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> If you want to change your flat tire you need to unload everything in the bed, which will be a huge pain in the ass on the side of the road. aren't you alrea

> If you want to change your flat tire you need to unload everything in the bed, which will be a huge pain in the ass on the side of the road. aren't you already supposed to unload your vehicle before you jack it up on one side? maybe it's different for "work vehicles", but my car comes with a puny little jack that's only strong enough to support the weight of the car when there are no people or heavy items inside. I suspect the hardpoint on the car itself isn't designed with much more headroom than the jack.

dsfyu404ed 8y ago
>aren't you already supposed to unload your vehicle before you jack it up on one side? Eh, maybe? You have to take the totality of circumstances into account. The jack (depending on the style, some are better than others) can probably take the weight in most circumstances. The vehicle can probably also tolerate the extra weight so long as it's not grossly overloaded or rusted. Whether you have any problems is going to depend more on the details of the location more than anything else. You could go on Reddit and score a bunch of virtue points for saying nobody should ever jack up a vehicle in less than perfect circumstances but I think in the overwhelming majority of real world situations you do not need to unload the vehicle.
mikestew 8y ago
The hard point of the car is part of the frame on every vehicle I can recall. And I recall a lot, because back when I was a mechanic I had to find those points to get the car on the hydraulic lift. One had to be careful of rusty VW Beetles as unibody as kind of a new thing, and a lift could punch a hole through the floor of a rusted Beetle if one wasn’t careful. Anyway, enough resume flouting. Yes, you should unload your truck before changing the tire. What if that 1000 lbs. is pea gravel? Still unloading it first, Dr. Safety First? If I had 1000 lbs. in the bed and I had a flat? I’d change it as is. It won’t be the smartest thing I do that week, and I am going to keep my hands out from breaking the vertical plane of the wheel well as much as possible. But I am confident that the solid point of the frame will hold it, and even the puny jack is likely stringer than it looks. But in reality, if I had a load, I’d just call AAA or a mobile truck service. They carry really nice heavy-duty jacks. Flat tires are such a rarity these days, I’d roll the dice on paying someone $200 to change my tire. In the end, if you’re that worried about it, do what we did when I was kid with our old ‘63 Chevy: throw the spare on top of the load when you’re done loading. Doesn’t fix the jacking problem, but at least the spare is accessible.
- deleted 8y ago
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toss1 8y ago
It depends on the load, the surface, the jack, and the overall situation. For sure, many of the spindly jacks that come with small cars could be an issue. And remember, the jack is only lifting one corner (or side in some configurations), so it sin't the whole load. Even if it's iffy, I can easily envision a situation where the load is not massive but is still bulky or inconvenient to remove, or impossible to do so without equipment. So, yes, this feature would give me pause (maybe not a deal-breaker, but...) in contrast to an otherwise fantastic design. If you haven't yet, definitely check it out!

dsfyu404ed 8y ago

>aren't you already supposed to unload your vehicle before you jack it up on one side? Eh, maybe? You have to take the totality of circumstances into account. The jack (depending on the style, some are better than others) can probably take the weight in most circumstances. The vehicle can probably also tolerate the extra weight so long as it's not grossly overloaded or rusted. Whether you have any problems is going to depend more on the details of the location more than anything else. You could go on Reddit and score a bunch of virtue points for saying nobody should ever jack up a vehicle in less than perfect circumstances but I think in the overwhelming majority of real world situations you do not need to unload the vehicle.

mikestew 8y ago

The hard point of the car is part of the frame on every vehicle I can recall. And I recall a lot, because back when I was a mechanic I had to find those points to get the car on the hydraulic lift. One had to be careful of rusty VW Beetles as unibody as kind of a new thing, and a lift could punch a hole through the floor of a rusted Beetle if one wasn’t careful. Anyway, enough resume flouting. Yes, you should unload your truck before changing the tire. What if that 1000 lbs. is pea gravel? Still unloading it first, Dr. Safety First? If I had 1000 lbs. in the bed and I had a flat? I’d change it as is. It won’t be the smartest thing I do that week, and I am going to keep my hands out from breaking the vertical plane of the wheel well as much as possible. But I am confident that the solid point of the frame will hold it, and even the puny jack is likely stringer than it looks. But in reality, if I had a load, I’d just call AAA or a mobile truck service. They carry really nice heavy-duty jacks. Flat tires are such a rarity these days, I’d roll the dice on paying someone $200 to change my tire. In the end, if you’re that worried about it, do what we did when I was kid with our old ‘63 Chevy: throw the spare on top of the load when you’re done loading. Doesn’t fix the jacking problem, but at least the spare is accessible.

deleted 8y ago
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toss1 8y ago

It depends on the load, the surface, the jack, and the overall situation. For sure, many of the spindly jacks that come with small cars could be an issue. And remember, the jack is only lifting one corner (or side in some configurations), so it sin't the whole load. Even if it's iffy, I can easily envision a situation where the load is not massive but is still bulky or inconvenient to remove, or impossible to do so without equipment. So, yes, this feature would give me pause (maybe not a deal-breaker, but...) in contrast to an otherwise fantastic design. If you haven't yet, definitely check it out!