A'vans & Wheeljacks (by Chris Bellamy):
Most of us travel happily without experiencing a flat tyre more often than every two or three years.
When they happen it is never convenient, often on a gravel road on a wet day etc.
and the nearest NRMA patrol van is miles away. Worse, if you have a flat
tyre on your offroad version of an Aliner or on any Cruiseliner, fixing it
yourself by the roadside may be harder than you think. With these versions
of the A'van family, the higher ground clearance is great for negotiating rough
roads or even the entrance to your local service station. The downside is
encountered when you set about changing wheels by the roadside. Chances
are the jack in the car boot is designed to nestle under a car whose axle or
jacking point is only 150mm off the ground or in the case of a small 4WD it is
at best 200mm off the ground. Using my offroad Aliner's axle as a jacking
point, its height above flat ground is 260 mm. Another jacking point for
an offroad Aliner or Cruiseliner is a point on the chassis rails which may be
380 mm clear of the ground. Access to the chassis rails from the side
may be much easier than trying to
insert a jack under the axle, the alternative jacking point, on anything other
than a flat concrete driveway. One can consider doing this on a steep
slope, on uneven ground or on mud or soft earth. On my off road Aliner,
the chassis rail needs to be lifted to 450mm for the wheel to clear the ground
i.e. a lift of 70 mm.
So what are the options for a jack? Of course one's A'van does not come
with a jack at all! So what can one use? Recently a new owner of
a Cruiseliner drew my attention to a range of
new scissor style jacks which are designed for use on caravans.
These are available from Lloyd's Caravans in Fyshwick ACT. They are made
by Clyde-APAC in South Australia and are described by them as the Model 150
Series. They are similar to a scissor jack as supplied with Holdens and
Falcons. The highest lifting version, known as Model 150AMCH has an actual
connecting point which has been extended about 150mm over the Holden version to
give them a maximum raised height of 590 mm with a minimum height of 250mm.
They can lift up 1500 kgs and they themselves weigh 4.5 kgs. This is
lighter than a large bottle jack which would be the alternative. A suitable
long separate winding handle is supplied with the jack. The cost in December
2006 was about $90 for the high lift version. The lower lift version
(150AMCL) at Lloyd's, which still offers a higher lift than a Holden jack,
was priced at about $70 and this version should suffice for use on non off road
style Aliners. Its minimum height is 200mm and maximum raised height is 500mm.
Jacking behind near-side chassis rail "gusset"
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Snug fit around "Off-road" chassis rail
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Chris Bellamy (2541)