Anyone have Air Jacks on their car?

[ludakris04]

I have always thought they were cool when an F1 type car stops in the pits and instantly lifts up on jacks to change tires. These systems look like they would have alot of great advantages.
Does anyone here have them on their cars? What kind of prices? I seem to have only found these online...

http://www.staubli.com/en/connectors/quick-couplings/compressed-air-coupling/airjack/

 

[LandR]

We have a set on one of our porsche cup cars.

They are costly and only provide an advantage when pit timing is a factor.

 

[kerrynzl]

You need a bottle of nitrogen to feed 'em. A compressor isn't enough.

To keep them compact and light the piston area is smaller so they need really high pressures.

If you crawl under the car you need to lock them so they are failsafe.

by the way F1 cars don't use them, they have guys at the ends with a hand cart [jack]

 

[CodyY]

Also not legal in many classes.

 

[zkling]

What do you plan on putting them on? A street legal road going car? Keep in mind, that race cars are quite a bit lighter, and have quite a bit less suspension travel requiring less lift to get the wheels of the ground compared to most commuter cars.

As mentioned, I don't think many if any of the open wheel series cars use those. Majority are so light and have such limited travel that all they need is a pair of mechanical jacking bars.

 

[roalco]

Don't know about air jacks, but a friend had an old Austin Sheerline, years ago, that had a hydraulic cylinder at each wheel, operated by a hand pump and valve block beside the drivers seat. Pretty slick!

 

[LandR]

You don't need nitrogen. You can use compressed co2 as well or even high psi compressed air cylinders.

Our cup cars weigh 2800lbs for reference.

We have not retrofitted these jacks to any other cars as most of the series we run they are not needed

 

[phred]

the Mach V had 'em. Speed used them for everything except changing tires!

 

[ludakris04]

the idea was on a street car.. sounds like they are pretty much out of the question. I saw somewhere they need 275psi.. and pricey..
I know years back I had seen an Electric version for drag cars (tube street cars) where it acted as a screw jack stand mounted to the frame. But IIRC they were bulky.

I was just throwing out ideas as I was swap wheels on my car, the 2x4s just to slide the jack under it are kind of a pain. I think I will just start looking for a real good low profile jack...

 

[JonnFX]

I've built them for off-road (Baja type) race trucks. You would fold them down, then air them up. Due to the high suspension travel, you needed a really long stroke jack. They worked great.

 

[metaleltr]

Do any of these use air bags? Could operate on much lower pressure that way

 

[mebuildit]

Look at Bimba stuff. They make all types of air actuated Cylinders. That way you can get a larger piston area to use less pressure. Still would need a safety lock of some sorts though. I can't remember where I saw them, either on Pegasus website or coast fab.

 

[Zengineer]

If you want something cool and convenient for your car, how about some rally style jack stands? They are slick.

They hang and pivot in the rocker panel (weld in) receiver while in the air, and self level as you lower the car with the jack.

Step 1: Jack up 1 end of car high
Step 2: Insert 2 rocker jackstands in the receivers for that end of the car
Step 3: Drop the jack quick - stands will self level and stay put
Step 4: Repeat on the other end of the car

Probably saves 2-3 min of messing around with regular jackstands, and are easier to get in place to boot.

 

[metaleltr]

If you want something cool and convenient for your car, how about some rally style jack stands? They are slick.

They hang and pivot in the rocker panel (weld in) receiver while in the air, and self level as you lower the car with the jack.

Step 1: Jack up 1 end of car high
Step 2: Insert 2 rocker jackstands in the receivers for that end of the car
Step 3: Drop the jack quick - stands will self level and stay put
Step 4: Repeat on the other end of the car

Probably saves 2-3 min of messing around with regular jackstands, and are easier to get in place to boot.

Those look a little too homemade for my liking,

 

[harvey29]

Speedway motors used to sell a kit for dirt late models that wasn't all that expensive

 

[Zengineer]

Those look a little too homemade for my liking,

Those are only to demonstrate the concept... not a suggested design.

 

[Richard D]

What's wrong with home made? Better than China!

 

[11b]

lol, homemade for most of us= built better then most things available to buy (usually overkill). u ever looked at how flimsy an actual store bought jackstand is?

 

[metaleltr]

lol, homemade for most of us= built better then most things available to buy (usually overkill). u ever looked at how flimsy an actual store bought jackstand is?

The curses of dealing with old american iron. 30+ year old Hein Warner stands. How long ago did HW use red?