Hi Guest!
Hey - did you know if you click on the title of a thread it will take you to the first unread post since you last visited that thread?
but were afraid to ask: 
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smilie in place of the real @
Pretty Please - add it to our Events forum(s) and add to the calendar! >> 
bthompson
Jedi Warrior
Offline
Years ago, I had a flat tire on the Interstate, while driving a 1968 Bonneville that was only slightly smaller than the USS Nimitz. I put it in Park, set the e-brake, used the bumper jack (you remember, those ratcheting jobs), and as soon as the weight was off the rear tires, watched in horror as the car rolled backwards over the jack, firmly wedging itself on it.
Today, something similar happened. I was attempting to replace the rear brakes on my Mountaineer. I made sure to park on flat ground, and (following Ford's instructions,) using its tiny, wobbly bottle screw-jack under the axle, slowly cranked the behemoth up. The same thing happened. As soon as the weight was off the tires, back it came, off the jack. I'm shaken, but fortunately okay (as is the car.) This wasn't because I wasn't using jack stands -- I was jacking the car high enough to use the jack stands. Even in Park with a chocked wheel, the darn thing settled far enough back to bend the jack.
While soaking my back in the tub immediately after this traumatic experience, I was musing over the factory jack supplied with Nigel. Every source, even the redoubtable John Twist, admonishes Spridget drivers to never, ever use the factory jack, positing that they are poorly designed and dangerous.
Well, I say bollocks to that! Compared to every other jack I've used, whether bottle, scissor, screw, or ratchet, the Spridget jack is brilliantly engineered, and I'll tell you why.
I think, (especially in light of today's harrowing events) that Spridget jacks are the safest, securest, easiest to use, fastest, smoothest, most efficient, least tiring, least troublesome, best designed jack I've ever seen. They're actually a pleasure to use compared to the awkward, cantankerous, flimsy, unstable jacks my other cars have had.
Today, something similar happened. I was attempting to replace the rear brakes on my Mountaineer. I made sure to park on flat ground, and (following Ford's instructions,) using its tiny, wobbly bottle screw-jack under the axle, slowly cranked the behemoth up. The same thing happened. As soon as the weight was off the tires, back it came, off the jack. I'm shaken, but fortunately okay (as is the car.) This wasn't because I wasn't using jack stands -- I was jacking the car high enough to use the jack stands. Even in Park with a chocked wheel, the darn thing settled far enough back to bend the jack.
While soaking my back in the tub immediately after this traumatic experience, I was musing over the factory jack supplied with Nigel. Every source, even the redoubtable John Twist, admonishes Spridget drivers to never, ever use the factory jack, positing that they are poorly designed and dangerous.
Well, I say bollocks to that! Compared to every other jack I've used, whether bottle, scissor, screw, or ratchet, the Spridget jack is brilliantly engineered, and I'll tell you why.
- The post-in-the-hole system means the jack is positively and solidly located.
- Instead of pushing up on the axle or frame, it pulls up from the hole.
- It can't slip or fall off, and the mount is the exact same secure point every time.
- It has a wide base that is oriented fore-and-aft to the direction of roll.
- It lifts by the side instead of the end or corner, so both wheels on the far side are always in contact with the ground, regardless of which wheel you are working on.
- It can't leak or release unexpectedly. Crank up, crank down.
- The crank is large and secure, with good leverage. You never feel that you are pushing the jack around or fighting it just trying to get it to rise, and it rises quickly and smoothly. The quicker the jack gets the car up, the sooner you can put the jackstand under.
- The jack is always completely outside of the car -- you are never working or reaching under the car until it is completely raised and ready to slip in the jackstand.
I think, (especially in light of today's harrowing events) that Spridget jacks are the safest, securest, easiest to use, fastest, smoothest, most efficient, least tiring, least troublesome, best designed jack I've ever seen. They're actually a pleasure to use compared to the awkward, cantankerous, flimsy, unstable jacks my other cars have had.
