When I first got the camper, I went through a drill to try out the OEM jack.  I did not and do not like it, as it did not seem as stable as the scissors jacks that I have been accustomed to with Japanese vehicles.  But, it worked, and I have not done anything about a better jack.  One question I have, and have been a bit put off by in considering other jacks, is how does one adapt them to the jack points built into the side of the van?  A scissors or a bottle jack either needs a notch or at least a flat place to fit the jack platform.  How do you guys deal with that?  I would like to have a jack that I trust more to remain stable while changing a flat if needed.  Thanks, David McNeely

---- Ryan Johnson <rhinoculips@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> Personally, I hate the OEM jack.  When I was 30 miles up a rough and very
> remote mountain road, I got a flat.  The damn jack jammed half way up.  It
> wouldn't go up, nor down.  It was high enough to get the flat off, but not
> high enough to put the spare on.  Thus, I had to chip and scratch away at
> the hard and rocky road base with a folding shovel, hatchet and crow bar
> until I had a deep enough hole to get the spare on.  Then I had to pound the
> jack out from under the van.  A really pain in the arse.  I am glad I didn't
> have to dig a hole into the pavement to get my spare on........
>
> Now I keep a hydraulic bottle jack and some short 2x6 boards and never
> looked back.  Its nice to pump up the jack and then twist the release valve
> to lower.  Much easier than winding a "hundred" times in both directions
> with the OEM jack.  My recommendation is to toss the OEM in the trash and
> get a real jack.  Ideally, I would go for a HighLift, but I have yet to find
> a satisfactory place to keep it and it's a little overkill for the run of
> the mill flat.
>
> Fair winds and following seas,
> Ryan
>
>
>
>
> On Sat, Jun 19, 2010 at 1:36 PM, David Beierl <dbeierl@attglobal.net> wrote:
>
> > At 10:27 AM 6/19/2010, Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" wrote:
> >
> >> Church. I destroyed my OEM jack by nit-wittedly leaning against the
> >> rear of the van when it was up on the jack. Van was in neutral,
> >> rolled a bit (it was on a slope) and twisted that jack like so much
> >> licorice.
> >>
> >
> > Cathedral.  I'm too embarrassed to say what I did.  It was long ago
> > and I was a spavined wee thing of only forty or so.  I'll say this,
> > though -- the brake backing plate bent, and if you go to a certain
> > parking lot in Seekonk MA you might still find the dent in the asphalt.
> > Didn't hurt the jack or mount though, because they're both round and
> > designed to spin.
> >
> > And it was three other guys, it never broke and it was that way when I got
> > it.
> >
> > Yours,
> > d
> >

--
David McNeely