Lifted Tremor Scissor Jack

[halligan1201]

Why would the truck fall?! Should be using jack stands to work on any car/truck.

As far as roadside emergency jacking I bought a Safe Jack kit as every factory provided jack I have ever had has been garbage.

I've been looking at the Safe Jack kits; which one did you get and does it have enough lift?

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[THLONE]

Those with lifts that only drive the bulevarde get a AAA card.

 

[Toytec]

I can hear the R5G cash register going cha-ching!

 

[P. A. Schilke]

scissor jacks are worth their weight in chicken poop.
i despise them. glad you shared for those that have not tried the factory jack or did not know how close to worthless they are.

the jack that came with my 05 ranger is gone. got the truck used. needed the jack first week i had the truck. those in my area are familiar with 820 at 5 pm. constant construction, damn toll roads, terrible traffic. everyone in a hurry. so 5 pm late july triple digit temp and in dress clothes for work. blow out. on the side where barely any shoulder exists. traffic is passing by without care for my life or safety. my eyeballs felt like they would bleed from all the grit / sand blowing. so half blind on the scorching ground i go to working the factory jack... approx. 987345 turns of the jack later - it lifted the truck enough to pull the tire off, barely. i get the blown out tire off and toss it in the bed. play around on the hot nasty ground for a bit more to get the spare down. i remember thinking wow the spare has never been used, a continental tire. fancy. roll it over and get it on the truck and tighten up the lugs best i could get with the tire off ground. clothes ruined hands and knees cooked and late for work (worked the night shift then) i felt a bit of satisfaction that i was nearly done and could lower the truck, be on my way. again with cranking the jack. had a small audience of on lookers now that traffic was stop and go. i get it lowered enough its free, yank the jack out and was about to toss it in the back of the truck then... maybe it was payback, karma, or recompense for former sins. idk. the "new" spare quickly deflated and went flat under the weight of the truck. i stared at it a bit with the jack in hand and then snapped. with every bit of strength anger and ability in my entire body i launched that jack after turning circles like a hammer thrower. it flew with impressive speed and distance for an object not meant to fly. landed a ways down the road in the construction area that was dug up. the onlookers put windows up and locked doors. i got back in the truck and pulled into the traffic on the rim. the cars let me in with no drama. i think they saw i was "upset". took the first exit. normally im very calm. it was a rough week. every ride i own now has good jacks and full tool bag.

Hi Mark,

The Ford jack is certainly a Piece of Work.... Old Ranger was a bottle jack style...also POS. What most folks do not know is the OEM jack has a life cycle requirement of 8 cycles ( Up and down is one cycle...) They usually will last a bit longer but not a very robust part to last a lifetime. So if you use the OEM jack to rotate your tires...You use over half of the life of the jack just to accomplish tire rotation... I always found that weird.

Best,
Phil

 

[gwhalin]

I've been looking at the Safe Jack kits; which one did you get and does it have enough lift?

I got “The Sergeant” kit. Haven’t used yet but it does come with a bunch of extensions.

 

[JACKSMYDOG]

There is nothing unsafe about scissor jacks with proper application, just like there is nothing unsafe about Hi-Lift jacks with proper application.

Understanding how they work and carry load is often over-looked and underappreciated which is what leads to accidents, not a failure of the tool.

Their problem, just like any stationary jack, is as the car lifts it pivots on the loaded tire, and creates lateral force on the jack. The higher you lift, the more enhanced it becomes, until the lateral force spits the jack out sideways, and down comes the car.

This is the major problem with frame lifting to get a wheel off the ground, and exponentially worse when you start out with a flat tire. Proper procedure would be to lift 4 inches and put blocks/stands under it. Take the weight off the jack and reposition before lifting a few more inches and repeating the process.

There is also nothing wrong with using block above or below the jack, but again using proper application for the job. When using blocks, shorter lifts are recommended, because they have less resistance to lateral force.

Jack stands have a purpose, but certainly not on every job. Removal of a single tire really has no reason for you to be under the vehicle. The installation/removal of a safety stand creates the reason to put your self in danger by having to go/reach under the vehicle.

 

[McLeadslinger]

Harbor freight’s prices have gone way up recently on a lot of stuff.

A couple 4x4s nailed together are a lot cheaper than a bottle jack. Plus they won't leak oil all over your bed.

And before you tell me you can get a bottle jack at China Freight for $7.48 which in fact would be cheaper than a 4x4 from Lowe's...well...I'm not putting MY head underneath that lol

 

[McLeadslinger]

You gotta remember something… you are talking to people on here who freak out about water dripping out of their exhaust when it’s cold and having oil that smells like fuel in a catch can. They are terrified of everything, including scissor jacks. Lol.

There is nothing unsafe about scissor jacks with proper application, just like there is nothing unsafe about Hi-Lift jacks with proper application.

Understanding how they work and carry load is often over-looked and underappreciated which is what leads to accidents, not a failure of the tool.

Their problem, just like any stationary jack, is as the car lifts it pivots on the loaded tire, and creates lateral force on the jack. The higher you lift, the more enhanced it becomes, until the lateral force spits the jack out sideways, and down comes the car.

This is the major problem with frame lifting to get a wheel off the ground, and exponentially worse when you start out with a flat tire. Proper procedure would be to lift 4 inches and put blocks/stands under it. Take the weight off the jack and reposition before lifting a few more inches and repeating the process.

There is also nothing wrong with using block above or below the jack, but again using proper application for the job. When using blocks, shorter lifts are recommended, because they have less resistance to lateral force.

Jack stands have a purpose, but certainly not on every job. Removal of a single tire really has no reason for you to be under the vehicle. The installation/removal of a safety stand creates the reason to put your self in danger by having to go/reach under the vehicle.

 

[JesseS]

In all of my years of working on vehicles I have never had a jack fail to hold (knock, knock). But I use a floor jack and jack stands. I never crawl under a jacked & unsupported vehicle, using a long reach gripper to position the stand before lowering the vehicle onto it, and when possible leaving the jack in position as insurance. On the road I use a bottle jack on my frame mounted sliders as a lift point, having made a steel plate that fits the slider and jack as a non-slip point of contact. On the trail I use a hi-lift. In the Army I once saw a truck come off of the jack with a trooper under it, he survived, but wasn't the same and was medically discharged. That was a caution to me to never take that unnecessary risk, it only takes one mistake.

 

[Langwilliams]

a "block" under the jack on the side of the road can make it safer. Soft shoulder or gravel will allow the jack to sink on an angle an the jack slide out. A 6" 2x6 will help spread the load out an keep it level.

The good news lost in all this is we have road side assistance for a while an I got it with my extended warranty for 7 years.

 

[Dr3wDrop]

I wonder if this will fit the ranger.

https://www.quadratec.com/p/mopar/jack-base-jeep-wrangler-jl

 

[gwhalin]

There is nothing unsafe about scissor jacks with proper application, just like there is nothing unsafe about Hi-Lift jacks with proper application.

Understanding how they work and carry load is often over-looked and underappreciated which is what leads to accidents, not a failure of the tool.

Their problem, just like any stationary jack, is as the car lifts it pivots on the loaded tire, and creates lateral force on the jack. The higher you lift, the more enhanced it becomes, until the lateral force spits the jack out sideways, and down comes the car.

This is the major problem with frame lifting to get a wheel off the ground, and exponentially worse when you start out with a flat tire. Proper procedure would be to lift 4 inches and put blocks/stands under it. Take the weight off the jack and reposition before lifting a few more inches and repeating the process.

There is also nothing wrong with using block above or below the jack, but again using proper application for the job. When using blocks, shorter lifts are recommended, because they have less resistance to lateral force.

Jack stands have a purpose, but certainly not on every job. Removal of a single tire really has no reason for you to be under the vehicle. The installation/removal of a safety stand creates the reason to put your self in danger by having to go/reach under the vehicle.

I misread the original post as installing strut spacers using just the cheap supplied scissor jack. That seemed unsafe to me without using jack stands. I still stand by my decision to get a better jack than the cheap garbage that came with the truck. Did the same with my previous car. I remember the first time I went to loosen lugs on that car with the supplied wrench and it sheared part of the head off the wrench.

 

[JACKSMYDOG]

I misread the original post as installing strut spacers using just the cheap supplied scissor jack. That seemed unsafe to me without using jack stands. I still stand by my decision to get a better jack than the cheap garbage that came with the truck. Did the same with my previous car. I remember the first time I went to loosen lugs on that car with the supplied wrench and it sheared part of the head off the wrench.

I'm not against a replacement jack, but application and safe practice are a bigger influence on safety than the jack is. "Jack" failures are rarely a mechanical failure, but more commonly slippage from vibration/movement, or impact to the jack/stand knocking it free.

Uneven lifting changes the angles and load throughout the lift, and there must be an allowance for movement. Either the jack base moves, the car tires move, or the relative angle of the jack changes. If none of those are allowed to happen, the lateral forces are stored in the jack and tire flex, but can be released unexpectedly while performing the maintenance operation as Ranger Pride experienced in post #16.

 

[gwhalin]

I'm not against a replacement jack, but application and safe practice are a bigger influence on safety than the jack is. "Jack" failures are rarely a mechanical failure, but more commonly slippage from vibration/movement, or impact to the jack/stand knocking it free.

Uneven lifting changes the angles and load throughout the lift, and there must be an allowance for movement. Either the jack base moves, the car tires move, or the relative angle of the jack changes. If none of those are allowed to happen, the lateral forces are stored in the jack and tire flex, but can be released unexpectedly while performing the maintenance operation as Ranger Pride experienced in post #16.

Yep I hear you. Physics.

 

[9zero1790]

I got a flat in my old 5.0 on the way to work when it was like 7 degrees out. Pop open the trunk an the spare was flat. At least I didn't change it to find that out. Called work an the supervisor came an picked me up. After work he ran me to my condo to grab a medium size floor jack I had an a portable air compressor you plug into the lighter. He parked behind me with his flashers on to shield me from traffic. The spare started leaking air as soon as the weight of the car was on the tire. It was flat well before I got to the tire center 5 minutes away. I swear there were 5 cars there for one tire, most with low profile tires. I wonder if they didn't give when hitting a pothole due to the cold.

I'd like to pick up one of those small floor jacks to keep in the truck if I could find a place to stash it. Wonder if it's too much weight to store in the spare. Wrap it up to not rattle.

ive seen some aluminum floor floor jacks that are stout enough for rangers and not so heavy. sure would be a blessing when we needed it. i bet the tire lift would strain with it. im guessing it may weigh 40 pounds. so its like adding a tires weight to the equation. i wonder if it would fit inside the cab some place but secured and out of the way?

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