The 3500lbs capacity one seems like it would really limit your options. I would need either the 5000lbs or 7500lbs version. They look kinda scary, but they have a video showing how safe they are.
I would be tempted to still use jack stands, but that kind of defeats the purpose of the quick jacks built in locking safety.
I take jack safety seriously.
When I was a kid I seen a LTD fall off a jack and almost mangle my fathers leg, and I seen an entrapment in the junkyard when a car shifted off of its makeshift rim lift and pinned a guy under it. Luckily the guy was ok, we were going to try to lift the car but waited for the fire department to get there because the guy was pinned but not hurt and we didn’t want to make a bad situation worse, we just tried to prop the car from falling further.
Quickjack is a division of BendPak. They have been in business since 1965, a lot of that time building lift products. They seem like a solid company; certainly no fly by night outfit. Quickjack even provides a brick and mortar address in addition to a corporate telephone number.
My son bought the 5000lbs version a few weeks ago. So far he used it only once to rotate his tires. It’s kind of cool how this thing works and it seems to be pretty safe and well built. The two “rails” that lift the car are extremely heavy. I think he told me about 170lbs each. I guess it is nice having the whole car up in the air to work on brakes, wheels or suspension parts.
My problem is that it still does not raise the car as high as I would like it to be. I get claustrophobic crawling under this thing and still need a creeper. I am pretty certain it is sturdy and safe, but I would still use jacks as a backup…that’s just me.
It’s a nice piece of equipment, but awkward to store and move around. Because lift height is still limited I prefer just using jacks and working on one part of the car at a time. It’s expensive and unless one is a serious car geek and makes frequent use of it, I would think twice about investing in one of those.
Kind of pricey at $1300 but I guess for the right project if you were going to use it enough. I would be a little concerned about the jacking points and where it actually lifts the car on a unibody. Also there is no way I would get under the thing so just good for wheel work or body work to get it up a little. I don’t even like walking under a car on a normal lift at the garage though.
My next door neighbor and best friend has a proper 10,000lb capacity lift which I have only used to swap wheels and tires. He has used it for a 1957 Corvette to a 2008 Chevy Quad Cab pickup.
But they aren’t designed to be stored in the corner of the garage after each use. And you need the rafter clearance above your car to lift the vehicle that high.
I like this idea because it could be used in the driveway (mine’s nice and flat and paved) when necessary and stored after use. I think it’s a good option to consider for someone like me. I appreciate Rick’s having posted it.
A floor jack lifts more than 17", takes less time to set up and lift a car and is easy to store. If I were to spend that much money I want something with an advantage over a floor jack.
Got those. But there are times I’d like to slide under the center of the vehicle. Jacking up each wheel and putting a stand under it is time-consuming and a lot harder on my back than this rig would be.
I like this rig as a possible option. Others with different setups or different needs would I’m sure prefer other options.
Another option I like is lift bags. They’re costly, but can be slid under a car, inflated to lift th e car one corner at a time to considerable heights in minutes using my home compressor, and a stand slid under each corner of the vehicle. Rescue crews all use them. I’ve seen them with ratings from hundreds of pounds to 65,000 pounds and higher.
Actually, I raise both front or rear of a car in much faster time than you will raise a whole car with this contraption. I forgot to mention this in my previous response: it is a hassle to line up the lift points on the quick jack with the lift points on a car. My son has a Jeep Cherokee and he needs to use some sort of adapter. I raised a 300C without the adapter. It takes forever to line up the lift point and while you are doing it you are on your knees or flat on your tummy to view them and trying to move a ~170lbs piece of equipment back and forth to line them up…That was actually my biggest complaint about those things.
Your input from actual experience is welcome. You’ve raised good points.
It’s good that there exist different options for those of different needs and/or preferences. I see this as simply another option. If it truly is better, we’ll see them begin to show up in stores. If not, they won’t. The marketplace will decide.
