My Pitsburg floor jack from Harbor freight works fine. Ive used on the factory pinch welds many times. Now I use my sliders. I use an oily rag or cardboard to improve friction and stability.


I have a fancy lift for jobs that don't require removal of wheels.



I've only jacked off the factory points and when using the sliders I posistion the jack to minimize any flex of the steel slider. I think I've seen knowledgable folks using the cylindrical point A and the LCA on the rear. I've never been able to verify if that's ok to do.

 

I was going to look into a Mercedes sprinter van jack they go pretty high if you get one for like a Dooley 1 ton. What do you think?

 

Dumb question… is the LCA the same as point B in the above photos?

 

Yes. That is my understanding

 

Thanks GavinC
Does your 110 have air suspension? Mine (130X with air suspension) has to jack up a very long way more than that to get the wheel off the ground. I looked up the pitsburgh 3 ton that looks like you're and it mentions 18inch lift. I feel like I need over 20inches for mine

Can you get it off the ground in one go, or do you have to jack, use a jack stand, adjust and jack again?

 

Yes. It works perfectly providing you do the following counter intuitive first step.

lower the car to access height and crack a door. These means all other non-lifted corners are low and you’ll be able to lift the corner you want with no issues.

many folks will tell you to put it into off-road height before jacking. Sounds good but with this jack it doesn’t work. You’ll max it out on one or more corners.

I have tested my hypothesis 10s of times. It works.

 

Interesting, seems counterintuitive. I’ve seen it argued both ways, thanks for sharing your actual experience.

 

It's an interesting idea. I'll try it. I do the opposite - per Land Rover and many other sources. Jack it up as high as possible and leave door open so there is less travel from the already lifted height to the point at which the wheel lifts off the ground. Even then I have to jack a long way - so it's hard to understand how having it low helps as that should be even further. But I'll try it and see..

 

Imagine it’s like a seesaw. Jack it up high and you’re also jacking up the central pivot. (I know it’s not a central point but in reality but for purposes of this little thought experiment, give me some rope). Now it’s harder to jack up the high side of the seesaw.

drip it down low and it’s much easier to effect the desired change in the high side.

simple to test. Probably 30-40 or so driveway tires off and on and even a few trailside tire changes in the bag.

id be sceptical too. Test my idea out. You’ll see.

 

Well - sadly my wife hit the kerb and shredded the tire. I tried your method with the suspension all the way down - but no luck. It was basically the same as having it all the way up - except I had to lift the car even higher. So at the absolute limit of the bottle jack I could get the flat tire off - but not enough space to get the spare on. Had to deflate it to zero, squash it on then reinflate it

Looking at your picture, my car has to lift quite a bit higher to get the wheel off the ground. I have 22 inch wheels - wonder if that makes a difference. Bigger total diameter? Heavier so the suspension is pulled down further

I don't know. But I need a jack with more lift height that is solid/secure...