Choose a jack you can use on your vehicle

A jack must match the vehicle's approved lifting points, required capacity, and useful lift range. The same jack can be convenient on one rig and unsuitable on another. A tall farm-style jack also needs appropriate attachment provisions and specific training; a plastic bumper is not automatically a lifting point.

Practice locating your vehicle's designated points at home. Confirm that the jack can be placed when a tire is flat, and that it can raise the vehicle enough to install the spare without exceeding its limits. Include the handles and adapters the manufacturer requires. Check how every component will be stored securely.

A stable, firm, level setup is essential. Soft-ground support must be compatible with the jack and vehicle instructions; do not improvise a stack of rocks or loose lumber. Chock and secure the vehicle as instructed, and keep everyone out of hazardous areas. Never place any part of your body beneath a vehicle supported only by a jack. Proper support requires suitable rated stands or other manufacturer-approved support on appropriate ground.

Hi-Lift explicitly warns against using its jack to support or stabilize a load. Its moving handle has its own hazards, which deserve a hands-on lesson. Spend first on a setup you can demonstrate safely. If the trail will not allow stable lifting, arrange recovery rather than forcing a wheel change in the wrong place.

Keep building your kit

Trail Gear Wheel Replacement · Trail Gear Winch Recovery · Trail Gear Guide

Sources

• Hi-Lift safety instructions
• Ford example vehicle-specific wheel-change instructions