Trolley jack support brace
Discussion
I saw an ad on Facebook for a extendable support brace for a trolley jack. Cant find it now or find one on googley.
Basically it was a two piece extendable bar that was easily placed between the chassis of a trolley jack and the raised arm of the jack. It extended into place and fitted snugly by means of teeth that locked the two pices together and prevented the jack lowering by itself in the event of the hydraulics failing.
I think it would be useful as for example on my car its hard to find an additional support area without crushing plastic undertrays ect. and plenty sturdy enough for changing wheels etc.
Anyone come accross one of these?
Basically it was a two piece extendable bar that was easily placed between the chassis of a trolley jack and the raised arm of the jack. It extended into place and fitted snugly by means of teeth that locked the two pices together and prevented the jack lowering by itself in the event of the hydraulics failing.
I think it would be useful as for example on my car its hard to find an additional support area without crushing plastic undertrays ect. and plenty sturdy enough for changing wheels etc.
Anyone come accross one of these?
Certainly a good idea for those times when you will (and we've all done it when we know we shouldn't) have taken the chance on the trolley jack alone holding the car up, and as said you find the ideal spot to lift the car and the sites left for propping an axle stand just arnt there.
Regardless how you prop the car up just be careful when actually working on it, i offer a salutory lesson from working on our W124 Merc maybe 10 years ago, had one side of the front end up on a stand, seemingly safe, must have been doing something to the brakes because wifey was turning the steering from one full lock to the other, the other wheel was in contact with the ground, anyone who knows that era of Merc will know that the front wheels when turning don't just twist on the ground whilst staying in the same spot, the castors and strut design involved sees the wheels move in an arc culminating in very unusual camber angles on full lock, that wheel movement shifted the car off the stand which dropped it to the ground as i knelt beside it...glad i wasn't under the thing, amazingly no vehicle damage either.
Which brings me back to the best vehicle prop/stands i ever had were two decent tree stumps my Dad procured for me when i was working on my first bangers.
Regardless how you prop the car up just be careful when actually working on it, i offer a salutory lesson from working on our W124 Merc maybe 10 years ago, had one side of the front end up on a stand, seemingly safe, must have been doing something to the brakes because wifey was turning the steering from one full lock to the other, the other wheel was in contact with the ground, anyone who knows that era of Merc will know that the front wheels when turning don't just twist on the ground whilst staying in the same spot, the castors and strut design involved sees the wheels move in an arc culminating in very unusual camber angles on full lock, that wheel movement shifted the car off the stand which dropped it to the ground as i knelt beside it...glad i wasn't under the thing, amazingly no vehicle damage either.
Which brings me back to the best vehicle prop/stands i ever had were two decent tree stumps my Dad procured for me when i was working on my first bangers.
I haven't seen that type of brace, but I've seen a type of jack stand with a flat top, designed to fit between the car and the trolley jack, so that you jack the car up, insert a couple of pegs to stop the jack stand from collapsing, and can then lower and remove the trollety jack. The brand I saw was Rennstand but perhaps there are others.
I remember working on a MK1 escort rear brakes, supported by a hydraulic bottle jack.
I was sat in front of the rear brake with my legs straight out in front of me, one leg each side of the rear hub. Bottle jack fell over, car fell down, rear leaf srings supported by my outstretched legs. Mum and Dad were out and obviously I couldn't move as trapped by the back end of the car, with the leaf spring gradualy burying themselves into my legs.
I managed to claw a length of chunky wood to me and managed to eventually lever one leg free so I could reach the bottle jack. I was then able to release my other leg.
Smarted a bit for a couple of days. Happily the dents in my legs disapeared...
I was sat in front of the rear brake with my legs straight out in front of me, one leg each side of the rear hub. Bottle jack fell over, car fell down, rear leaf srings supported by my outstretched legs. Mum and Dad were out and obviously I couldn't move as trapped by the back end of the car, with the leaf spring gradualy burying themselves into my legs.
I managed to claw a length of chunky wood to me and managed to eventually lever one leg free so I could reach the bottle jack. I was then able to release my other leg.
Smarted a bit for a couple of days. Happily the dents in my legs disapeared...
guards red said:
Never seen those - but I know the company, they make nice parts.shakindog said:
In the images the orange one has an inbuilt stay that acts as a safety and also an axle stand.
Sounds like just the thing you are after.
As used by one of the large breakdown companies
Hmmm, not wishing to sound difficult, but I dont really want to ditch my existing low trolley jack thats in great nick! Thsnks for the linky though.Sounds like just the thing you are after.
As used by one of the large breakdown companies
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