Anyone got a QuickJack?

[aaronyuri]

I decided to punt for one of these recently as I've always wanted one but never bit the bullet until now.

Costco are currently selling the 7000TL for £1150 versus £1450 and I couldn't say no at that price!

Mine was arriving today so I watched the videos, read the manuals, etc. and expected a fairly involved setup process. I got them out the boxes and nada. The lines and fittings were joined together and installed already; all I needed to do was add hydraulic fluid and bleed the system. Easy! The quick disconnect fittings are excellent and don't spill a drop of fluid.

The jacking height is about the same as you could achieve with a trolley jack but this would mean multiple times lifting each side until reaching maximum height. On cars like mine, where there are only 4 jacking points without taking off an army of covers, it's a godsend. Up and down times are super acceptable for what it is.

My biggest gripe is that they are pretty heavy to cart around, but they do slide pretty easily on my PVC floor. I don't think it would be a pleasant experience on concrete...

After faffing around with the rubbers that sit between the jack point and rail, I have marked out where they should be placed for my car and hoping that will cut that alignment time down significantly.

Without further ado, here are some pics. Yes, my car is dirty. No, I don't care.

 

[Nomisf]

I have always fancied a set, but never pulled the trigger.

Do they have a mechanical lock/safety pin/ safety bar to lock them in the raised position?

 

[bainbridge]

They look great, and still a fair bit of room for moving about under the car once it's secured with stands.

I jack up in a tarmac drive and it does take 20 mins or so by the time I've got everything done:

Get out jack, stands and hockey pucks.
Chock grounded wheels
Jack up one side and secure on a stand.
Jack up other side and secure on a stand.
Go back to first side to jack and lower again to relieve any sideways pull.
Place second set of stands under car as emergency back up.

It's a faff but I'm not going under there unless it's secure.

 

[jaybee]

I hate jacking my cars up. Would love a set but don't have the space or a garage to store.

 

[aaronyuri]

I have always fancied a set, but never pulled the trigger.

Do they have a mechanical lock/safety pin/ safety bar to lock them in the raised position?

They do indeed. They have a fixed low and high position. You just need to walk around and lift the arm/cam back into its sliding position when dropping the car. Once the arms are locked in, you can disconnect the hoses and move those out of the way.

They look great, and still a fair bit of room for moving about under the car once it's secured with stands.

I jack up in a tarmac drive and it does take 20 mins or so by the time I've got everything done:

Get out jack, stands and hockey pucks.
Chock grounded wheels
Jack up one side and secure on a stand.
Jack up other side and secure on a stand.
Go back to first side to jack and lower again to relieve any sideways pull.
Place second set of stands under car as emergency back up.

It's a faff but I'm not going under there unless it's secure.

You could definitely get these up in quicker than 20 minutes. I would look into the castor wheel add-ons that some people do for concrete and less sliding friendly surfaces.

 

[Mysterae_]

I fancied a set of these a few years ago when I first saw B is For Build using them. Quick and easy to set up and can be put away when not in use, pretty good for driveway tinkering such that I was doing back then. I never did get them though.

However, if you have a garage with the space I think a dedicated 2 post lift would be better and you can get them for a few hundred more than a QuickJack.

If you don't have a Costco near you, Machine Mart do a clone or rebadged (Clarke) QuickJack for the same price.

 

[aaronyuri]

I fancied a set of these a few years ago when I first saw B is For Build using them. Quick and easy to set up and can be put away when not in use, pretty good for driveway tinkering such that I was doing back then. I never did get them though.

However, if you have a garage with the space I think a dedicated 2 post lift would be better and you can get them for a few hundred more than a QuickJack.

If you don't have a Costco near you, Machine Mart do a clone or rebadged (Clarke) QuickJack for the same price.

2 post lifts get a lot more complicated... You need a thick enough slab to mount them to, they can't be moved once they're in, and you also need a significant height clearance to maximise their benefit. You can get low rise ones, but squatting under a car that's 800-1100mm high is going to be awful as it's too high up for a creeper.

My garage is integrated into my house and I was never going to get the vertical space needed for a 2 post. However, if you can tick all of the boxes, a 2 post lift is a no brainer.

 

[Mysterae_]

2 post lifts get a lot more complicated... You need a thick enough slab to mount them to, they can't be moved once they're in, and you also need a significant height clearance to maximise their benefit. You can get low rise ones, but squatting under a car that's 800-1100mm high is going to be awful as it's too high up for a creeper.

My garage is integrated into my house and I was never going to get the vertical space needed for a 2 post. However, if you can tick all of the boxes, a 2 post lift is a no brainer.

Totally agree, although you can get mobile 2 post lifts I'm not sure I like the idea of them!

 

[Rilot]

I'm seriously considering a set of these myself. I do a lot of work on the S2000 myself and having the ability to get it up in the air quickly would really help.

 

[sovietspybob]

Id looked into them but decided if i was getting one i'd just get a mid lift scissor lift instead, seemed a better option as it goes higher and is all 1 unit so less faff, you just drive over it and up you go. can also just be left on the floor all the time and park on top of it when its down.

 

[tsinc80697]

Had mine a few years, very handy but it still takes a bit of faff to get a car up in the air.

I’d love a scissor lift so I could drive in and out without moving the ramps. But I wouldn’t want one with a join between as it would be a paid for removing exhausts.

I had to buy extenders for mine as my latest car has too long a wheelbase. But this meant the lowest height is now too tall so I have to drive the car on to rubber ramps first ‍

 

[tsinc80697]

I have always fancied a set, but never pulled the trigger.

Do they have a mechanical lock/safety pin/ safety bar to lock them in the raised position?

Yeah you can lock them at two heights. I always put an axle stand underneath each jack just to be double sure.

 

[IC3]

I would prefer a 2 post lift personally, or one of those portable 1 post lifts.

 

[sovietspybob]

something like this is what i was thinking if i ever had the money/time/energy , https://automotechservices.co.uk/products/as-7530d-garage-scissor-lift/

To me seems the best of most worlds for the home mechanic, easy and stable, doesn't need as much height or space around as a 2 post and on normal garage concrete floor, nice good access all the way underneath for driveshafts and exhausts, no faffing around dragging other things under and back out of the car each time you want to lift it.

 

[kaiowas]

something like this is what i was thinking if i ever had the money/time/energy , https://automotechservices.co.uk/products/as-7530d-garage-scissor-lift/

To me seems the best of most worlds for the home mechanic, easy and stable, doesn't need as much height or space around as a 2 post and on normal garage concrete floor, nice good access all the way underneath for driveshafts and exhausts, no faffing around dragging other things under and back out of the car each time you want to lift it.

Yeah, I’d definitely go for that style, but I’d also have it recessed into the floor to make it as unintrusive as possible when not in use.

 

[EddScott]

I got my Quickjacks for Costco also. Had them a few years now. I have to drag mine on the driveway which is a bit of a ball ache.

Only thing that will be awkward when working on the Cayman will be removing the undertrays to get to the oil drain plug. The jacks cover the fixings so will have to jack a side, remove the fixings along each side, lift the car then remove the rest and hopefully the tray won't get stuck trying to get it off.

 

[GravyMonster]

Can a quick jack be calibrated to be level if it's used on a gradient? My driveway drains away at something like 1:50

 

[tsinc80697]

Pretty sure they can only lift in parallel to the surface they are lay on

 

[sovietspybob]

Yeah, I’d definitely go for that style, but I’d also have it recessed into the floor to make it as unintrusive as possible when not in use.

Yeah ideally you'd inset them into the floor but that is a huge amount of work unless you're laying the floor from scratch, i was just going to make up a wooden frame over the middle bit to make that level with the ramps in the down position so i didn't trip over it as much.

 

[cokecan]

Have been looking at lifts for a little while but can't make up my mind which would be the most useful. I like the idea of QuickJack's or similar because I could quickly lift the car to a good height to get underneath, add axle stands and even potentially remove the QuickJacks to clear the floor for a creeper or gearbox jack etc. They appear to store nicely too but I'm a bit limited on length in my garage and I worry about the rotational shift distance these types of lifts have when lifting. Looks like it could be about 30cm from the pics?

Frustratingly a more traditional 2-poster while it would fit, may also pose height issues with some cars causing me to stoop under it while working which isn't going to be fun!