What's the right Bottle Jack for changing a tire with a truck camper? It's not just based on weight - it has to factor in jack height... I've got a 2019 F350 DRW 4x4 long bed truck that carries a Northern Lite 10-2 camper. The truck came with a 4 ton bottle jack (Ford OEM) for changing tires - and it's important to note that the minimum height on this jack is 7.5" tall (which is about as tall as you can go if the left front tire went completely flat, because the front differential jack point is lower to the ground than any other jack lifting point of the vehicle). The other 3 jack points all have more clearance, so (I believe) the left front determines the minimum jack height - which is about 7.5". This jack is a double ram, so it still has about a 9" lift capability on top of the 7.5" height - so this jack is well suited for the truck, given the varying heights at which the jack starts to lift the wheel (height range from 7.5" to 16.5").

However... I was thinking I should consider replacing this jack with a 6-ton or higher, but I'm not finding a suitable jack that works with all 4 corners - all the other jacks I've run across, including the Ford OEM 6-ton jack, either don't fit, don't have enough variable lift height, or don't work that well. So I have two questions:

1) Could I get away with the 4-ton jack and just leave things as-is? At my heaviest (fully loaded with water, propane, people and gear), the rear end is about 10,000 lbs - obviously, distributed between the two sets of wheels based on camper loading, angle of the truck, etc. When I am in a situation to be able to jack the camper off the truck, my OEM bottle jack is plenty adequate. The question is whether this jack is adequate if I can't jack up the camper (e.g., I'm on a slope, off the side of the road, etc). Since I'd only be lifting one set of tires off the ground, I'm thinking that it's unlikely that more than 8,000 lbs would be on any one set of dually tires at a time. If that is true, then the 4-ton jack would still work, although not with much margin.

2) If the 4-ton jack is a really bad idea, then what do you recommend I get? I looked at the 6-ton Ford OEM jack, and it has a 9.5" minimum height - which would not fit under the left front jack point under worst case scenario (flat tire). I recently bought a $50 double ram jack on Amazon that met the minimum and maximum height requirements, but it takes about 4 pumps to raise the jack the same amount that the Ford jack does with just one pump, making my time under the truck on the side of the road a much more lengthy and risky ordeal than it would otherwise be. This Amazon jack would work, but I'm not sure I like it - so I'd want to find something better (or stay with the 4-ton Ford jack I already have). I don't want to carry 2 jacks with me.

What are other people doing about their emergency jack - with the understanding that the front differential appears to limit the minimum jack height to about 7.5", and therefore rules out a whole lot of aftermarket jacks...


Photo is of the stock, OEM 4-ton jack.

Thanks for any advice, input or suggestions!

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My criteria:

- Fit under the lowest jack point while the respective tire is all the way flat
- Fit under the lowest jack point while the respective tire is all the way flat with a 2x6 or 2x8 piece of wood under it if you think there's a chance you'll need to do this off of the pavement
- Strong enough to lift one corner fully loaded plus some margin (I look for 25% margin)

Never lift the center of the differential with a bottle jack. Only lift one wheel at a time.

I see nothing wrong with the pictured jack, and 8,000 pounds of capacity is more than enough for each corner of your truck.

Also, get some way to block tires from rolling. Boards, wheel chocks, rocks, your least favorite novel, etc.

 

I have a 6 ton bottle jack behind my backseat. This is what I did to change out the inside rear the last time I had a blowout on my dually.

• I was able to use the jacks on the camper to raise it up after loosening the tie downs
• Used the factory jack to get it up enough that I could slip the 6 ton bottle jack under the rear axle to take it up the rest of the way
• Reverse order once tire changed

 

I agree on both points. I don't even lift on the differential with a floor jack.

 

I will, but only with no cargo and with my older jack that has a wide plate, and only on the way to putting stands under the axle. I've seen folks try this with big ol' cabovers or loaded utility beds on the back and can't fathom that this is good for parts and/or safe. Fortunately, the jacks usually go into bypass before they can lift anything.

 

https://bottlejackbuddy.net/the-big-one-1

This might help with spreading the contact area when lifting with weight in the truck.

 

Neat!

I might get one!