Portable car lifts

Kenz

Kenz

6th Gear Poster
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Florida
Vehicle Details
96 Cougar - T45
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Anyone have experience with Bendpack QuickJack? Are they useful with getting the car up in the air once and a while, or are regular jackstands about the same? I watched some Youtube reviews on portable lifts and the Quickjacks seem to get good feedback. But it seems like they don't get the car much higher in the air, or are any quicker than putting the car on 4 jackstands? :unsure:

QuickJack 5000TL Portable Car Lift - 5000TL

The 5,000-lb. capacity 5000TL car lift is the ultimate tool for DIY'ers and race enthusiasts. It covers most vehicle types and takes up very little space.
www.bendpak.com www.bendpak.com

Since I moved years ago don't have access to a lift anymore... I really would like to get a Maxjack, that is what I used before and was very happy with it... but they cost 4 grand now and not sure it would be worth it. However if the Quickjacks are pointless I might save up for one.

maxjax.com

MaxJax

MaxJax is the unique portable two-post car lift design that offers greater versatility and serviceability when compared to traditional garage lifting systems.
maxjax.com maxjax.com
 
They're awesome if your garage ceiling isn't tall enough for a lift and all you want is to not get out the jackstands to change oil or rotate tires.

Otherwise get a real lift.
 
If you can’t stand under it it’s not a lift. Plus it looks sketchy as fuck, plus it looks like it uses the rocker seams as lift points :nono:
 
XR7-4.6 said:
it looks like it uses the rocker seams as lift points :nono:
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Which is the same as most commercial shops though (?). Just recently I was at Discount Tire to have a puncture fixed, and before I could even intervene, they had my car up on a lift like that. And if I had intervened, they'd probably call me crazy...
 
1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
Which is the same as most commercial shops though (?). Just recently I was at Discount Tire to have a puncture fixed, and before I could even intervene, they had my car up on a lift like that. And if I had intervened, they'd probably call me crazy...
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They sure do. Commercial shops also impact wheels on, real professionals!
 
For what it is worth, lifting from the pinch welds on a lift is not the same as trying to do so with a jack. The lift goes straight up with no side to side forces, and in that direction, the pinch weld is one of the strongest parts of the car, and as long as they haven’t been previously compromised by using a jack there, you can lift the car like that all day and never cause damage. When I lift MN12s, I do put the front arms under the frame rails, but the rears go under the pinch welds, and even on my rot box 90 XR7 that has no outer rocker panels, it supports the car’s weight and doesn’t bend or deform at all.

And for the wheels, I have put them on exclusively with impacts for 25 years now, with zero issues. Yes, if you sit there and go full send for 30 seconds per stud, you will break shit, but 2-3 ugga-duggas will never give you trouble.
 
MadMikeyL said:
For what it is worth, lifting from the pinch welds on a lift is not the same as trying to do so with a jack. The lift goes straight up with no side to side forces, and in that direction, the pinch weld is one of the strongest parts of the car, and as long as they haven’t been previously compromised by using a jack there, you can lift the car like that all day and never cause damage. When I lift MN12s, I do put the front arms under the frame rails, but the rears go under the pinch welds, and even on my rot box 90 XR7 that has no outer rocker panels, it supports the car’s weight and doesn’t bend or deform at all.
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I strongly disagree. My Focus has been in the family since it was brand new, I know for certain it has only ever been on shop lifts or MY jack/stands I only ever put under the frame rails or K member in that time and the rocker seams somehow look like the letter S, why? Now of course they’re rotting away, and good luck putting that thing on a lift on the seams!

You said it yourself, *if they’re not previously compromised*. If the car did have a jack lift there they’re compromised, if the car bottomed out on them going down a tall curb they’re compromised, if there’s rust even if only inside) they’re compromised. Hell I don’t even necessarily trust the seams are a perfectly perpendicular to the ground from the factory on many cars, even a few degree variance is going to distribute load unpredictably.



MadMikeyL said:
And for the wheels, I have put them on exclusively with impacts for 25 years now, with zero issues. Yes, if you sit there and go full send for 30 seconds per stud, you will break shit, but 2-3 ugga-duggas will never give you trouble.
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Never give you the mechanic trouble. The fella who has to change his tire on the side of the road who bent his factory lug wrench trying to bust loose the 250+ ft/lb impacted shitty factory 2 piece lugs IS going to have issues.

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1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
Doesn't the jack that comes with the spare tire lift there, too?
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Yes, and it’s a chintzy dangerous piece of junk and Ford doesn’t expect you to own the car for more than 5 years, so who cares about out of sight damage in a strictly emergency situation? “Buy a new Escape from us! Well give you an air pump and slime this time” 😝
 
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The Quickjack comes with movable blocks so it is designed to lift from actual jack points, not just the rocker seams. Still.... not sold on them I'd rather just spend a bit more time and put the car up on jackstands or get a real lift. For the price it seems like more of a toy than a useful tool.
Going to go for either a real lift like @MadMikeyL suggested, or the Maxjack portable lift. Comes down to what garage bay I want to put it in due to clearance.

Impact gun to tighten lugs is fine when done with care! I put the gun on medium, and star pattern the lugs a few seconds each.... twice. If I go back to check them with my torque wrench they are always about right on :headbang:
 
The trick with the factory scissors jack is that it has a "U" shaped channel that locks onto the pinch weld that distributes the load along either side of the base of both sides of the weld, not the joint itself. Many jacks have a cup that doesn't do that in the least - it puts the full weight onto two very small, concentrated points. Much different than distributing it over a wider area. When lifting an MN12, also bear in mind that the CG is about in line with the back end of the transmission, so using the pinch weld at the rear puts much less pressure on it when being lifted than it does at the front.

As far as an impact on wheel lugs... I would never use one to torque down lugs by itself. I use mine but I only run it to zip on the lugs until the momentum of the socket runs out, without it actually "hammering" any additional torque into them after they seat. That's just enough torque to take out the slack in getting the tire and rotor flush up against the hub, then I finish torquing each nut properly with a torque wrench. Inevitably the first lug I zip on is about 1/2 turn loose, and the last one starts off around about 10-20 ft-lb. Every impact is different so YMMV doing something like this - you need to know your equipment.
 
Kenz said:
That 4 post setup you have looks great!

Maybe I could justify getting one because I would actually gain storage space for another car. :unsure:
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You could always put one outside if you have a concreate driveway.
 
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