Need some help with a loooooow car. Anytime I've had a really low car, I've suffered through the minor inconveniences of driving up on boards to get a jack under the car cause the jack wouldn't fit under the car otherwise. Does anyone make a really low jack for slammed cars? If so, can ya tell me where to get it? It's for my brother and he's even lazier than I am. Thanks.
Take a look at the almost all-aluminum "Racing" jacks sold at Harbor Freight. The ones with the big roller in front instead of two fixed wheels. They come on sale now and then. I bought one to fit under the front axle of the 32 and it does the job. About 6 pumps to reach full extension. The jack is 2-3 years old and still working just fine.
I always drive up on a couple of 2x6 boards then jack it from there. I know it's a pain, like you said but it's a whole lot cheaper.
Look at the spare tire jacks (scissor type) for some late-model cars. Less than 3" tall! Hit the boneyard and they practically give'em away.
I've seen bags that you hook up to exhaust and that raises the car. don't know where to buy them though. TP
I used my late model Corvette scissor jack with my '47 Chevy cuz it was so low and so does my Dad with his '56. I now carry a floor jack in Big Olds, just cuz I can. Both the scissor jack AND my floor jack were necessary though when Dad had his wheel issue on the road. Also, don't forget to remind your brother to take those boards along on trips just in case he needs to get his car on a rollback. The boards work great to extend the lenght of the rollback and could save the chrome on the bottom of his front and rear bumper in some cases. I know it did on Dad's.
listen to her.....that floor jack comes in handy .....throw in the occ***ional 2x4 or 2 ....and you have a perfect car show repair kit.....haha thanks agian for the use of the jack ......couldn't have made it home with out it ....brandon
any scissor jack that can be had from a junk yard would work, get one out of a full size 90's sedan and you should be ok with the wieght issue. really cheap and if it breaks who cares. and they store really easy too.
Costco currently has an aluminum floorjack (1 1/2 ton rated) similar to the one at Harbor Freight mentioned in the above post, in a package with 2 post type jackstands, and a creeper that brakes down into 2 main parts for storage for a couple of pennies (literally) under a hundred bucks. Nice looking with some of the parts red anodized, appears to be fairly well made. Pretty compact when you take off the handle (handle is 2 piece, too), feels like it might weigh around 20lbs or so. Just bought one for my daughter to put in her Mustang. Much safer than the damn scissors jack the car came equipped with, and yes, she lives in LA and has had to use it before to change a flat and keep from being stranded, (definitely not a good thing for a young female college kid in LA, or anyone else for that matter). I think the one at Harbor Freight is around 80 bucks or so all by itself.
Those air bags used to raise a car are used by towies to get under cars, probably ones that have low suspension or broken suspension in a crash. another thing I have seen is a device that was made to attach to a strong point on the sill of the car-this one was cleverly made to attach/insert through the inside of the sill and hang outside the open door of the car where there was a pad for jacking on that had enough ground clearance for a standard jack to fit under. dude just get some hydros if you have a low car then you can just put it up on three wheels to change a flat!
I got a low rise 5 ton floor jack at Costco last year. I was there yesterday, and they have an even lower one.
The Jalopy Journal
