pls share if you've ever had a floor jack fail

[brainhulk]

How old was the jack, How often was it used, what Brand, what was the comparitive capacity vs loads, any signs prior to failure, describe event

Thanks

 

[Jerem]

Had one or two that would bleed off slowly. A couple new O rings fixed the problem.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

I've personally only had bottle jacks fail, and like Jerem they've bled off slowly. I've seen one of those 2 ton jacks used improperly buckle.

In my opinion it's more likely for the car to fall off the jack - either buckle the jack, get bumped off the jack, etc.

I always slide something underneath the car. Either one of the wheels or these stands that I made out of 2x4. Looks similar to this:

They look sort of like this, but solid 2x4 and with stops to help keep the car from rolling.

 

[Jimzz]

Never had a jack fail while using, at least a decent one used properly.
I have a older jack that does not go up as far and will slowly go down but not fast.

 

[cbrsurfr]

A jack failure should be uneventful because it should never be used alone to support a vehicle.

I seem to remember someone on these forums had an issue and their truck ran them over.

I take many precautions. I have 4 nice quality jack stands, ramps, and I also sometimes use the wheels I take off. What I'm working on determines what support configuration I use.

I had a Sears fail to lift after a year and a half. It was super expensive ~$350. They reached out to me a made it right after complaining about it on here.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2323679&highlight=craftsman+jack

 

[jlee]

My Sears/Craftsman jack failed after about 10 years. It just stopped working - wasn't a catastrophic failure when in use.

 

[halik]

Wasn't there a post on some car forum where the guys car came down on him? Nearly died, of course (broken ribs etc).

I've got a 3.5t aluminum racing jack and matching aluminum jack stands; always use both.

 

[soccerballtux]

mine never failed, it just slowly lost ability to hold weight at the height of its jacking. This was because one day I pumped it too high and got air into the cylinder/or damaged the seals.

It would pump up but at the max height it would float back down.
Due to leaking hydraulic fluid I was told here in this forum to replace the seals. It was so old and I couldn't see any user serviceable entry points that I just bought a much larger more robust one
It was a cheap 2-3 ton jack that was 20 years old and might have come from harbor freight, they sell other red looking jacks just like it: http://www.harborfreight.com/automotive-motorcycle/floor-jacks/2-ton-compact-trolley-jack-68783.html
load 3000lbs

 

[Midwayman]

I've had crappy old jacks that wouldn't hold at full height anymore, but that's about it.

 

[natto fire]

Never had one fail, but I also will not put my body or limbs in harms way if working on a car supported by jack alone. I usually put it on jack stands and try to shake violently after the vehicle is down, to make sure any torque from me wrenching is not going to shift the vehicle.

I dislike working on cars enough as it is, would hate to be injured/killed while changing an oil filter. One thing I did like about my Jeep is that you could do a lot underneath of it without jacking it up.

 

[rommelrommel]

We have one that's easily 25 years old that has a very slow bleed. Even if failures don't exist I ain't getting under a car supported only by one.

 

[Fenixgoon]

always use jack stands. always.

 

[Meghan54]

Like everyone said, use jack stands to work under the vehicle. A floor jack is only for lifting the vehicle up enough to get stands underneath.

 

[Raizinman]

Engineering, manufacturing, packaging, and retailing a $39 hydraulic jack can have its pitfalls. Say you have a run of 50,000 jacks and a few of them start dropping cars on people. What would happen to the small amount of profit you made on this deal? It would not take long before the consumer product safety group or some other group to step in and stop the sale of this product, which means all stores, Kmart, Sears, Harbor Freight, etc. sends back what unsold product they have left for a refund, not to mention a likely recall, so that any sold jacks can be returned for a full refund. The above action is pretty much the death, or at least a very big hit to any company.

Can a jack fail? Sure it can. I’ve used hydraulic jacks most my life and as others have said, they ALL state in the instructions to always use a jack stand in combination. I became so tired of dragging 60 lbs jacks around the garage, that I installed a lift. Much safer, easier on my back, and no more rolling around on a creeper. Use all tools in the manner for which they were designed paying heed to the cautions and warnings and you should rarely to never have a problem.

 

[sontakke]

Lift in the garage? Now that is what I call the ultimate man cave! Remember the shoe room / beer room commercial? I will forgo the room full of beer if I can get the lift in the garage!

Do you have a blog / write up etc that I can read about your lift installation experience?

 

[RLGL]

Sears 3T failed after 45 days, it never lifted more than 4K lbs

 

[imagoon]

Engineering, manufacturing, packaging, and retailing a $39 hydraulic jack can have its pitfalls. Say you have a run of 50,000 jacks and a few of them start dropping cars on people. What would happen to the small amount of profit you made on this deal?

Unfortunately, they would just point at the 1 cent sticker and 3 cent manual that says "use jackstands, do not go under a vehicle supported only by this jack" and walk away basically scott free.

 

[olds]

Twice. One on purpose. Back when cars had bumpers and you used a bumper jack.

1. 66 Mustang fastback. Driveway was slightly slanted but it was enough. Luckily I wasn't under it. No damage.

2. 60s sedan, don't recall the model. I was 16 and went to the sheriff's office to get a work permit. There was a drainage ditch next to the parking lot and I drove the front wheels into it. Front of car was sitting on frame. I jacked up the front of the car and backed off the jack back onto level ground. No damage except to my ego as the cops were laughing at me. Then impressed that I pulled it off.

 

[Mide]

my 3t craftsman will slowly leak so it drops slowly. never experienced a catastrophic loss of pressure.

 

[fstime]

My question is, how the the hell are you supposed to use jack stands along with a hydraulic jack when the hydraulic jack occupies jack point already which is 2 square inches at best.

 

[thomsbrain]

My question is, how the the hell are you supposed to use jack stands along with a hydraulic jack when the hydraulic jack occupies jack point already which is 2 square inches at best.

Put the stands on the frame rails, if you can find them. Also, some cars have front/rear center jack points so you can get an entire end of the car up without going near the side jack points.

 

[JMapleton]

It's beyond stupid to use a jack as your only method of support for a cars weight.

You can't spend 3 dollars on a cinder-block or something for a measure of safety?

 

[jmai87]

I've been working on my own cars for 10 years with only jacks, stands and wheel chocks. I use quality over-spec'ed jacks for the cars and chock all touching wheels. Just use common sense.

I do however use stands for ANY time I directly lie down under the car. I don't roll the dice with that stuff!

Have however had a jack fail on me once, but that was only because I was young and dumb and thought it'd be a good idea to jack one side of a car on a dirt incline lol. No harm done, lesson learned.

 

[Zodiark1593]

Never had one fail, but I also will not put my body or limbs in harms way if working on a car supported by jack alone. I usually put it on jack stands and try to shake violently after the vehicle is down, to make sure any torque from me wrenching is not going to shift the vehicle.

I dislike working on cars enough as it is, would hate to be injured/killed while changing an oil filter. One thing I did like about my Jeep is that you could do a lot underneath of it without jacking it up.

Primary reasons I go to a local place for the oil change. Usually, for brakes and stuff like that where taking it to a shop is cost prohibitive though, then I resort to the jack + stands. Compared to oil changes, breaking out the jack is few and far between.

 

[Raizinman]

Having worked with hydraulic jacks for many years (before I my lift was installed) there are some very simple basics that must be remembered.

Every hydraulic jack has six main components:
1. A RESERVOIR to hold hydraulic fluid.
2. A PUMP that draws fluid from the reservoir on it's up, suction or intake stroke then creates pressure on it's down/power stroke.
3. CHECK VALVE
4. MAIN HYDRAULIC CYLINDER
5. RAM PISTON
6. RELEASE VALVE

SEALS – Most seals today are either poly-urethane or neoprene and can wear out. As far as the seals go there's really very little you can do to avoid wear other than use jack stands and keep any blatantly harmful elements from coming in contact with the extended ram such as - fire or heat (from welding), alcohol (brake fluid), paint thinners, acids, urine (from pets) and such.

Should you leave the pump piston down or up. Many jacks have spring loaded pumps, so, leaving the piston down will have you putting pressure against it for days, weeks and even months at a time. As for the ram piston - keep it retracted.

Many people will ruin a jack by adding the wrong fluid. They figure if brake fluid is good for a cars hydraulic brakes, that it must be good for a hydraulic jack. WRONG! It will turn the seals in your jack into jello. Never add brake fluid to a hydraulic jack. Actually never let brake fluid even get on the piston bore of a jack. Only use hydraulic jack fluid. If you are in a pinch, you can add a bit of transmission fluid.

Often a new jack will require bleeding (spongy). Resolve this: Jack the jack all the way up/out. Release the release and retract all the way down. Open the filler plug and you should get a little psssst of air.

Jack failures are pretty much human errors. Overloaded, wrong fluid, misused, etc. etc.

Jacks don’t fail as often as humans do.