Alternatives to floor jacks and stands
 

Is anyone using a portable or semi-portable alternative to floor jacks and stands? Putting the car in the air is always a moment of anxiety for me. I'm looking for a safe and quick alternative that is less permanent and costly than a lift.

Anyone have something they use? I found this which is reasonably priced and should make simple work out of getting the car in the air safely: http://www.quickjack.com

Thanks.

Would be nice for the lowered crowd!

They basically block access from both sides of the car and allow for a back up jackstand, maybe under K or rear? Which, then kinda blocks the entire underside. :lol:

Semi permanent, but, very cool, and not that terrible price wise is the maxjax
http://www.maxjaxusa.com/

Neat idea but as Matt said, blocks access to the side of the vehicle. Nice thing is that it will likely be easier/faster to get the car up and ready to work. Maybe its just me but seems pricey for what it is.

Looks like a step above race ramps.

The problem with the MaxJax from what I can tell is it costs nearly as much as a basic two post, still requires drilling into the floor, and then doesn't get high enough to really use like a lift where you can walk underneath. It just seems like too much of a compromise at that cost.

But I agree, the quicklift seems pricey and it just doesn't seem super stable with only one lock on each side and being a little tall and narrow.

It just seems silly that a simple rear shock change that I need to do on my Saab will take less time than getting it on jack stands.

How high do you need to go?

Would something like a Kwiklift work?

http://www.kwik-lift.com/

nice thing about the quick jack is its portability.

I like the quick jack. The price really isn't that bad and even though it blocks the sides the front and back is wide open. You can always put jack stands in place and lower the lift to move it out of the way to get to the sides. Plus it doesn't take a lot of space to store the lift as opposed to the max jack. I thought about getting the max jack but there is just no way I could have the space for it. Really it comes down to what you want to do. The quick lift seems good for a faster easy way to rotate tires, do brakes, oil changes and simple repairs.

The more I think about it, the more I would be uneasy about getting under the car and rocking it to free a loose bolt or something while the car is on a quickjack. Just seems too narrow and unstable.

I did see this earlier this morning too: http://jalopnik.com/these-awesome-ja...-wo-1680463970

I think I just need to figure out a more efficient way to just get the car on jacks. Perhaps a better jack and two pairs of ramps. My current jack can't lift the rear of my saab high enough to get on stands.

I couldn't justify spending $1295 for the quick jack because for $200 more you could have this!
http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/Atlas-BP8000

Bumping this old bitch back up. Did anything ever come of this, Jake?


Due to lack of ceiling height, a lift isn't possible for this house. I've made my peace with using a jack, however the 1-car garage in the new place makes jacking from the sides of the car nearly impossible. I've been using a GM spare tire/scissor jack to get the car high enough to fit my low-profile floor jack underneath, however this method has grown old.

I'm considering something like the Eastwood Hydraulic Dolly (Item #30551) to help get enough ground clearance to slide the low-profile jack under the car enough to access the rear diff & the k-member. I'm just not sure if it will provide enough height though (similar products seem to lift the tires about 1.5" off the ground).
http://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-hyd...Fc5LDQod4uUJKQ

Get a scissor jack that has a nut on the end, you can then express up and down with an impact gun! Do you have an air compressor? You can get something like this http://www.ntxtools.com/network-tool...ESC-10898.html I don't know how short you can buy them, this is just an example.

If you had the room an auto display could get you up pretty high and doesn't have to be bolted down. However they are heavy and take up alot of space. I've seen a few sell for a couple hundred bucks when dealerships remodel. I was going to get one but decided on an open car trailer with an open center. It's a 2 for 1. Works great for oil changes, checking pinion angle and other stuff just gotta be creative.