car jack and stands

jct

jct

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i'm getting my tool kit all set up. something i should of done a decade ago
now i'm just looking for the right jack and stands to use.
which ones do you have and how do you store them in your car

since we don't like to use the widow-maker bumper jack
 
I have a hard and fast rule about not working under the car "on the road"... So I never bring a jack other than the bumper jack.

Last week, I had to help a friend change a tire on his '36 Dodge in a parking lot at night. He had some ancient scissors jack that didn't work out at all. He also didn't have a spare and he had Chevy bolt pattern wheels on the front and Mopar on the rear.... but that's another story. He called AAA and they came out and jacked it up and we put a borrowed spare on it.

Lesson learned here... Try your stuff out at home first and carry an AAA card.

But... If I were to carry a floor jack, I would take a hard look at the Harbor Fright aluminum jacks. They seem to have a good reputation.
 
remember...all that holds these up is a cheap little Chinese rubber O ring....play safe..use jackstands to if your underneath...
 
polara71 said:
Who's carrying a jack stand and a jack in case of a flat tire.?
Click to expand...

When I drove down to Los Angeles in March I actually loaded my 2 /12 ton jack and two jack stands in the car just in case. Along with the 1/2" breaker bar, sockets and torque wrench. On the way home the car pulling to the left was really annoying me so I stopped at a rest stop. Pulled out my stuff and rotated the tires front to back while wife and son sat at a picnic table. Took me 10-15 minutes and solved the problem as the car tracked straight. Obviously one tire has some issue that caused me to have a constant grip to the right of the steering wheel.
 
tbm3fan said:
When I drove down to Los Angeles in March I actually loaded my 2 /12 ton jack and two jack stands in the car just in case. Along with the 1/2" breaker bar, sockets and torque wrench. On the way home the car pulling to the left was really annoying me so I stopped at a rest stop. Pulled out my stuff and rotated the tires front to back while wife and son sat at a picnic table. Took me 10-15 minutes and solved the problem as the car tracked straight. Obviously one tire has some issue that caused me to have a constant grip to the right of the steering wheel.
Click to expand...

Replace that tire... first sign of internal structural failure in a tire is that pull. Delay the replacement may get you a blowout and 1/4 panel damage... or worse.

On the road I like the little jack in a case Pete showed... have bought different ones over the years. Better that and a 4 way than anything else. DO NOT trust it to get under the car, it's for tire work or maybe brake inspection only...at all times think about you're body position if the car falls. I wouldn't typically carry safety stands, how far you plan to go with roadside repairs would relate to the tool list you feel safe with. I usually count on AAA for anything more than a flat or minor repair. Big road trips, I keep a nice big empty credit card for solving the problem. Either buy what you need or tow it or worst case store it for later...Greyhound still operates about everywhere.
 
Use the tire and rim under axel if you have to....have actully had a 65 signet fall on me when l was 16 trying to remove a set of air shocks....l was young and stupid....only reason lm still here was because l had the rim and tire under rear brake drum ect....
All lm asking is for folks to b carefull and think about how thier vehicles are being suported when thier working on or under it
 
Never carried jack stands . I always have a bottle jack or one of he 2-1/4ton jacks like this.
image.jpeg
They aren't much use in the garage but work well in a pinch. I've change transmissions in a local grocery store with one . Jack stands wouldn't be a bad idea. Maybe some of the light weight smaller kind.
 
If you are going to jack it up and crawl under it jack stands are a must. I've bought ones at Harbor Fright that seem to be pretty good. If I have a tire off while under the car, it goes under the car.

If all four wheels are off the ground, I also give the car a pull on the bumper sideways to make sure the car is settled on the jack stands. I'll also toss a couple extra stands or the floor jack under the car near where I'm working. They aren't necessarily in contact with the car.. but they will catch it if it falls... and probably screw the car up, but that's OK.
 
i always leave the jack under the car on the side i'm working on along with the jack stand
 
I always have a small floor jack and usually jack stands when I'm on road trips. Along with a tote of essential parts.
 
A lot of good advice. I think the best solution is determined by the length of the trip and how much you can afford to pay others for repairs while on the road. The longer the trip, the better prepared you should be. Local trips to a cruise in, AAA can take care of whatever happens without loading up your trunk. Longer trips, it's worth it to be prepared so you're not waiting on the side of the road for 2-3 hours for AAA. For longer trips, the floor jacks in the case and a couple of jack stands seem like the best option.
 
shooter65 said:
A lot of good advice. I think the best solution is determined by the length of the trip and how much you can afford to pay others for repairs while on the road. The longer the trip, the better prepared you should be. Local trips to a cruise in, AAA can take care of whatever happens without loading up your trunk. Longer trips, it's worth it to be prepared so you're not waiting on the side of the road for 2-3 hours for AAA. For longer trips, the floor jacks in the case and a couple of jack stands seem like the best option.
Click to expand...

Agreed, but in my personal experience with Murphy's law, other than a good jack and 4-way... I never have the right part or all the right tools. One exception to this, I do like a spare ignition module in the car and for Mopar, a spare dual ballast resistor (if applicable)... left over from too many easy breakdowns back in the day. Today I figure carrying those items insures it will be something else that breaks.
 
Small jack-in-a-case is on my list of purchases today, leaving tomorrow for a couple of weeks on the east coast in the Imperial. No jack stands though, I'm not going under my car on the side of the road, I'm calling Hagerty.
 
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