i am wrestling with this same problem. rust can definitely prevent the Quickjack from lowering. i made the mistake of working on a salty dripping car in December and not cleaning the jack afterwards. last week i put a VW Golf on the jacks doing some maintenance. when i went to lower the car the right jack frame would not lower more than an inch. after considerable time on the phone with Quickjack they determined that i needed to remove the car from the lift in order to determine if it was rust on the pivots or a defective cylinder. i used a floor jack to lift the car onto jack stands. once the frames were removed from under the car and the cylinder was disconnected the frame would not lower. now i could see that the front bottom pivot was severely rusted. the 3 other pivots were moving freely. i have been soaking the pivot point in Evapo-Rust hoping that will help free up the pivot. i don't have a tractor and truck available to try your method so next i am going to try soaking it in oil for a couple of days, if the Evapo-Rust fails, then maybe ratchet straps. the Quickjack solution was to buy a new frame for $1175.
Quickjack stuck in up position...Rust?
- Thread starter J5hort
- Start date
Of course it was. We all want to spend $1200 every few years.
Sounds similar to my story, but mine got stuck under a Tiguan. Must be VWs. Very scary when these get stuck, especially just one of them. Please be careful. I really think a threaded rod ( kinda like on the ram support or round bar stock would be better for that joint. Let us know how things work out. We will brainstorm some ideas to get that thing collapsed.
cmandp
Well-known member
I am really considering a set of quick jacks but the lack of serviceablity and how susceptible they are to the pivots rusting is a bit concerning.
The pivots really should have grease zerks.
The pivots really should have grease zerks.
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Hooked
Well-known member
I hadn't paid any attention to them prior to this thread but now I'm also considering a set. Since my auto work these days is mostly just brakes, tires and oil changes plus being easily stored makes them very attractive to me.
For you guys with them, how do you like them?
Yes, zerk fittings would be a great improvement. I was planning to add some self tapping ones if they exist.
Alternative to QJs would be under car scissor lift. Portable max jack I think are the name, lift from the side. There are some pluses/minuses to those.
I do not have the headroom for 2 or 4 post lift in my garage.
There is always the old school 4 jack stands and a floor jack.
Alternative to QJs would be under car scissor lift. Portable max jack I think are the name, lift from the side. There are some pluses/minuses to those.
I do not have the headroom for 2 or 4 post lift in my garage.
There is always the old school 4 jack stands and a floor jack.
Old Man Roger
Well-known member
If you mean threaded rod as a pivot, that would probably act like a file every time it went up and down.
Straight rod with cotter pins maybe. The rod on the ram and safety bar is only threaded on the ends. Perhaps something like that.
Old Man Roger
Well-known member
That would probably make it a little more serviceable, but a weld doesn’t accidentally come unscrewed.lol
If I couldn’t force some oil in there with an hand pump oil can I‘d drill just deep enough to allow me to run a tap so I could put a zerk fitting in.
Fast forward to 9:44
Ive slid some fuel line over one to seal up the slop in a larger hole.
update on my rusty pivot. soaked it in motor oil for 12 hours and then tried a ratchet strap to collapse the frame. no luck. so i reinstalled the cylinder to try and get some movement out of the pivot. it seems to move a tiny amount up but then i noticed the bottom of the frame bends slightly and the pump cannot move the pivot anymore. so now i am soaking the pivot in a 50/50 mix of acetone and ATF.
johnre
Well-known member
No need to bolt them down. They bottom frame piece provides a very stable base.
And their instructions even say that they are rated for a 5 degree slope, something I would never attempt with jackstands. I don't know about that; since my garage floor has a 1" drop in 20 feet, so 0.4 degrees, I use them only there. I wouldn't even consider trying them on my ~5 degree sloped drive.
Yes. So I disconnect the quick connects and pull them clear when I go under the vehicle.
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I have two. Great mid rise lifts. Only downside is they are heavy and can be fun to move around (adding wheels is a must). Watch their videos before using and follow the instructions!
Agreed. I think I am pushing 4,000 lift cycles with all kinds of cars. I've had to replace some wear items but generally they have held up well.
Old Man Roger
Well-known member
Ahh! I didn’t think of that.
Some research yields some warnings not to add zerk fittings to the grease holes in the frame joints. I think the threads will bottom out on the inner tube and there will not be enough thread to screw into. A suggestion to use a rubber tipped grease gun adapter nozzle.
cmandp
Well-known member
It says in the instructions to use secondary supports like jack stands. But I've never seen them used with stands in videos or pictures. It also seems impractical when the frames cover the best points to use jack stands on.
Do you guys that have them use stands also?
Do you guys that have them use stands also?
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I do not. The stands have integrated safety bars
Old Man Roger
Well-known member
They really suggest using jack stands? At that point they would just be in the way, and removing them would kind of negate the convenience of even having them.
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Liability... They lose nothing by suggesting it
If I am doing work under the car, I do place jack stands. For brake work and tire rotations or detailing I typically do not use extra jacks. Built in safety bars seem to be enough to keep you safe however.
johnre
Well-known member
I used my QuickJacks today, and I took a good look at the rotating corner joints in the frames. I'm in western Oregon, but my garage is kept quite dry (I run a dehumidifier in the attached shop area that doesn't take a lot of water from the air - perhaps a pint per week - and that moisture could only come from the garage, as it's the only way in). While I did note that there was some visible rust on the internal rounds where they had not been painted; it's not a lot, and certainly not anything I would worry about.
So put some oil on all 16 outside points, but it would be wishful thinking to suppose that it would work all the way into the interiors. Next time they're out I'll follow my user manual's recommendations and force in some white lithium grease in the middle, where they put the holes:
So put some oil on all 16 outside points, but it would be wishful thinking to suppose that it would work all the way into the interiors. Next time they're out I'll follow my user manual's recommendations and force in some white lithium grease in the middle, where they put the holes:
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And when the car gets stuck up there, it is dangerous and a PIA to get the out from under car. Been there.
Old Man Roger
Well-known member
I don’t think they are implying lifting without a car will do damage, I think it’s just they are difficult to get them down without a lot of weight on them. And they won’t likely come down evenly, that could possibly cause some issues with the hydraulic system.
johnre
Well-known member
If loading were that big an issue, dropping the last few inches when the frames are free of the rocker panels and unloaded would be a big issue. It doesn't really seem to be so; mine just drop a little more slowly than they do with weight on them. And that's usually with the air assist cylinders not pressurized; like most QuickJack frames, mine can't seem to hold a charge in them for very long, so I don't bother with them.
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Old Man Roger
Well-known member
Ya, didn’t think of that. I wonder if it takes more force at the top of the range than it does right at the bottom?
whateg01
Well-known member
Consider the force vectors with them raised. The vertical legs are just that, almost vertical.
Old Man Roger
Well-known member
Ya, that makes sense. I don't know if the amount of fluid in the ram would matter either.
johnre
Well-known member
Well, the hydraulic ram is near to being straight in line with the two parallelogram legs in this state, so both the linear motion of the piston as well as the volumetric movement of the hydraulic fluid is near zero until the frames can rise a bit. It's essentially governed by the law of cosines; in the picture below, the frame's base is c, the vertical rise member is a, and the hydraulic ram is b. The angles alpha and beta are close to zero, and gamma is close to 180, so any lengthening of b is going to produce quite a bit of rise. So the frames can't have much load when flat because there's not much mechanical advantage to lift here; conversely they can be pushed down flat pretty easily.
Makes working on my MINI a breeze... Depending on which end I'm working on I'll position my wood ramp blocks under the wheels for safety...
I've considered adding grease zerks, but the outer sleeve is too thin of a wall thickness or the threads on the grease zerks would bottom out on the pivot rods... I just oil them each time I use the lift...
Old Man Roger
Well-known member
So you’re saying no? Yes?Well, the hydraulic ram is near to being straight in line with the two parallelogram legs in this state, so both the linear motion of the piston as well as the volumetric movement of the hydraulic fluid is near zero until the frames can rise a bit. It's essentially governed by the law of cosines; in the picture below, the frame's base is c, the vertical rise member is a, and the hydraulic ram is b. The angles alpha and beta are close to zero, and gamma is close to 180, so any lengthening of b is going to produce quite a bit of rise. So the frames can't have much load when flat because there's not much mechanical advantage to lift here; conversely they can be pushed down flat pretty easily.
johnre
Well-known member
Correct.
Because of the OPs images and then the further discussion that ensued in this thread, I just ordered these from Amazon. I think the rubber-tipped one would work OK. It will probably be a little awkward to hold it in place and operate the grease gun, though:
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update on my stuck Quickjack. soaking the pivot point in rust remover, oil, ATF-Acetone- did not seem to have any effect on the seized pivot. Took the frame to a friend's place where he used his tractor bucket to force the frame to the lowered position. it took a lot of pressure to break the pivot free. the front wheels of the tractor were completely off the ground and moving slightly forward the frame lowered. after that we used two large crow bars to force the frame up again and used the tractor bucket to lower the frame again. we repeated this a third time. i took the frame home and worked it up and down many times with continual lubrication of Fluid Film and grease. if you haven't lubricated your Quickjack pivot points make sure you do it NOW !
Hooked
Well-known member
Nice car.Makes working on my MINI a breeze... Depending on which end I'm working on I'll position my wood ramp blocks under the wheels for safety...
I've considered adding grease zerks, but the outer sleeve is too thin of a wall thickness or the threads on the grease zerks would bottom out on the pivot rods... I just oil them each time I use the lift...
I've always liked the Mini's, since I first met my wife when she was racing SCCA in a BugEye Sprite and saw quite a few Mini's racing.
But, those days are long gone and I don't think I'd need the blocks when lifting my F350 or her Sequoia.
Old Man Roger
Well-known member
Damn! No chance the bar in the pivot point was bent?