floor jack

[A child of God]

I own a semi so I got a bottle jack from Amazon. I carry it under my back seat and have used it numerous times to lift my Ram without issue. Small, inexpensive and universal.

 

[huntergreen]

I don't recall having experienced a terminal pawl failure, but I do remember they would often get misaligned and fail to move. IIRC, we used to fiddle with the direction switch and perform partial cranks, back and forth, and eventually it would function adequately.

I don't recall ever driving away from a raised jack, but I do have vivid memories of pushing the cars away from the jack to get them down. Maybe they did jamb, and that was our brainiac solution.

Most of my earlier experience with those jacks came from changing wheels or brake jobs, with a few flats here and there.


IIRC, a 1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass, my first V8, had a similar jacking system. Not the bumper-slot type, but the jack cradled the edge of the old-style and invincible steel bumper. That was so long ago, it hurts my brain to remember.


View attachment 580300


This wasn't my car, but an online picture that looks similar.
Mine was bought pre-enjoyed, and I often referred to it as the Bondo Mobile.

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Wow, I had a 73 ford Gran Torino, solid jack wide detachable base plate. The hook was a bit of a pia to get in slot, but no way was it coming out if it had the slighted bit of weight on it. If you chocked the wheels no way was would the jack kick out. But that was between 45 to 50 years ago.