I wasn’t sure where to put this, but I figured the people in this forum are lifting their car more than average.

Just wanted to throw this out there for those of you that might be new to using quick jacks. Maybe it’s common knowledge and I just missed it when reading about how to use them.

I had my car in the air and had the jacks locked out… or so I thought. Mistake number 1. I swear I checked it. Must not have. But I digress. Anyway. I took the hydraulic lines off to make it easier to move around the car. When I went to plug them back in, they just would not connect. Semi common problem. Hit the down button and relive some pressure so says the internet. Which I did. It worked at the controller, but still wouldn’t connect at the lift. I was thinking about bleeding the lift. Thankfully I looked at the lockout before I did it. I imagine it would not have been good. Since I couldn’t connect the lines, I had to actually jack up the magic jack to relieve the pressure.

Moral of the story. Always check the lockouts. But if for whatever reason you thought you did and the lines are hard to connect, stop and ask why. There is pressure coming from somewhere. Don’t just blindly troubleshoot. Make sure the lift is secure before you start messing with it.

I’ll throw a few pics in for the visual learners out there.

 

I’ve taken to putting a jack stand underneath the quick jack, just as an extra precaution. I’m not their biggest fan tbh and typically just jack my car manually - but it gives me more confidence in them when they’re in use (when I need more height for an engine drop).

 

Hydraulics 101 don't disconnect a line under pressure. I've had my quick jacks for many years . I've had no worries about there sturdiness.

My only suggestion would be to monitor the relief valve when lifting. My hydraulic tank eventually cracked from the pressure of lifting because the valve was too tight.

 

OP, good reminder. I put 1 jack stand under each end of each QuickJack before I get under the car or start any work on it. That's after verifying each lockout is engaged correctly. I have caught myself forgetting to put the jack stands in place before getting under the car a couple of times out of dozens, so there's that.

 

The quickjacks can be a little quirky. I always double or triple check that the locks are engaged. I've seen a pebble catch the locking mechanism.

 

I always overshoot the lock stop and then lower back to lock it so it relieves the pressure and is purely mechanical. Then I shake the car. I rather watch if fall off a broken lift from the side than from under it. ymmv imho

 

The older I get, the more jack stands I use.

 

Has anyone actually seen a quickjack fail when properly setup? I’ve heard plenty of people complain about perceived issues but yet to see an actual account of one failing.
mine have been great for 6 years now. I always double check the locking mechanism is engaged and I release the pressure off the Hydrolics etc.

I have seen videos of intentional over loading of a quick jack and it not even budging well over the rated rate. 🤷‍♂️

 

I think using a jack stand or additional jack kind of defeats the purpose. Mind you when I was younger I've had a bottle jack fail while underneath the car. With my QJs I feel very comfortable without stands. I saw a person in a video have his quickjack almost fail, but he had the jacks placed on rubber pads. Quick jack advertises that stands aren't needed.

 

To everyone saying Jack stands are not needed, I agree with you. HOWEVER….. to everyone saying they use Jack stands, can you tell me which ones you use? I’ve looked at all the various jackstands at Harbor freight and none of them really look like they would position well under the Quick jacks in a way they would be stable in the ground and make good contact with the quick jacks. This cautionary tale aside, which I probably should not set it aside, I’m sure they’re safe without the jackstands. But I would still like to get some under there. I just have not found a set that looks like they will work.

 

@pjazz that seems like a good 101. But it’s just such a pain dealing with those hydraulic lines. Do you just deal with them? Or do you have some way you set the system up where they’re not really in the way? I was thinking about hanging something from my ceiling that I could set the control unit on and then the lines would basically come down from that so they wouldn’t be across the floor. I’m just not sure what everyone else is doing about this. Maybe if I position the control unit in front of the car it would be out of the way for most of what I’m doing?

 

I have a scissor lift (not Quickjack) that also has a safety catch mechanism. I do use it, and also put jack stands under the lift if I'm going to crawl under there. Shouldn't be necessary, but I kinda hate the idea of a lift dropping a car on me lol, so I do it. Whether it's me stupidly forgetting something, or a failure of the lift.

 

i normally have the unit in front of the car with a line to each side but once you have the QJ set you can pull all the pressure off the lines and disconnect if you want to.

 

I'm not quite sure how you're using your QJ. Do you have the car up for long periods of time, performing major jobs? I have a 2 car garage and when I use mine, I'm kicking my wife's car out of the garage to do basic maintenance. I just step over the lines not really an issue for me. I have the compressor to the rear of the car. I also use a creeper to roll around underneath.

 

Because I orient the jacks the way QJ recommends the lines are at the front of the car and I very seldom have to step over them.