A vehicle jack is an essential part of a 4×4 off-road vehicle’s recovery accessories. There will always be a clear and present danger of getting stuck when traveling on unpaved road, obviously. But not as obviously is the difference between traditional vehicle jacks, and using an exhaust (air) jack to get the job done. When is an exhaust jack preferable over a regular, and vice versa?

The exhaust jack shines in situations where the terrain presents challenges with traction. Snow, sand, and mud are all highly-unstable driving terrains that have fluctuating levels of thickness for any given area. An exhaust jack used when a vehicle gets stuck in these situations can ultimately be the fastest, most effective way to get your vehicle un-stuck. For example, placing a regular jack under the side of the body while a portion of the vehicle is stuck in mud can end up ruining the frame depending on the conditions. An exhaust jack uses the air from a tail pipe, and thus doesn’t damage the frame when lifting a vehicle in a similar situation.

In addition to these benefits, exhaust jacks do not have the problems that high lift jacks do on not-so-solid ground. Sand, snow, and muddy surfaces will probably sink the traditional lift more than raise the vehicle out of the hazard. Off-roading in general will most often find uses for the exhaust jack more than the high lift version without some sort of base plate. Of course, the presence of extravagant off-road bumpers/bull bars may also detract from the utility of using high lift jacks, and won’t be as effective in the case that you need to lift heavier vehicles like trailers, caravans, trucks with heavy loads, etc.

There are disadvantages to using exhaust jacks, of course. The nature of using exhaust air to lift presents issues with the easily-punctured bag used for the exhaust jack. If the bag is punctured, you’re pretty much out of luck when stuck in the middle of a hazard without a high lift jack as a backup. Also, rocky terrains that can easily puncture an exhaust jack are more suited for the high life jack or bottle jack quite obviously. The placement of an exhaust jack in your recovery kit is not necessarily the replacement of a regular jack, depending on your particular vehicle off-road usage.

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