by "Stupidru" (Schm1an)
Published 05/26/2017 at 09:17
by "Stupidru" (Schm1an)
Published 05/26/2017 at 09:17
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STARS: 0
Good morning and Happy 3-day weekend to all of you fine ladies and gents!
I have the opportunity to purchase a QuickJack 5000SLX locally and naturally got very excited and told the Craigslist killer that I would arrive at his home with $1100 cash next weekend.
What I didn’t do first is measure my pinch welds.
The only problem is that QuickJack states that the maximum span of where you can place the rubber lifting blocks is 60". I measured the distance of the pinch welds on my TL and the inner edges (the rear of the front pinch weld and the front of the rear pinch weld) are 57" apart. The outer edges are 64" apart. If we do a little math, that means on each side of the car I have 3" of available pinch weld to rest my car on, and each corner will be held on by 1.5" if I align my car absolutely perfectly. Not getting the full span does concern me as my life is potentially at risk here. I have thought about this, and when I use the traditional jack stands, those are only about an inch wide. So that makes me rest easier, but I’m still not sold. Compounding this, QuickJack includes rubber blocks to rest the pinch welds on; if I’m only loading the edges of those rubber blocks, I have a feeling they will tip and my car will be unstable.
I called QuickJack and they assured me that even in this situation, my car would remain safely seated in the air, but I’m not sold. What would you do?
I’m wondering, what would happen if I put the rubber lifting blocks closer together? I understand they would be on the plastic sideskirt piece, but as far as I can see, that plastic sideskirt is only decoration to cover the same piece of metal that the pinch welds are attached to. Would this break the bottom of that plastic sideskirt? Would it buckle the metal?
Could I take my QuickJacks to a weld shop and have someone weld on some metal bars to the ends to extend the lifting platform?
Many thanks in advance!
"Thomas Donohue" (tomonomics)
05/26/2017 at 09:32, STARS: 2
$1100? I see these online for around $1300 including shipping. I’d opt for the few extra bucks and get a new one w/warranty at that price.
"Stupidru" (Schm1an)
05/26/2017 at 09:36, STARS: 0
It was used 3 times and is in great condition.
Can we focus on the question at hand? (Safety)
"Ash78, voting early and often" (ash78)
05/26/2017 at 09:45, STARS: 1
Hmm....I’m wondering if instead of using the rubber blocks, you could run a 4x4 piece of wood across both jacks to help ensure evenness between both sides — assuming you don’t have any underbody that protrudes lower than the pinch welds (I bet you do). That would be something I could get behind...er, under. But either way, I’d still back this thing up with jackstands or something to prevent one or both sides from failing catastrophically.
"Thomas Donohue" (tomonomics)
05/26/2017 at 09:49, STARS: 2
I had safety in mind when I suggested buying a new one, as you don’t know what shape the hydraulics are in (your original post didn’t mention it’s condition).
Good luck.
"loki03xlh" (loki03xlh)
05/26/2017 at 09:54, STARS: 1
Personally, there is no way I’m getting under my vehicle while it’s supported by that contraption on the pinch welds. My only unibody car is 27 years old and I lift and support it by the subframe and/or rearend.
"RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht" (ramblininexile)
05/26/2017 at 10:03, STARS: 1
It sounds perfectly okay to me. If you’re worried, you should be able to use the pinch weld blocks close to the pinch welds but slightly down the seam since the lip holds most of the strength of the rocker for lifting the car and the pinch weld is mostly to lock your lift location and prevent fraying the seam... Given that the rubber block has the slot in it, that slot would be just as okay on the seam within an inch or so of the weld.
As long as the plastic cover isn’t in the way. I wouldn’t recommend lifting on the plastic, but if it’ll come off easy, it opens up a lof of options. If you can position right up to the plastic cover, you should be okay regardless.
"TahoeSTi" (tahoesti)
05/26/2017 at 10:16, STARS: 0
I think you’ll be fine, I use the quick jack on every car i have and I havn’t had any issues...The 535xi is much like your accura, I just had to line it up on both sides and go slowly lifting. Once you see the weight starting to transfer stop and check everything, then go the rest of the way up. I had it on the stand all weekend while taking my time doing brakes with no issues.
I wouldn’t rest it on plastic. Also you can still put a normal jack stand in place for extra protection, I did this when i first got it until i became comfortable with it.
"Stupidru" (Schm1an)
05/26/2017 at 10:27, STARS: 1
That eliminates one of the main benefits of this: having open access to the entire underbody of the car
"Stupidru" (Schm1an)
05/26/2017 at 10:28, STARS: 0
Thanks! I’ll take a peak over the weekend to see if it’s feasible
"Ash78, voting early and often" (ash78)
05/26/2017 at 10:43, STARS: 2
True...exhaust and tranny work would be more complicated that way, but it would still give you access to suspension and everything else. I’ve been on the fence about a lift for 10+ years and still can’t quite justify it. The closest I came was a few years ago, the $800 Harbor Freight portable lift that slides under your car and can be repositioned to line it up. But portability is the enemy of safety here. And it breaks my rule about “never trust your life to anything from Harbor Freight” :D
"DangerCarlos" (dangercarlos)
05/26/2017 at 10:50, STARS: 0
I’d be concerned to extend the span beyond the manufacturers design. You can argue both ways about whether an extension would push outside the tolerances of the design, but there’s no way to be sure. And since you seem concerned about safety, it seems like modifying the geometry of the platform would run afoul of that focus.
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
05/26/2017 at 10:51, STARS: 1
If the manufacturer says it’s fine, it probably is. It sounds fine to me.