Jacks

[Fifty150]

As an FYI, a 2 ton bottle jack, with 5" of ram travel, will not lift the Transit Connect high enough off the ground to change the tires.

 

I figured that with the unibody pinch weld lifted 1' off the ground, it would be good.  

 

[BSUPC]

I would have thunk it would to. 

[Don Ridley]

Are you parked in a handicap spot??

[sKiZo]

Mine was just parked in a handicap spot ... you'll see a lot of TCs in one ...

 

Maybe the jack just punched thru the sheet metal ... <G>

 

Maybe make a saddle out of some scrap wood for try #2. Stack some plywood squares and add a couple slats deep enough to clear the weld, you get the extra height and spread the load. 

[mrtn]

That’s a blue line only. Over here we have blue lines for paid parking spots, white lines for free ones.

 

Solid blue spots with white wheelchair pictogram for handicapped parking.

[Mike Chell]

I am assuming you didn't "cram" the jack under the van, but placed it under there with room to spare.  Which means ... you actually only raised the van less than 5 inches above it's resting height.  Most vehicle suspensions have, at least, that much travel.  You have to extend the suspension travel beyond its range to actually lift the tire off the pavement.  

Doesn't surprise me, that jack not going high enough.  5 inches of travel MIGHT get the tire high enough.  So, as stated above, support the jack on a 2x4 or something to get the jack cradle on the van with the ram fully IN the pump.  Then you'll be lifting the van the entire sweep of the ram, and maybe that'll be enough.

[Jiquay]

I've got the same jack & I've yet to find a car it'll do that on. It won't even do a tire change for snow tires - I hate to think of a flat situation where you have to lift the flat sidewall as well as the suspension travel...

 

Can you lift by the axle itself?

 

GK

[OLDSCHOOLFOOL]

I honestly don't think I have ever seen anyone use a bottle jack to try and change a tire....ever. Why not just use the scissor jack? It goes down really low and has a lot of travel. 

[Fifty150]

2 ton bottle jacks are about 7" high, and also have 2" in the extension screw.  I could have raised the saddle 1" to be flush with the unibody pinch weld,  which measures about 8" off the ground.  But even then, the extra inch may not make much of a difference.

 

The same bottle jack can be purchased in blue, with a Ford logo.  It tucks nicely into that little space where the OEM scissor jack goes.  

I would never use blocks; just unsafe.  I'm not a big fan of scissor jacks; they require a little brute force, and are unstable. 

I've actually seen a scissor jack collapse while someone was turning the jack handle to raise the car.  He was cranking the handle pretty hard, and the jack was wobbling, twisting, and turning with every turn of the handle.  I blame that on user error.  That guy should have paid attention and used less brute force. 

 

Better to use the right tool for the job.  A floor jack does a much better job.  At home, I own several floor jacks for vehicles of different GVWR & various frame rail heights.  Same way I have different jack stands for different vehicles.  But the bottle jacks do have a purpose.  Once the vehicle is properly supported on jack stands, bottle jacks are great for supporting the differential, or raising the suspension components.  The Ford Econoline that I drive at work does not come with a scissor jack.  Over the years, a lot of different models of Fords were equipped with bottle jacks instead of scissor jacks. 

 

If Ford became to the manufacturer who supplied floor jacks with the cars, then I would only buy Ford cars.  But Ford has chosen to stop making cars.  So the next car that I need to buy, I will have to look at another manufacturer.  Just makes sense to commute in a little Honda, as opposed to an F-150.  

  

 

I use the bottle jack to raise the vehicle 1', which is just enough to set the pinch weld down onto a jack stand.  I have PowerBuilt UniJacks which are capable of lifting the Transit Connect up to 21".  

 

 

 

 

[Fifty150]

5 hours ago, Don Ridley said:

Are you parked in a handicap spot??

 

 

What if I am allowed to park there?

[Fifty150]

 

This forum, like all the other automobile forums, needs a thread on jacks.  Then everyone has to post photos of their cars on jacks to show off how much they spent on their equipment, and brag about how it's better than Harbor Freight.  Then some guys will have to tell us how their Harbor Freight tools work, have never failed, and come with a lifetime warranty.  Craftsman owners will chime in about how they grew up on Sears back when the stores gave out free popcorn.  

3 hours ago, Jiquay said:

I've got the same jack & I've yet to find a car it'll do that on. It won't even do a tire change for snow tires - I hate to think of a flat situation where you have to lift the flat sidewall as well as the suspension travel...

 

Can you lift by the axle itself?

 

GK

 

2 ton bottle jacks are about 7" high, and also have 2" in the extension screw.  I could have raised the saddle 1" to be flush with the unibody pinch weld,  which measures about 8" off the ground.  But even then, the extra inch may not make much of a difference.

 

The same bottle jack can be purchased in blue, with a Ford logo.  It tucks nicely into that little space where the OEM scissor jack goes.  

I would never use blocks; just unsafe.  I'm not a big fan of scissor jacks; they require a little brute force, and are unstable. 

I've actually seen a scissor jack collapse while someone was turning the jack handle to raise the car.  He was cranking the handle pretty hard, and the jack was wobbling, twisting, and turning with every turn of the handle.  I blame that on user error.  That guy should have paid attention and used less brute force. 

 

Better to use the right tool for the job.  A floor jack does a much better job.  At home, I own several floor jacks for vehicles of different GVWR & various frame rail heights.  Same way I have different jack stands for different vehicles.  But the bottle jacks do have a purpose.  Once the vehicle is properly supported on jack stands, bottle jacks are great for supporting the differential, or raising the suspension components.  The Ford Econoline that I drive at work does not come with a scissor jack.  Over the years, a lot of different models of Fords were equipped with bottle jacks instead of scissor jacks. 

 

If Ford became to the manufacturer who supplied floor jacks with the cars, then I would only buy Ford cars.  But Ford has chosen to stop making cars.  So the next car that I need to buy, I will have to look at another manufacturer.  Just makes sense to commute in a little Honda, as opposed to an F-150.  

  

 

I use the bottle jack to raise the vehicle 1', which is just enough to set the pinch weld down onto a jack stand.  I have PowerBuilt UniJacks which are capable of lifting the Transit Connect up to 21".  

 

 

 

 

[Fifty150]

3 hours ago, Jiquay said:

I've got the same jack & I've yet to find a car it'll do that on. It won't even do a tire change for snow tires - I hate to think of a flat situation where you have to lift the flat sidewall as well as the suspension travel...

 

Can you lift by the axle itself?

 

GK

 

 

You want to first lift the vehicle an support it on jack stands.  Then you can use the bottle jack under the suspension component to raise the tire.  

[OLDSCHOOLFOOL]

11 hours ago, Fifty150 said:

I would never use blocks; just unsafe.  I'm not a big fan of scissor jacks; they require a little brute force, and are unstable. 

 

 

This is a good picture of what NEVER to do with a jack. The base should always be directly in a straight line under the jacking point on the vehicle. The jack shouldn't even allow you to position it the way this is shown. I would throw this jack just as far away as I could sling it!

I come from the age of bumper jacks and this puts them to shame.

[Mike Chell]

Oldschoolfool ... that picture isn't the way the jack was placed.  That's what happens when a scissor jack fails.  It's "off center" because it fell.   I've had that twice ... using one and as soon as the tire was off the ground, the whole truck "swung" to the side as the jack ... drooped over.

 

I will NEVER use a scissor jack again.

[mrtn]

I once had a Y-jack. Talk about unstable.

[OLDSCHOOLFOOL]

2 hours ago, Mike Chell said:

I will NEVER use a scissor jack again.

 

I would certainly never use THAT jack again. That one is either broken or the biggest POS dangerous tool around.

[OLDSCHOOLFOOL]

24 minutes ago, mrtn said:

I once had a Y-jack. Talk about unstable.

 

I had to look that up to see what it was. And OH HAIL NO! That's worse than the old bumper jacks. I thought about that after I mentioned bumper jacks. Half the people on here have probably never even seen a bumper jack much less used one. I keep forgetting how old I am...…….because of...….how old I am.

[Fifty150]

4 hours ago, Mike Chell said:

 I've had that twice ...

 

 

I will NEVER use a scissor jack again.

 

 

Twice?  

 

You used a scissor jack again, after the first failure?  

 

I would either invest $20 into a cheap floor jack, or buy an auto club membership.  

 

Yes, there are inexpensive floor jacks.  Wally World has a floor jack that is only $18.  You wouldn't want to depend on it for building your career as a professional tire service truck operator.  But if you inspect it to make sure it works right out of the box, keep it in your trunk for emergencies, it should be just fine when you actually need it to change your flat tire.  

 

 

 

 

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HyperTough 2-Ton Hydraulic Trolley Jack

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Hyper Tough

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$123.90

 

 

 

Where I live, we have Freeway Service Patrol.  The Freeway Service Patrol (FSP) can be contacted from your mobile phone or using a freeway call box by dialing 5-1-1.  The Freeway Service Patrol (FSP) is a joint program provided by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and the local transportation agency. The FSP program is a free service of privately owned tow trucks that patrol designated routes on congested urban California freeways.

 

[Fifty150]

2 hours ago, OLDSCHOOLFOOL said:

 

I had to look that up to see what it was. And OH HAIL NO! That's worse than the old bumper jacks. I thought about that after I mentioned bumper jacks. Half the people on here have probably never even seen a bumper jack much less used one. I keep forgetting how old I am...…….because of...….how old I am.

 

As a kid, when I only drove Jeeps, A Hi-Lift Jack was essential.  No way were you carrying a floor jack in a Jeep.  With a 6" lift on the F-150, I just don't find it to be feasible to lift the bumper 5' in the air.  And i can only imagine what could happen if I tried to  Hi-Lift Jack lift a unibody Honda or Transit Connect with plastic bumpers and unibody construction.  

 

 

 

 

[Fifty150]

 

[PhotoAl]

Now this is how to jack a van :-)

 

 

[Mike Chell]

2 hours ago, Fifty150 said:

 

 

Twice?  

 

You used a scissor jack again, after the first failure?  

Both times were with the jack supplied with the vehicle, and with enough time in between to, more or less, forget the previous failure.  Guess I've been lucky, in that I've only needed to use a jack on the road 3 times.  When I am at home, I've got my floor jack and jack stands ... always have.  Since the second failure, I've always had a proven bottle jack in the vehicle.

 

But if you inspect it to make sure it works right out of the box, keep it in your trunk for emergencies, it should be just fine when you actually need it to change your flat tire.  

It's been a few decades since I've owned a vehicle with a "trunk".  Vans, since the early 90's, for me.  A floor jack in the back of a van is a bit more intrusive.  A good bottle jack with sufficient lift fits right in the cavity designed for the stock scissor jack.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Fifty150]

4 minutes ago, Mike Chell said:

 Vans, since the early 90's, for me.  A floor jack in the back of a van is a bit more intrusive.  A good bottle jack with sufficient lift fits right in the cavity designed for the stock scissor jack.

 

 

 

The Ford Econoline Vans at work all have Ford OEM bottle jacks mounted in the rear, passenger side corner of the cargo area, just inside the door and in front of the lamp assembly.

 

[Fifty150]

15 minutes ago, Mike Chell said:

 Guess I've been lucky, in that I've only needed to use a jack on the road 3 times. 

 

 

The last time I have had to change my own flat was when I was a teenager.  After that, I learned the importance of having a breaker bar, the correct size impact socket, a dead blow hammer, and a reliable jack.  Same way I learned to carry a jump starter after my first dead battery.  

 

The only flats I've had since were all in work vehicles.  My boss insists on us calling in, having the office order the tire truck to come to where ever we are, and to let someone else do the work.  I get it.  Liability.  Anything and everything that happens to a company vehicle, should be performed by a fleet service company, a real shop with a business license, Bureau of Automotive Repair registration, and liability insurance, or otherwise legitimate entity.  Not a shade tree mechanic.  And we have to have receipts and service records for everything.  Suppose I change a flat myself, then get into an accident, and the lawyers go crazy insinuating that I didn't know what I was doing, and that my lack of training and experience as a mechanic caused a mechanical failure which led to the collision.  "He changed the tire, damaged the brakes, and the truck could not stop properly."  

 

You can try to carry enough stuff with you for everything that you can imagine.  My dad is the king of over engineering.  He even kept extra wire, electrical tape, fuses, and even spare relays.  Funny how that works out.  Once an electric fan relay went out on his 5.0 (which he modded with an electric fan kit).  Right there in the middle of the night, on the side of the road, I pulled out my Leatherman, and within minutes, cut all the wires, made the new connections with electrical tape,   I asked him how many times he's had to do that.  He said, "none, ever".  But it goes to show that a once in a lifetime event, is worth having a few small parts available.  

 

Dad carries all sorts of tools, extra parts including fan belts, water pumps, spark plugs,  starters, alternators, pulleys, et cetera.  He says that back when he lived in an apartment, without a garage, he had nowhere to put any of his tools and parts, except for the trunk of the car.  As much as I try to be a minimalist, I find myself stocking each car with tools.  I have a backpack with small hand tools, a mini tire inflator, a tire plug kit, & jump starter for when I ride my motorcycle.  My friends would laugh, and ask why I carry all that stuff.  They have AAA cards, and would just wait for a tow truck.  

 

Buddy of mine leases his cars.  Every car lease these days includes some sort of roadside assistance .  He figures that since he is renting a car from the dealer, let the dealers and finance company worry about what happens to their car if it breaks down.  And his main point is that most of today's new cars, do not suffer a major mechanical repair within the first 3 years of ownership.  So as long as he is renting a new car every 3 years, he shrugs it off.  It is all under warranty.  

 

For a lot of us on this forum, we are driving new cars under warranty.  Even the tires have some kind of tire warranty.   And if I remember correctly, Ford does have roadside assistance when you buy a new Ford.  In the owners manual folder, there should be a little membership card with an 800 number.    I just don't want to be the guy stuck for hours on the side of the road, if I can remedy the situation myself.  

[Fifty150]

1 hour ago, PhotoAl said:

Now this is how to jack a van :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't want to be the guy who has to crawl under.