In my idiocy, I have had the entire van drop off the stock jack to the ground without tire on. Luckily I wasn't under it but learned a lesson. Basically, never take van advice from me!

On Mon, Dec 28, 2015, 6:05 PM Michael McSwain <michaelmcswain@gmail.com> wrote:

> I never actually get under the thing unless it's on ramps. I was working > on my front brakes last night and had everything buttoned up and was ready > to put the two front wheels back on and test drive it. I went to raise the > drivers side up a bit to get the wheel back on, (both sides were on jack > stands sitting on a square of 2x6 lumber), and as I raised the drivers side > the van shifted past the tipping point of the remaining jack stand and down > it went. On nice flat concrete the original jack seems ok. On anything > else, including my not quite flat gravel driveway, it felt sketchy before > and certainly now. I'm looking at current large vehicle OEM jacks and it > seems that most are either scissor or bottle style jacks. Not sure if I'll > go with one of those or find a spot under the seat for my floor jack, but > I'm definitely no longer comfortable with the OEM jack. > > On Mon, Dec 28, 2015 at 4:11 PM Marc Perdue <mcperdue@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Ever since I had a scissors jack fail while jacking up my Ford F100 > > pickup with me up in the wheel well, I've been very leery of using > > them on heavy vehicles. It was only dumb luck that I was able to > > propel myself quickly enough backwards into a concrete wall that I > > survived. I'm not sure exactly what it is that you're trying to do, > > but I'd probably be looking at some combination of the original jack, > > seriously heavy duty jack stands, and a high-quality floor jack. > > > > Safety first, always. > > Marc Perdue > > > > On Mon, Dec 28, 2015 at 1:35 PM, Michael McSwain > > <michaelmcswain@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Had a stock jack fail last night. No harm done to me or the van > luckily > > > and I spent the next couple of hours looking at a million jack options > on > > > the samba. Seems like part of the problem is that you have to raise the > > > body so high in order to extend the suspension far enough to lift the > > tire > > > off of the ground. Would a scissor jack under the control arm not be a > > > decent option allowing you to raise the van only the few inches > actually > > > needed to get the tire off the ground? Is there an advantage, (other > > than > > > suspension maintenance obviously), to uncompressing the suspension? > > >