• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Cheap Floor Jack Mod

Share this page

aeronca65t

aeronca65t

Great Pumpkin
Offline
Many of you may have those, cheap, Chinese hydraulic floor jacks that can be bought for under $20 USD.

I have never bought one but I have four because various relative and friends have given them to me.
Although I have a larger roll-around jack I use at home, the compact size of these things makes them appealing when packing for a race. Unfortunately, they don't go low enough for my car and may even be too high for a normal street LBC.

So I ditched the front wheels on mine and welded on skids. Then I shortened the riser section (under the lift pad) and welded on a fixed, rectangular steel pad.

It's now about 2-1/2 inches lower than it was originally.
I also added a heavy piece of electrical house wire threaded through a piece of fuel line hose as a handle to pick it up or hang it by. I know it'll pretty low tech and not as nice as those slick aluminum Lo-Boy jacks but it cost me ZERO and I use it all the time.

This thing has been so useful to me that I'm about to modify another of these jacks the same way.
As always, be sure to use jacks stands (I have a shortened set of those too). And, do not attempt this if you are unsure of your welding skills.

mccabe-jacks.jpg


mccabe--jacks.jpg
 
Nice mod, Nial. The key there is welding skill. BTW, is there anything easy to be done to stop them from slowly sinking even when the stop valve is as tight as I can get it by hand??
 
Great idea, Nial - I may have to modify an old one I've got also!
 
DART said:
... BTW, is there anything easy to be done to stop them from slowly sinking even when the stop valve is as tight as I can get it by hand??
Click to expand...


Replace It!

mark
 
SilentUnicorn said:
DART said:
... BTW, is there anything easy to be done to stop them from slowly sinking even when the stop valve is as tight as I can get it by hand??
Click to expand...


Replace It!

mark
Click to expand...

find the manufacturer or importer and get a new O ring kit
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]Many of you may have those, cheap, Chinese hydraulic floor jacks that can be bought for under $20 USD.[/QUOTE]
DART said:
...is there anything easy to be done to stop them from slowly sinking even when the stop valve is as tight as I can get it by hand??
Click to expand...
Don't buy cheap Chinese jacks.
 
Steve_S said:
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]Many of you may have those, cheap, Chinese hydraulic floor jacks that can be bought for under $20 USD.
Click to expand...
DART said:
...is there anything easy to be done to stop them from slowly sinking even when the stop valve is as tight as I can get it by hand??
Click to expand...
Don't buy cheap Chinese jacks. [/QUOTE]
My old Crafstman does the same thing - I just haven't taken the time to redo the O-rings.
 
tony barnhill said:
My old Crafstman does the same thing - I just haven't taken the time to redo the O-rings.
Click to expand...

When you ~do~ get around to trying to find a kit you're in for a shock. The "kit" for mine was $80!!! In fairness it did last for 15 years or so until I let someone borrow it, not telling me he tried lifting the back-end of his Toyota Tacoma with it... returned it broken with a straight face. Didn't know it had failed until I needed it. He's on my "British Hit List" (sat it fast three times). No more tool/aid priveledges. No matter WHAT.
 
tony barnhill said:
I just haven't taken the time to redo the O-rings.
Click to expand...
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]find the manufacturer or importer and get a new O ring kit[/QUOTE]
And there lies the problem. It's cheaper and easier to replace the entire jack than to find the kit, assuming the manufacturer (who is only a reseller of generic tools) can be found at all!

tony barnhill said:
My old Crafstman does the same thing
Click to expand...
Unless it's REALLY old, you should be able to buy a new kit at Sears.
 
I found out the hard way that when your car trailer gets a flat, not many jacks will go under the drop axle. Naturally, this never happens at home. I bought one of those cheap floor jacks at a Walmart and it stays in the trailer tool box. It works great on drop axles. Of course scissor jacks work well also. Needless to say, all I had at the time was a bottle jack in the truck.
confused0022.gif
 
I bought a really nice low profile jack at Northern Tools. Can't remember what I paid for it (50 bucks, maybe), but it gets under the +2 and Corvette really well.
 
If you are talking about a dual axle trailer, there's a pretty simple solution. It's a roll on ramp that you place just before or after the inflated tire on the same side as the flat. You then roll the trailer onto the ramp, lifting the flat. The item is not cheap, $46 for a piece of plastic, but as you found out, when you need one, the price seems VERY reasonable. The salesman threw one in when I bought my 8x16 Pace car hauler; fortunately, I've never had to use it.

I just looked at the label on mine and they have a web site: https://www.traileraid.com/traileraid/

I suppose that with a single axle trailer you could still use the ramp under the flat to roll the wheel up and get a jack under the axle.

Ray

1.jpg
 
The question is "how much is your life worth to you or your loved ones?" Continued use of a floor jack that bleeds down is outright Russian Roulette. YOU CAN GET KILLED or maimed! It ain't worth it! Get a new jack and SCRAP the old one.... In 33 years as professional technician, I have seen many STUPID and TRAGIC accidents based on unsafe practices.... Just ask me to tell you the story about a fellow tech of mine that burned to death as a result of unsafe handling of gasoline! Or the fellow tech that worked at a dealership that got in a damned hurry and dropped a car off a lift and was crushed to death.....Safety is utmost... you can die only once. As far as the guy modifying his jack as opposed to buying the already low one.... Sometimes people jump over a dollar to pick up a dime!
 
Sherman said:
As far as the guy modifying his jack as opposed to buying the already low one.... Sometimes people jump over a dollar to pick up a dime!
Click to expand...

Not that Nial needs MY two cents' worth, but: his free jack conversion into a nifty tool for a specific purpose is JUST FINE. What's with th' carping?

A good number of BCF members have wrenched for a living, BTW. Many have been involved in racing LBC's and other stuff for years as well. "MacGyvering" a tool to suit a particular purpose is a time honored tradition and HARDLY fits your description of "jumping over a dollar".

...and as for "quals"... my last 33 years have been spent as a Porsche-Audi certified, ASE (started when it was NIase), independent Ferrari, Lotus, Rolls, blah, blah-blah tech. SCCA Formula-A crew, and a whole lot more stuff. And I ~LIKE~ Nial's jack.


...he needs to paint it tho... :devilgrin:
 
Yah.... I'll never forget seeing half a guy's brain on the floor because of a "home-brewed" tool that failed.Kind of leaves a lasting impression.... BTW, didja know that lifts now are required to be inspected here in Texas once a year. for many things.... including some dim-wit by-passing safety locks....It doesn't have to be in regards to one's profession... but I have seen many accidents that were based upon that very stupidity through the years just because it IS my profession. I respect your opinion.... I do not respect anyone bragging about modifying any tool for saving a few bucks ............it's just too darned dangerous.
 
...'k....
 
Back
Top