Date: Mon, 28 Dec 2015 23:05:24 +0000
Reply-To: Michael McSwain <michaelmcswain@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Michael McSwain <michaelmcswain@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: scissor jack under control arm?
In-Reply-To: <CAEwp_cSmmjWBkxAx=6fZotVkSfYeN2qTcR6gCwqT5T2nPM-khQ@mail.gmail.com>
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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?
>
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