So I have a light trolley jack but even it has poor contact area. Does anyone know of a scissor jack that has a wide base and jacking surface, similar to a small-medium floor jack? I worry about hydraulic jacks when they sit for long periods of time and the time comes that I need one on the side of the road. I refuse to use the pinch welds and the subframe connectors cover up the useful frame jacking points completely. All I know is some honda scissor jack has a tiny round jacking surface similar in size to a trolley jack.
Any direction to go for looking for something like this?
once upon a time, i welded a round pad on the top and a large pad on the bottom.
now i just carry a small floor jack in the trunk.
X2 on the floor jack.Way more stable in odd jacking situations,and,you can get them in a plastic carry case for cheap these days.
Hydraulic setups can blow out orings and other gaskets if not used for 5+ years though, correct? I'd be afraid of this when I'm relying on the jack the most.
My dad had this exact same setup, except it was shaped as a floor jack. I think it came with either his chevy caprice? station wagon or his crown vic.
(http://www.tpub.com/content/construction/14256/img/14256_118_1.jpg)
The scissor jacks suck bad. I have broken two on the side of the road.
If you go 5 years without using a floor jack,you're not working on your car the right way.
Either that, or your roads (and cars) are luckier than mine! :rollin:
I wouldn't use a trunk jack for normal maintenance. I've only had one flat - in downtown Vancouver BC last January and I couldn't use my scissor jack so I had to waste money to have a tow truck put the spare on.
I have bent two handles to the scissor jacks in the last 2 months or so. After I bent it, I couldn't raise or lower it, so I ended up driving the car off the jack and had to call my dad to bail me out.
There are THICK quality scissor jacks out there that do not have these problems. I understand how most behave, especially on uneven footing, but there are some scissor jacks that are more spendy, but built WAY better. They do not have a wide enough surface for jacking through, in my opinion, with no way to increase it or install a polyurethane pad unless I weld a plate on top (which may be my solution - weld the piece from a floor jack to the center of a quality scissor jack).
Anyways, so what's a good way to store a hydraulic jack that won't see duty for long periods of time, if ever? Besides vacuum sealing it up in some type of plastic, covered in oil...