Morris Minor Owners Club

My car didn't come with the original jack.

What are people's thoughts on bottle jacks? We have one at work and it lifts big vans quite well...

What sort of lift clearance do I need?

Machine Mart do a perfectly suitable one for around £8, served me quite well. Worth using with some stout hardwood to protect the area you're lifting and prevent slipping.

Much better with a small/light trolley jack. Don't worry about the original jack - it is NEVER to be used anyway!

Agreed trolley jacks are best a little heavy to carry with you though so I have a bottle jack out of a Discovery it has a shaped top which fits to underside of axle nicely

Just make sure you have clearance to get the bottle jack under your jacking point when the tyre is FLAT as this can be 3 or 4 inches lower than normal.

If your car did not come with the original jack that is a good thing, you will not be tempted to use it!
A decent trolley jack for the garage and a scissor jack in the boot, and a pair of axle stands

Its not realy practical to carry a trolly jack in the boot,nor axle stands, just get down to a scrap yard and find a good strong scissor jack to use for wheel changes,emergency repairs, at the road side.most moderns have them.You will find that bottle jacks are no use for this since once the tyre is flat,you can't get the bottle jack under the car.
As an asside,in each car I have ,including the wifes ,I have placed an can of emergency inflator/repair,absolutly invaluable,no need for wheel off at the side of a busy road,just screw it on and 30 seconds later you are on your way.Even my wife could do that,well if she could find the flat wheel in the first place without ringing me
In fact in a lot of new cars now you don't even get a spare,just a can and an 12volt pump.

I agree with the 'can' - although have never used it, and it will be useless if the tyre has more than a 'nail' in it. I don't have any problem carrying a small trolley jack...so much safer than messing about with a scissor jack.

I carry a modern scissor jack too, they do vary in quality a lot so don't just grab the first one you see.
I think it's a H*nda one, very well made but still much lighter than a trolley jack.

beware of using gas canisters for reinflating tubed tyres. They are for tubeless tyres and not recommended for use with tubes.

bmcecosse wrote:Don't worry about the original jack - it is NEVER to be used anyway!

if memory serves it gets the car off the ground. so why the issue?

AntB wrote:

bmcecosse wrote:Don't worry about the original jack - it is NEVER to be used anyway!

if memory serves it gets the car off the ground. so why the issue?

Err, death I assume.

so if i jack my morris off the ground with the jack to replace a tyre with a puncture the OEM jack will kill me?

odd, i have changed loads of tyres with it and it was fine.

however, if someone was planning on using it for something it wasn't designed for, such as working under the vehicle instead of supporting the car in a proper manner i would agree that was an unwise thing to do. dangerous even.

a sense of scale is a useful tool also.

If you use the original jack as supplied by morris,was perfectly ok when the car was new,except not very stable,but depending on the model,serr 11and earlier, fitted under the edge of the front and rear inner wings,and after. small tube on the end of the cross member. After 20 years these areas are guarenteed to collapse,eventually, due to weakening with corrosion. Unless you have a completely rebuilt body,If you are in doubt about it use the oringinal and then give the car a good shove about,just like the wind caused by a large lorry passing at 60 mph. BUT STAND WELL BACK.

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GPO van jacking bracket[frame][/frame]Series MM jacking point[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]GPO van jacking point

One thing I've been wondering is how you would jack the back wheel off the ground for emergency tyre change, where is the strongest place to do it for a 2 door saloon? Would it be the same place as in those ^ photos?

Many thanks

under the diff

Nowt wrong with the original jack, as long as the jacking points are in good condition, and the jack is well greased and you use it sensibly.

In fact, it's quite a good sturdy and efficient design, compared to some modern car jacks.