Need a New Jack

[ledzilla]

Ok, so I plan to be doing some front end work to my MM once it warms up. Unfortunately, my garage floor is not concrete and my current jack has a tendency to sink into the pavement and not roll as the car is lifted. This caused trouble when swapping out the trans last summer. Had to lift the car in stages so it wouldn't get yanked off of the stands.

This is more of an issue for the front end, and the engine weight really gets it to dig in. My Buick doesn't have this issue, though. It's almost 1,000 lbs lighter overall, so there's never any trouble getting it lifted. I'm not concerned about stands as I have some stands that spread the weight out, so they don't sink into the floor.

I did try using a piece of sheet metal I picked up from Home Depot, but it gets in the way of trying to position the jacks, depending on where I need to lift and support.

Does anyone know of a good jack that's great about spreading out the weight? I'd really like to feel less anxious about lifting the car when there's work to be done.

[junior]

Maybe swap out the swivel casters on your jack with some new ones. I had to do that on my 40 year-old Hein-Werner jack.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/231583-Floor-Jack-Caster-OEM-for-Lincoln-Walker-Hein-Werner-Snap-On-2pc-/291625059420

[fastblackmerc]

Sheet of 3/4" plywood.

[ledzilla]

Maybe swap out the swivel casters on your jack with some new ones. I had to do that on my 40 year-old Hein-Werner jack.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/231583-Floor-Jack-Caster-OEM-for-Lincoln-Walker-Hein-Werner-Snap-On-2pc-/291625059420

I don't have any problem with the swivels, although swivels with larger wheels would probably be great as these are small enough to get stuff on small pieces of debris. The problem is with the two non-swivel wheels directly below the point of contact with the car. They're kind of narrow and sink into the pavement.


Sheet of 3/4" plywood.

Well, that falls under the same category as the sheet metal. It'll do the job, but it would be in the way either when trying to work or trying to set the stands. Also, it's a one-car garage, so I'm not left with sufficient room for maneuvering a sheet of plywood. Hence why I'm trying to find a jack with better weight distribution on the ground. Although, now that I think of it, if I dropped the sheet down with the car out of the garage, I would just have to make sure I put the car in park with the wheels off of the plywood in case it needs to be adjusted. But really, I want a better jack, since the one I have I picked up for something like $30 at Pep Boys. I'm hoping to be able to find one that won't require an additional surface to work properly when I finally go shopping. Plus, I don't have a good way of transporting a sheet of plywood. Unless maybe it was cut in half...

[lifespeed]

Those fancy low-profile floor jacks (http://www.jegs.com/p/JEGS-Performance-Products/JEGS-Professional-Low-Profile-Aluminum-Floor-Jack/1715510/10002/-1) have wider wheels, although the radius is smaller. Should still spread the load better than a narrow wheel.

[ledzilla]

Those fancy low-profile floor jacks (http://www.jegs.com/p/JEGS-Performance-Products/JEGS-Professional-Low-Profile-Aluminum-Floor-Jack/1715510/10002/-1) have wider wheels, although the radius is smaller. Should still spread the load better than a narrow wheel.

That's what I thought, too, but I had a problem with one of those. That's the kind of jack my brother-in-law brought with him when we swapped out the trans, and the wide wheel just kind of dug right into the floor. When lifting the front, we just about lifted the car off of the jack. The funny thing is that he was upset that he didn't bring the "good" jack. Maybe I should see if he'll let me borrow the "good" one to see how it behaves, since we were less than impressed with how the one with the one wide wheel worked.

[RubberCtyRauder]

Bottle jack on a 12" x 12" piece of plywood

[ledzilla]

Bottle jack on a 12" x 12" piece of plywood

I used to have one, but it wouldn't fit underneath the Marauder, even though it was great with my old Town Car. Given how my old one was designed, wouldn't even need any plywood, it had a broad base. But are there any out there that will fit beneath the front end of a MM that can actually lift the weight without feeling like it's struggling? All of the smaller ones I saw were only rated for one ton. I wouldn't trust one of those for the lifting the front of the car.

[RubberCtyRauder]

Back into garage, or drive up on ramps, they make low profile ones. Pave your garage floor. You're kind of asking for a miracle product when your situation requires better prep IMO.

[ledzilla]

Back into garage, or drive up on ramps, they make low profile ones. Pave your garage floor. You're kind of asking for a miracle product when your situation requires better prep IMO.

Ramps don't work so well when you have to remove the wheels, my friend. Plus, it's rented space so I can't pave it. I'm hoping to buy a house with a nice big garage by the end of summer next year, so with any luck that will solve a lot of problems. But for now I have to make the best of my situation. I will say, though, that for an asphalt surface it is pretty damned firm. Out in the other areas my jack and stands sink into the pavement when I'm working on the Buick, but I don't have that problem in the garage. In the garage, it's only an issue when lifting the front of the Marauder.

[ledzilla]

Or where you talking about getting up onto ramps and then using a bottle jack?

[lifespeed]

Ramps are Satan's own playthings, can't stand them. Tough situation, maybe a smaller piece(s) of sheetmetal will limit the interference issues.

[RubberCtyRauder]

You will have to lift one side at a time and put a jack stand or get some 6 x 6 ties abd out under frame once jacked up and go to other side

[RubberCtyRauder]

Google " air bag jack" eBay has them for $299

[ledzilla]

Google " air bag jack" eBay has them for $299

Hmmm.... This intrigues me. Looks like they're inflated with a standard air compressor, but I didn't see any info to suggest the required minimum PSI from the compressor. At least, not yet. But this is promising.

[CoreyM75]

Get a 4 by 8 sheet of plywood, place it where you want to work, park car on it and there you go. Or you could try a few chunks of 2x6 and use them a bases for the jack and stands.

[sailsmen]

You only need a piece of wood as long as the jack plus the height you are jacking up.

[1Marauder]

Was just at local auto parts store getting white lithium (STG spellcheck put labium twice) grease for the dreaded squeak (it was the best the had) and saw some really cool plastic type car ramps. I though of this thread and asked the dude if they were strong enough etc...

[justbob]

Okay I'll ask Mike, who the hell lays asphalt in a garage????




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[ledzilla]

So, I guess in reality, my best bet is to just get a new jack that fits my general needs (my current one had barely enough lift to allow me to get the heels off of the car), and get myself some chunks o' plywood to set it on top of.

And to answer your question, Bob, you might consider this to be vaguely interesting. The garages in my community are in essence converted carports. They pretty much built carports, then decided to enclose each space, add some electricity, and slap on a garage door. The asphalt they left is harder packed than typical asphalt, but it's still asphalt. Didn't seem apparent until the first time I tried to lift the front of the Marauder and the jack sunk into the surface. I'm hoping to swing getting some work done on the car while simultaneously putting good chunks of money off to the side to buy a house by end of summer next year. So I have to come up with something until I finally get a proper garage.

[tbone]

I have 2 - 2.5 ton jacks and 4 jackstands. Use 3/4" plywood underneath if unstable ground.
It pays to invest in extra equipment unless you want to get crushed like a walnut. Not to mention peace of mind.

[ledzilla]

I'm not worried about getting smooshed. I have 4 decent stands, and one pair has weight distributing feet on it (always use that pair when lifting the front of the MM). It's just trying to lift it up in the first place, since the surface isn't as hard as would be desired. So I'm thinking I'll buy a new jack with 3-ton capacity and almost 20" of lift, and then get some plywood to use it on so it doesn't dig into the garage floor and bind up. I was just hoping that someone knew of a jack that had large wheels or something for better weight distribution when lifting and lowering.

And after the trouble I had patching the exhaust on my Buick a while back, I refuse to lift the car and do work anywhere except in the garage. The jack stands kept sinking into the pavement and I had to keep lifting the car further and further to keep it from sinking on top of my chest. Scariest repair I ever made in my life, but I didn't have the garage yet at the time, so I was pretty limited in what I could do, especially since I just about went broke buying the repair flanges, I had so little cash on hand.

[tbone]

I let down the jacks on to the stands until the car wedges them in place and leave the jacks in place as well. Sometimes I even get my wheel chocks out. That sucker isn't going anywhere. The pavement doesn't mush down because most of the weight is still on the jacks. The key is 2 high capacity jacks if you really want to work comfortably.

[justbob]

My Harbor Freight race Jack has got to be six years old by now with a ton of use. I had my doubts but that sucker just hasn't failed me yet.


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[ledzilla]

Oddly enough, I was thinking of getting a jack from Harbor Freight. They have a sale going on right now and they're right around the corner from me. Seriously, for shopping convenience, I am well-located. Within a couple minutes I can be at a store to buy practically anything.

[tbone]

I got mine at Farm and Fleet. Cheap and reliable.

[ledzilla]

Blaine's Farm and Fleet isn't too far from me, either. Not as close as Harbor Freight, but still not far.

[babbage]

Ok, how about this one! It shoudn't sink, but may have too much friction (frame slips off jack end) on your asphalt floor

http://www.jegs.com/images/photos/500/555/555-80006k.jpg

http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS-Performance-Products/555/80006K/10002/-1?parentProductId=1715510


Or keep your jack and just get "race deck" to cover your whole floor?

[ledzilla]

Yeah, that would probably not work too well, but I like the "race deck" idea. I was doing a bit of research on it, but it seems hard to find tiles that'll work well with using a floor jack. I only found one so far that didn't have large texturing that would interfere with the jack. It was a bit pricey, too. And strangely sized at 13" x 13". Either way, just to get an idea of what I'm in for, I'll measure out the garage this weekend.

[ledzilla]

Well, went and got me some 3/4" plywood and a new 3 ton jack. I guess we'll see how well that all works out once the new outer tie rods ends arrive, and I get to work on putting them in and installing the new hub assemblies.