Technical bumper jacks who uses them?

All I have in my '51 is the original bumper jack. I don't expect to have to use it, as I always make sure the tires on my car are in good shape and I regularly check my tire pressure. If I ever have to use it, I will have no problem, as I have used them dozens of times in the past and never had a problem. One of the biggest problems with bumper jacks is that by the time a dozen years or so have passed, they end up missing from the car they came in and are replaced by one from another car. (This is because they end up being used to pull fence posts and straighten bicycle frames, etc.) That is the biggest problem with them. As long as you use the proper jack, positioned properly (guess why they pasted those paper instructions on the inside of the trunk lid), there should be no problems. Bad things happen when you are in a hurry and careless. Also, while bumper jacks are simple, robust devices, they do require minimum maintenance. The mechanisms should be kept clean and lightly lubricated, and the rack should be checked occasionally to make sure it is not worn or clogged with mud or grease. If you can't fit the jack under the bumper properly, (uneven ground, etc.), take the time to move the car a bit, rather than just taking a chance.

It's like a lot of things these days : they are useful, simple devices that work quite well, but there seem to be less and less people who will take the time and care to use them properly these days.

 

That's neat, never seen one before.

My bumper jack trivia: If you put the lug wrench in the jack at full lift, off the car, and give it a stroke, it will usually ratchet itself all the way down. If your buddy also has a jack, you're off to the races.

 

I recall using them as a kid and was taught to always keep a hand on the top. Used them plenty of times to get unstuck also, jack car up and push it over, repeat as necessary. Now I keep one around for lifting my plow to line up with push plates and for jacking up ice shack to keep from freezing in. ps. I'll take the extra points for "Johnny dangerously"!

 

Don’t Sneeze!


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Don’t Sneeze!


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Never had any problems with bumper jacks. Saw my bud catch his hand between the jack and a 60 Chevy, but that was his fault.

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well i got the impala home today . put floor jack under front of lower control arm. got to far back on control arm , it worked but wouldn't drop rearend all the way. i ended up putting my tall ( 30") jackstands under bumper then lowered rearend all the way. i did fit a 275 60 15 tire with a 8 1/2 wide wheel . backspace was 3 3/4. not sure but i think it will rub. maybe the new springs and shocks will raise car some.

 

Last night, we were trying to load an old outhouse on a flatbed truck and couldn't get the fork lift close enough. Used the Hi-lift to lift the outhouse onto blocks until we could reposition it and later to move it onto the truck bed. Damn I like that jack!

 

Hello,

Bumper jacks are for emergencies only. Preparation for use is mandatory for safety. It cannot be discounted as a way to jack up the car, only for that purpose of changing a flat tire. As a teenager, a flat tire is disheartening, but part of driving an old car. The first 40 Ford Sedan Delivery had a simple bumper jack that did wonders to the rear bumper brackets after fixing a flat.

But, it was an emergency, the jack helped get us on our way and we were happy. In those days, the 60 to 90 degree bends on the lug wrenches were the knuckle busters and the 4 sided wrench was an improvement. Those straight lug levers had to be used to raise the bumper jack. One had to be choosy as to where the jack was going to be used.

The 1965 El Camino had a flat on the 405 freeway at 11 pm. The center divider allowed a squeeze in, parking job next to the rail, to fix the flat. (no car pool lanes back then…) With cars whizzing by, the bumper jack did its thing, the spare was put on and then a red flashing light shows up behind me. The CHP guy told me to get off of the freeway…duh.

He said I was lucky that no one hit me from behind. After a minute or two of mean looks, he turned on HIS flashing lights and cleared the fast lane for me to get in and take off. Of course, I had to floor it to meld into the traffic, much to the displeasure of the CHP officer.

In the verbal lashing before I zipped off, he said that those hazard lights draw people to the light and should not be used. Then he said that always pull off to the right side road edge to fix anything, yes, drive on the flat tire to get off of the 4 lanes of the freeway.

Jnaki

The final straw was a flat tire on our second 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery that had the 327, A/C, auto, etc. My wife was driving it and called me sounding very angry. Luckily, it was only a mile or two away from our house. By this time, a folding scissors jack was handy, sitting behind and below the seat. The bumper jack was nowhere to be seen. For the 4 years of use, the scissors jack worked so much better than the bumper jack. Still using tire chocks of sorts.

For home car/tire/wheel fixes, I wished I had the old hydraulic jack from 1959-60 drag racing/building days.

 

I thought duct tape was the greatest invention of the 20th century.

 

Not only NO, but HELL NO!. Too dangerous and they cause the bumpers to become misaligned.

 

One thing on bumper jacks is rather common. If you are over 70 you have had one fall over in one direction or the other on you at least once if not more. I've had it happen in my own flat driveway years ago. Had it happen on the side of the road while changing a flat another time somewhere in the late 60's early 70's .

Big problem when raising the back is not putting blocks in front of and behind the front wheel and the car decides to roll forward or back because nothing is holding it from moving like would be on a rear wheel. Soft ground they go in any direction as HRP said earlier. I think one of my episodes was in Texas when it was about 110 and the asphalt softened up enough for the jack to dig in.

I hollered at a guy here locally who was under a car jacked up with a bumper jack pulling a starter that he needed to get out from under it and put some blocks under it He got out from under it to walk over and tell me to F%^& off and that he knew what he was doing and about that time the car rolled back and crashed to the ground. His wife ran out wanting to know what happened and he didn't give her much of an answer but the next time I saw him working under the same car he had big rounds of firewood under it for blocks.

Those 20 something buck trolly jacks aren't much better, I've had a couple of them tip over on soft ground and usually carry a piece of plywood to set a small jack of any kind on anymore. We carry my 1-1/2 ton HF (aluminum race jack) along when we take the boat and while usually using it to raise the tongue of the trailer to put the extension on (sailboat needs deep water) I've used it to help someone to change a tire on a small car and changed a tire on the trailer with it. I've got a 20 ton bottle jack for the truck.

On my 48 I carry two jacks. A small bottle jack to stick under the front of the frame rail to lift the truck up enough to slide the trolly jack under the axle.

 

Never use one...on my '63 Biscayne I use a floor jack located just in front of the rear wheel....on the frame...

 

I was always under the impression that bumper jacks were put in the trunks of cars by the factory just to help us enterprising parts scroungers with jacking up cars in junk yards. That's the only place I have ever used one. Jack it up and use those handy round jack stands with flat tires on them to hold the car up.

 

Apparently this guy liked using them.

 

If you have one in your trunk, that's the safest place for it. HRP

 

What’s a bumper?

 

Bumper jacks, who uses them? No one in their right mind.!

 

I got a little scissor jack out of a Honda at Pick Your Nose, Welded a lug nut on the screw. Really low profile and lifts my 32 just fine with very little effort. I also carry a little temp spare tire which the jack fits inside of the rim

 

Picked up this freebie last weekend. I think it's out of a Volvo but I don't know why the lever seems to pivot the wrong way.

 

I think that lever slides into a square piece of tubing on that Volvo jack. The little scissor jacks we used to get from Hondas had a 3/4", or 19mm nut on them. They work nice with an impact as long as they are well lubed.

 

My father and I had a history of doing really dumb things, were people actually thought, we were trying to kill ourselves. My father had a 59 Imperial . He used the bumper Jack on the grass to jerk around with something underneath. The car fell on on him and damn near killed him. He had two black marks on his chest like an X that he wore for quite a while.This was a teaching moment for me

 

I am prone to removing the bumpers on my hot rods...saves on weight

 

Not this guy..anymore.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/nevada-m...ely-caused-the-car-to-fall-of-jack-police-say

 

I was helping my dad jack up a car as a kid and the bumper jack slipped out, got whacked hard under the left eye, surprised it didn't leave a scar. I avoid them like the plague.

 

I can’t use a bumper jack on my 39, I don’t have any bumpers and on my o/t gto with rechromed bumpers no way!

 

I restore my collector car factory bumper jacks and related parts and decals for their use, and LEAVE them in place in the trunks as accessories only.
I carry a small hydraulic jack and my AAA card for any roadside issues, and would never use one of those spindlely man-killers again.

 

We use tractor jacks or hi lift jacks. They are still unsafe if not carefull.

 

Funny this thread re-surfaced almost exactly a year after it was started. Not sure it moved forward much.

 

Newbies are on it this week.