Jacking - a lump of wood!

[Ooopnorth]

For years, I've been carrying a piece of 2x6, about 18 " long, in the boot of my car.  Why?  Well, years ago I got a puncture on an 'orrid night and had to put the spare wheel on with only a soft verge to stop on.  Eventually, I had to use a bit of stone from the drystone wall along the lane side, but it was far from perfect.  Since then I've carried the piece of wood- a short length of scaffolding plank to be specific.  It gets used at least twice a year when I change the winter to summers wheels and vice versa.  Used once in anger when I got a puncture and its use left me with a warm smug glow of self-satisfaction!

 

Here's the question (thanks for enduring the wittering).  I'm going all 21 Century now and feel that a lump of wood in the boot somehow lacks the level of finesse I wish to project to the world ( ), so what could I use instead?  It has to hold the jack steady on soft ground, block-paving, soft gravel and the like.

 

Ideally, it would also be multi-purpose (I can use the wood for a bit of impromptu whittling, fend off any road-rager, or to set up a campfire/BBQ, even serve a meal on, albeit that wood as dishes is getting passée) .  Yeah, I know I could just call the RAC/AA or whatever, but whenever I've got a puncture (just 2 in 5 year so far, thankfully) that's never been very convenient either in time or place, and anyway I like to be as independent as possible.

Edited 13 May, 2021 by Ooopnorth

[Liger1956]

I would stick with the wood (pun intended) as it does its job. If you wanted to you could wrap it with duct tape to make it look better or could you profile it to make it fit in the spare wheel well? I use a piece of ply when jacking the car up on my block paving drive to spread the load and prevent breaking or displacing the blocks.

[daz1986]

I'm a breakdown guy as my day job, 
We just use a jack sized piece of 12mm hardboard. Its what they line our floors with when the vans are fitted out. The conversion company chuck a piece in the van and we cut them down to size if too big, but generally they get it spot on now.
Does the job fine, Probably could go thinner, 6 or 9mm board, ours is only 12mm as that's what's already being used.
 

Edited 13 May, 2021 by daz1986

[KenONeill]

7 hours ago, Ooopnorth said:

so what could I use instead?

A piece of dressed wood, rather than scaffolding plank. Asking nicely in a timber merchant may get you something suitable for free.

[Ooopnorth]

Thank you for all of your replies.  It's reassuring, as I couldn't think of anything better either.  And yes Ken, I'll treat myself to something a bit more 'polished'!

[Ttaskmaster]

You could put some nails through it, so it gives better grip on the ground like running/golf shoes... Better yet, sink in some threads and screw in some football boot studs.

On the reverse side, chisel or route out a recess, into which the jack foot will fit perfectly and reduce the chance of slipping.

[Ooopnorth]

49 minutes ago, Ttaskmaster said:

You could put some nails through it, so it gives better grip on the ground like running/golf shoes... Better yet, sink in some threads and screw in some football boot studs.

On the reverse side, chisel or route out a recess, into which the jack foot will fit perfectly and reduce the chance of slipping.

Now then Ttaskmaster, that sounds like the Deluxe version alright :D

 

If I had the wherewithal and energy I'd go into production and market that as the next must-have-accessory.  However, I suspect the art of changing a wheel, rather like setting up and  lighting a coal fire, are skills practised by a diminishing number of stalwarts !

[paddywack1878]

On 13/05/2021 at 12:33, Ooopnorth said:

For years, I've been carrying a piece of 2x6, about 18 " long, in the boot of my car.  Why?  Well, years ago I got a puncture on an 'orrid night and had to put the spare wheel on with only a soft verge to stop on.  Eventually, I had to use a bit of stone from the drystone wall along the lane side, but it was far from perfect.  Since then I've carried the piece of wood- a short length of scaffolding plank to be specific.  It gets used at least twice a year when I change the winter to summers wheels and vice versa.  Used once in anger when I got a puncture and its use left me with a warm smug glow of self-satisfaction!

 

Here's the question (thanks for enduring the wittering).  I'm going all 21 Century now and feel that a lump of wood in the boot somehow lacks the level of finesse I wish to project to the world ( ), so what could I use instead?  It has to hold the jack steady on soft ground, block-paving, soft gravel and the like.

 

Ideally, it would also be multi-purpose (I can use the wood for a bit of impromptu whittling, fend off any road-rager, or to set up a campfire/BBQ, even serve a meal on, albeit that wood as dishes is getting passée) .  Yeah, I know I could just call the RAC/AA or whatever, but whenever I've got a puncture (just 2 in 5 year so far, thankfully) that's never been very convenient either in time or place, and anyway I like to be as independent as possible.

scaffolds base plate mate ....simple light and strong

[Ooopnorth]

1 hour ago, paddywack1878 said:

scaffolds base plate mate ....simple light and strong

Yeah.  Great idea too.  I could go for something like one of these.      https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254809868817?_trkparms=aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20200818143230%26meid%3De62b00f9f3fe4d848863e086a603869e%26pid%3D101224%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D5%26sd%3D154333839768%26itm%3D254809868817%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DDefaultOrganic&_trksid=p2047675.c101224.m-1

 

       Cheers for the idea.

Edited 16 May, 2021 by Ooopnorth

[edbostan]

I have thought about caravan ramps for lifting my Roomster enough to gain access to the sump plug. 

[Robjon]

I use a 10" x 7" x 3/4" offcut of OSB, which slots nicely into the gap at the front end of my Yeti's spare wheel.

Edited 10 July, 2021 by Robjon

[Ooopnorth]

I eventually bought a couple of these https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/133788861447?_trkparms=aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20200818143230%26meid%3Dbfb44c136e4b4163a0a17335e5196e1f%26pid%3D101224%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D5%26sd%3D254809868817%26itm%3D133788861447%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DDefaultOrganic&_trksid=p2047675.c101224.m-1  One for my partner's Fabia too. They're light but very sturdy, easy to clean, and the yellow colour means they're not likely to get left behind if you unfortunately end up changing the wheel in some dark spot.

 

They also could pass as a square frizzbe, if you get bored by the roadside waiting for assistance, or a makeshift dinner plate for car camping, plus a 1000 other uses the imagination could conjure up  :)

[J.R.]

I have 3 box trailers in a field with the corner posts resting on wooden blocks but not quite as large as those, its so wet around here that they are all gradually sinking, today I went to swop some wheels and my 60's Bradbury trolley jack that has a really large footprint submerged like it was on quicksand

 

After extricating it i put it on a 30cm wide MDF kitchen door that was amongst the tat in the trailer & it lifted OK.

 

I am going to buy a job lot of those for the corner posts but also to go under the wheels so thanks for the tip.

 

For some reason I cannot save either of the listings to my Ebay watch list.

[StevesTruck]

I have a few bits of wood flooring. Goes under the boot carpet without leaving a bump, stronger than it looks, and if need be you can stick a bit of gaffa tape round them to make a thicker peice.