the M40 heading for Dover. Used the recovery services both times.

[Guest Derek Uzzell]

I've got an inflatable jack somewhere that I used to carry around in the car. The logic behind these things is (as Ian says) that, because the jacking load is spread over a wide area they can be used when the ground beneath the disabled vehicle is soft. Also that operation is simple - the deflated 'air-bag' is slid beneath the vehicle, a connector for the inflation-tube is pushed on to the vehicle's exhaust pipe, the vehicle's motor is revved up, the air-bag inflates and up goes the vehicle. In practice, it's a tad more complicated, as you first need to ensure there's nothing sharp or pointed on the vehicle's underside where the air-bag contacts it, otherwise the bag can easily be punctured. (And don't forget the hot exhaust system!) Obviously you'll need to be in the vehicle's driving seat to operate the accelerator and the vehicle's motor will need to be running to inflate the bag, but (unless you intend to hop repeatedly in and out of the vehicle) you'll need somebody else outside to advise you when the punctured tyre (or bogged down wheel) is clear of the ground. I found that the exhaust pressure required to inflate the bag sufficiently to lift the vehicle regularly blew the tube-connector off the exhaust pipe. So, if you do use an air jack, NEVER allow anybody anywhere near the exhaust pipe connection - if the tube-connector flies off and hits you it can really hurt! Eventually, after a series of exploratory runs at home, I decided the pain outweighed the gain and have subsequently carried instead a DIY thick plywood 'load-spreader' to place beneath the standard jack should I have to raise the car on soft ground. Ian: If you haven't practised using your air jack then you would be well advised to do so. With a motorhome the main difficulty will be deciding where to position the air-bag so that the bag is not damaged by the vehicle or the vehicle is not damaged by the bag. Ordinary jacks lift via specific chassis strong points, but the top surface of an air jack covers a wide area. If this 'footprint' happens to include any part of the motorhome that's vulnerable to pressure (eg. side skirts, water tanks, gas pipes, blown-air ducts, brake pipes, etc.) then the chances of causing damage are high.