Ideas for high quality spare tire jack

[mm8922]

It has been a long time since I had a roadside flat, but it happened last week. I pulled into a parking lot away from traffic and attempted to change the front tire. Everything was fine until the cheap plastic rollers on the jack cracked, causing the jack to move and the car to fall! You can imagine my horror at the sound of my brand new car crashing down. Fortunately, I had just leaned the spare against the hub while turning around to pick up the lugs. The spare saved the car from hitting the ground and wiping out the painted trim under the bumper.

Anyway, does anyone have ideas for a high quality jack to keep in the trunk? Thanks.

 

[doublearon98]

A bottle jack has many uses, so are tire changes included. I have one from oreileys and seems to be fairly good. You can also spend a arm and a leg and buy from usjack. As far as the size of the jack, you should measure the height from ground to your jack point on the car and subtract at least 2" t ok account for a flat. Find a jack that fits within that height

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[bdbecker]

I carry an inexpensive hydraulic jack because, like you, I had a car fall using a scissor jack once. Something like this should work:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BG6IJA0/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Mine isn't low profile because I have plenty of room under the Jeep, but if I had a car, that's what I'd look for. Not necessarily "high quality", but much better than the scissor jacks in my opinion. I'll toss in the obligatory "make sure to always use jack stands when working with a hydraulic jack" safety disclaimer too.

 

[firebirdparts]

I also like the idea of a tiny bottle jack. Ford trucks came with a mechanical jack that is built in a bottle jack format. These are also good. If they won't fit under your car when a tire is flat, though, you may still need something like a scissors jack. You can hit the junkyard and look at a selection for $5, or carry a small hydraulic floor jack. Small hydraulic floor jacks are pretty heavy, though, and harder to store.

 

[slow]

I've never had an issue with the factory jack, and have never seen a factory jack with plastic wheels.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

I've never had an issue with the factory jack, and have never seen a factory jack with plastic wheels.

I have never seen a factory jack with any wheels, let alone plastic...

Tommy

 

[bad_idea]

I'd run down to the local junk yard and pull a scissor jack from an older Chevy. Something heavy like a Caprice.

 

[Stuart in MN]

I've never had an issue with the factory jack, and have never seen a factory jack with plastic wheels.

I have never seen a factory jack with any wheels, let alone plastic...

The original poster said plastic rollers, not wheels. They didn't mention the car brand but I assume the rollers are part of the jack's lifting mechanism.

 

[teamextreme]

Ya, curious as to the make/model. I know they're getting cheaper and cheaper on spares and likely jacks, as OP has found. I've never had an issue with a factory jack and I've used my current truck's numerous times. Of course it's the newest vehicle I own and it's an '06 Ram.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

The original poster said plastic rollers, not wheels. They didn't mention the car brand but I assume the rollers are part of the jack's lifting mechanism.

Good point, but still hard to believe (although not surprising) anybody would put something with a feeble design like that into a production car these days.

Tommy

 

[Barnabas]

I like this one. It has a double ram, so it goes twice as high as a similar height bottle jack. It works under every car, truck, and trailer that I have tried. Sometimes I set it on a 2x4 for extra height.

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200641735_200641735

 

[James-W]

I carry an inexpensive hydraulic jack because, like you, I had a car fall using a scissor jack once. Something like this should work:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BG6IJA0/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Mine isn't low profile because I have plenty of room under the Jeep, but if I had a car, that's what I'd look for. Not necessarily "high quality", but much better than the scissor jacks in my opinion. I'll toss in the obligatory "make sure to always use jack stands when working with a hydraulic jack" safety disclaimer too.

I agree totally with this, a jack like this is a thousand times nicer than the usual jack that comes with a new vehicle. that is, if they even have a jack and spare tire with the new vehicle. My car doesn't have a jack or spare tire, it has a small air-compressor instead.

 

[cpttuna]

Each of my jeeps has a bottle as well as a scissors jack. I hit the pick n" pull for the extra jacks. I also have several pieces of 2X4 to make up any height I need before I start jacking. I purchased 7 jacks at the JY and all looked as if they had never been used.

 

[EOC_Jason]

I carry a bottle jack in my truck, along with a couple 2x4 blocks. I haven't had to use the jack for my truck ever, but I've used it on several friend's vehicles... Much easier than the crappy scissor jack most have.

 

[Pen & Wrench]

Its probably overkill but I have a 2.5 ton aluminum & steel floor jack for the pickup.
I pull trailers quite a bit. But nothing extra for the Escape.

 

[bad_idea]

If you go the junkyard route, find one with a nut on the end of the screw shaft. I use a couple of them in fitting steel in the garage. Use my cordless impact to raise/lower it.

 

[RWorth]

small floor jack is nice if your on a hard surface, but not so on sand or dirt. I'd go with a scissor jack from the boneyard. and a nice set of wheel chocks, most jack failures are because the car rolled while jacking. chock both sides of the tire diagonally opposite of the one that is flat.

 

[Bad Eye Bill]

small floor jack is nice if your on a hard surface, but not so on sand or dirt. I'd go with a scissor jack from the boneyard. and a nice set of wheel chocks, most jack failures are because the car rolled while jacking. chock both sides of the tire diagonally opposite of the one that is flat.

A square of 1/2" plywood cures that and takes almost 0 space to store. Wheel chocks are a very good idea.

 

[Tonyuk]

I've always thought the scissor jacks that came in VW's were great quality, try and get one from a salvage yard.

Worst OEM jacks out there come from Mercedes imo, unsteady death traps.

 

[ttpete]

I keep an inflator in the spare well and if it's just a slow leak, I can inflate it enough to get someplace where I can get it plugged. For anything more, I have an AAA gold card that's good for a 100 mile tow.

 

[garagelogician]

I've always thought the scissor jacks that came in VW's were great quality, try and get one from a salvage yard.

Worst OEM jacks out there come from Mercedes imo, unsteady death traps.

I beg to differ on the VW point. Just for gits and shiggles I tried the one that came with my 2000 New Beetle TDI. It was on a dead level concrete floor and it was still a complete death trap.

 

[teamextreme]

Worst OEM jacks out there come from Mercedes imo, unsteady death traps.

Probably because there's likely never been a recorded instance of a Mercedes owner changing a flat tire themselves.

 

[langss]

Although they have four different P/N's they appear to be all the same. https://www.harborfreight.com/15-ton-aluminum-racing-floor-jack-with-rapidpump-62516.html I have been using one of these since they first came out and really cannot complain. I carry one in my Camaro which from the factory is pretty low to the ground and sometimes I could not even get the factory jack under it. But roll this under the front suspension or rear and I could at least get the factory jack under the pinch weld to lift the car to safely change a tire. They were just on sale for $49.99, but normally I see them all the time for $59.99.

 

[mm8922]

Thanks for all the ideas. I’m still deciding. I am traveling out of town right now, but if the trash man hasn’t picked it up, I will take a picture. The “wheels” are probably more properly called rollers. They are on the front of the jack. Btw, my new car is an 2017 Audi A8 L 4.O. And yes, I change my own tires! My low profile floor jack was just low enough to fit under the car after it had fallen. Of course, finding a place to jack is another frustration!

 

[Pen & Wrench]

Well, you sure got me thinking, I believe I'm gonna put a bottle jack in the Escape, I drive it a lot of miles and if I have to change a tire, I want something that works good and is easy, not sure the original equipment would be quite that good.

 

[Tonyuk]

Thanks for all the ideas. I’m still deciding. I am traveling out of town right now, but if the trash man hasn’t picked it up, I will take a picture. The “wheels” are probably more properly called rollers. They are on the front of the jack. Btw, my new car is an 2017 Audi A8 L 4.O. And yes, I change my own tires! My low profile floor jack was just low enough to fit under the car after it had fallen. Of course, finding a place to jack is another frustration!

Did it come with this style of jack?;

If so that'll be your issue, they're hopeless imo.

The style i was meaning is the below;

Which are thankfully a lot more common, at least over here.

 

[mm8922]

Found a pic of the jack on ebay. Notice the plastic rollers just under the front of the jack!

 

[Tonyuk]

The jack was probably defective from the facotry, the rollers are there to allow the jack to raise the vehicle smoothly and are usually quite secure when properly seated in the recess for them;

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Gotta be kidding me... That's what you get in a $80k A8??

German engineering. "Exactly wrong"...

Tommy