Hi-Lift jacks

[rob_gendreau]

I had a thread going about this a while back.

You can lift from a hitch, but it's dangerous; the van can tip off in either direction. Actually, that's a feature: guys do that to lift out of ruts. Go up and give a good shove sideways. At least on a CJ. Van? not so much. You can use straps to improve stability, or bolt the nose in. But you still have to go quite high to take out the suspension sag before the wheels lift. Very precarious.

Those wheel adapaters work, but tend to throw the jack into the van, depending on your setup. And make sure they fit in your wheels, although I suspect you could rig up a system yourself with some non-stretchy webbing. Much easier.

I am also working on a scissor jack; got two trailer stabilizers off Amazon for $70 or so, and they go up 24". Just gotta weld on a top, something that will gently caress the axle (so it won't slide off). My impact is too puny to lift the van, but it does make short work of getting the slack out. I want to weld up an extension for the handle as well (mine came with nut installed). The scissors collapse quite small, so if you're stuck in a runt you don't have to dig much to get it under an axle or frame rail. Versatile, cheap and reliable.