quickjack and jack stands

[streetglider]

I know on at least one other forum I am on that there is some discussion about the use of jack stands with your quickjack. Some don't feel it is necessary. Since I am working with my son, I have decided to use them. My question is, would it be a good idea to just put the jack stands under the quickjack frames with rubber covers on the stands? Any benefit to that or do you think the stands must be under the car frame?

 

[mrvm]

My plan with the QJ is to place the jack stands under the frame and moved it if I was going to work in that area. Not going under the QJ without some backup.

 

[Aileron]

going to be hard to get under the car with the Quickjack in place and a set of stands. If i was using the stands I wouldn't use the Quickjack, BUT it does not matter what everyone else does, you have to feel safe yourself.

 

[M635_Guy]

I'm in the "not necessary" group. You're not relying on the hydraulics to hold the car up, and as long as you're not fully emptying the cylinders they'll back up the mechanical/physical structure holding up the car. You don't have jack stands to back up your jack stands do you?

To answer your question, I'd put the stands in place to hold the QuickJack if you can. In the highly-unlikely-if-set-up-correctly scenario where the QJ fails, you've got a better chance of catching it in a stable and secure spot on the car - they're more likely to get knocked over, etc. However, I think positioning that is going to be complicated and risks damage if you forget the stands are there, etc. Tires are more likely to be a good buffer, but they're going to make ingress/egress even more challenging since the QJ precludes getting under from the side...

I hate jack-stands, and my paranoia would drive me to have a couple of jacks in place as backup and/or a tire or two tucked under the car. I hate them, hated putting them up and never felt entirely safe under the car.

I have the opposite feeling about my QuickJack - as long as I've done things right, it's entirely safe.

 

[impactsocket]

Better to be safe than sorry. There have been numerous revisions to the QJ. Early versions had leaky fittings, pumps failing, and lift frames dropping at different rates. The connectors have been revised.

2014 version of the QJ leaked ATF:

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/ranger-quickjack-or-as-i-like-to-call-it-quickjoke/91630/page1/

 

[setfocus]

I've never used a Quickjack, looked on their website, says it has locks. I'd probably just drop it on the locks and only add stands if I were pounding/prying/breaker bar on stuff. It would really depend on how stable the car felt after giving it a shake and how beefy the locks look. But I don't drop, in-ground swing arm, hoisted cars onto the locks at work unless it's staying in the air overnight. I always try to use the most stable/strong lift points possible. Never had a car/truck come off the hoist on me

Really, you can never be too safe

 

[impactsocket]

There are two small hard-plastic wheels used to help you move the frame around. The wheels can develop flat spots. Has QJ remedied this problem?

 

[streetglider]

We got the QJ this weekend and used it yesterday on his 2001 Corvette. It seemed very stable. We were crawling under it from the front and back and doing some strenuous pulling and tugging to break some CO2 sensors loose. The car never moved but as an added precaution I put the jack stands under the QJ frames . But I wondered if there was a better idea. The QJ manual does say to always use jack stands which I felt was probably some legal thing but it did start me thinking about it.

 

[streetglider]

Oh and I don't know if they did much about the wheels. They just sent two extra wheel with the lift.

 

[Locker537]

I would not purchase a quickjack unless I was comfortable using it, and I'm a skeptic when it comes to safety.

I use jack stands. I leave the jack in place as a redundant measure and roll a wheel or two under there as well.

 

[streetglider]

Thanks, we have rolled a wheel under there too. We're going to put the car on the QJ for a few days while he gets his wheels powder-coated and some new tires.

 

[M635_Guy]

Better to be safe than sorry. There have been numerous revisions to the QJ. Early versions had leaky fittings, pumps failing, and lift frames dropping at different rates. The connectors have been revised.

2014 version of the QJ leaked ATF:

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/ranger-quickjack-or-as-i-like-to-call-it-quickjoke/91630/page1/

I got mine about a year ago. I did have some problems with uneven dropping. I did a LOT of test runs and wasn't going under the car unless it was sorted - I did it at low heights so it was stressful but not dangerous to me or the car. They eventually replaced the unit and it's been flawless since then.

I've never used a Quickjack, looked on their website, says it has locks. I'd probably just drop it on the locks and only add stands if I were pounding/prying/breaker bar on stuff. It would really depend on how stable the car felt after giving it a shake and how beefy the locks look. But I don't drop, in-ground swing arm, hoisted cars onto the locks at work unless it's staying in the air overnight. I always try to use the most stable/strong lift points possible. Never had a car/truck come off the hoist on me

Really, you can never be too safe

I'd never trust anything purely hydraulic. The QJ has two positions where the weight is at physical lock points. I did a LOT of shaking/pushing on those locks and found it extremely stable.

The likelihood that setup fails vs. jack stands seems like it would be a big gap. Jack stands have a lot more human variables.

There are two small hard-plastic wheels used to help you move the frame around. The wheels can develop flat spots. Has QJ remedied this problem?

I don't move mine a bunch, but I did get an extra set with mine.

We got the QJ this weekend and used it yesterday on his 2001 Corvette. It seemed very stable. We were crawling under it from the front and back and doing some strenuous pulling and tugging to break some CO2 sensors loose. The car never moved but as an added precaution I put the jack stands under the QJ frames . But I wondered if there was a better idea. The QJ manual does say to always use jack stands which I felt was probably some legal thing but it did start me thinking about it.

I don't remember seeing that. Will have to go back and see if the one I got last year has that statement. I'll generally have a tire or something if I've pulled them, but if I don't I to a pretty thorough shake-test and don't worry about it. I'm not doing anything underneath the car that involves a lot of force - if the big-papa Milwaukee impact won't break it and there's a breaker and and grump involved, I'll re-evaluate and probably add some backup (probably wheels - I just feel like unloaded jack stands are as likely to tip under a quick drop).

Thanks, we have rolled a wheel under there too. We're going to put the car on the QJ for a few days while he gets his wheels powder-coated and some new tires.

My old BMW has been sitting on the first position for over a week with no issues. When I leave it like that, I do press the "Down" button for a few minutes so it's supported just mechanically. When I'm under it, I make sure the hydraulics are down just enough to leave it at the lock point, so it should provide a bit of buffer.