Jack doesn't fit

We love our 4Runners. Our 2011 is the 2nd one we've owned. We bought it new. Luckily we never had a flat tire, until Friday night after work. After getting our spare tire down, we pulled the jack and tools out and began assembling them to change the flat tire. We discovered that the jack that came with our SUV was too tall and would not fit under the points that the owner's manual instructed us to place it. We even tried the other side to see if it was because the tire was so flat. It still was too tall on the side where the tire was fine. It was cone shaped, notthe old fashioned scissor jack. Did anyone else have this problem?

 

I’ve owned several Toyota 4x4 pickups, beginning in 1980 when they first exported to Canada. I’ve used their jacks, but over the years I decided that depending on such a flimsy piece of equipment in far off places and Canadian wilderness was foolish. Now I pack a good hydraulic jack with me, along with a 24” breaker bar and socket so that I know that I can change a tire no matter where I am - whether a parking garage in downtown Toronto or in the wilds of Northwestern Ontario.

 

my 2016 runner I did the tire replace test one week old. what I found was that jack was too small to lift the front end.. had no problem lifting the rear axle but the front lift was IMO extremely dangerous. so I also have a hydro bottle jack and a torque bar with a special socket that will not damage those alloy wheels ..I do not need a torque wrench because I am so skilled at how much toque these wheels require ... I do use the torque wrench at home but I have good feel on how much torque these nuts require 80ft lbs max..I also have blocks of wood to setup the jack for the base or the top .. adds more stability if on bad surface..this is how I jack up the front tires .. the vehicle lift up about 4 inches so great when I rotate the tires ...

 

Would it be better to have the wood at the bottom of the jack to distribute the load?

 

yes and i would us a thicker wood

 

the jack is on solid pavement ... yes if on soil I would use a 2X6 ...

 

I find it hard to believe the OEM jack isn't sufficient to allow changing a tire?? What's the deal here, folks?

 

do the deal see how it works ..

no way I am gonna use the toyota jack on the frame to lift the front tire. also small base wobble type ..

 

next week I plan on doing my oil change/tire rotations/greasing the drive shafts/frame corrosion maint/and dropping the spare tire washing it and spray it down with silicone.. also lube the spare tire winch . so the hydro bottle jack will be used .

If you have any rust on the frame use cold galv paint.. then I have found rustoleum high performance paint works great on rust control. I tested it on a rusted piece of sheet metal the paint holds up the best I have seen. you can buy this spray or brush on .. not all that expensive its working . rust does form on the toyota frame welds so this must be fixed.
2years now ..

 

You spray the spare rim with silicone to prevent rust?

 

yes I spray the tire /rim all with silicone .. keeps the rust and rubber looking good..
I also in winter with road chemicals spray down the rims and tires .. works good .. My 2000 silverado has original wheels alloy .. still looks good . also when the tires are removed not much corrosion on the rim bead area..

have to use paint/rubber safe silicone .... some silicone has solvents like acetone .. I use homedepot silicone spray on this and also the window trim rubber .. I have chrome bumpers on my GM truck I spray those also in winter works great .