Ranger QuickJack, do we have any (updated) opinions?

Keith Tanner wrote: I can carry the 3500s like that - but they've got wheels on the end for a reason! I can see some detail changes in things like the pump, and the packaging in those pictures is actually better than it used to be. There's been some evolution. One trick to minimizing the chance of any spillage is to make sure the lines are fully depressurized before you disconnect. Hold the DOWN button for an extra second after the lift is collapsed to make sure it's not almost-but-not-quite collapsed.

I tell you Keith, I cycled them a bunch of times to purge any air and then I lifted three different cars. Not a drop came out of the connectors! Very cool. I did have to top off the reservoir, but I am sure thats due to some oil remaining in the cylinders/lines.

BoxheadTim wrote: Thanks again for all the feedback. After mucking about with jacks and jack stands under the RX8 I've decided that I'm getting too old for this sort of E36 M3 and am probably going to order one this weekend.

Do it, you will not regret it.

Thinking about getting one of these again myself. Finally been putting time into working on my car and I waste so much time getting something up in the air just to get it back down again. Plenty of money for a two post, but need the portability and being able to take it track-side would be killer. Anyone else other than Keith go with the 12v model? If so what are you using for power in the garage, old battery?

Definitely go 12 volt, it's much faster than the 110.

To power it in the garage, I usually use a jump pack. The other option is to just use jumper cables to run it off the battery of the car you're lifting.

Any new updates or alternative products I should be looking into? Now that my garage floor is nearing completion this is something I have been wanting to do for a long time.

My ex- has a Quick Jack for her garage.  She found it works well for her modern cars ('03 MCS and '16 ND), but has been unable to get the lift points to line up well under her classic cars (Volvo 1800ES and Triumph Spitfire). 

The dimensional ranges are available on the Quickjack site. I have yet to fail to lift a car with mine, but I also figure that the area of the pads is big enough that you can use other than approved jacking points. So far I've been successful with that assumption.

We no longer sell the QJ because they basically discontinued their dealer program. I'm still a fan, but I am glad we no longer have to deal with shipping damage calls.

The SLX series has a faster pump on the 120v, so it's now as fast as the 12v version. I'd still get 12v because I use mine mostly at the track and it is more flexible.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

I think it depends on the car. In case of the 1800, while it is a unibody car and could probably be supported by the full length of the rocker weld, there are parts of the floor pan lower than that which may interfere. I have yet to use the lift, so I don't know for sure.

With the Spitfire, the body can definitely not adequately support the entire weight of the car, so it has to be lifted by the frame (mainly at the front), which has only one outrigger right behind the front wheels. The rest of the frame is essentially inside the transmission tunnel. Even with my scissor lift, I have to get the position "just" right so I can raise the car without the lift interfering with the wheels as they droop. And the rear point is about 4" higher than the front point.

If the car has protrusions, then you can just use the thicker blocks to get to your jacking points.

if it’s a weirdo like a Spitfire or an Elan, then I guess you’re stuck. 

If the frame is weirdo like that and you've got enough ride height to have a couple inches to spare between the QJ frames in their compressed configuration and the bottom of the car then you can build an adapter.  I did something like this when lifting my old Locost -- the two QJ frames need to positioned parallel to each other, but the sides of the frame on the Locost were not parallel at the front (it was effectively a hexagon).  So to lift it I moved the QJ frames slightly inboard to line up with the Locost frame at the front, then ran a bar across the back so that it could reach "out" to get the frame there.

I've never looked at a Spitfire frame, so I don't know how complex a shape the adapter would need to be, but...

In reply to codrus :

That might work, but a Spitfire is a pretty low car and there's not a lot of room for blocks or adapters.

Our area Spitfire group is supposed to do a tech day at her house to replace the top sometime in the spring. Hopefully I'll be able to investigate further then.

I put together my dads so he could get his galaxie up closer to a height he could do things on the car. Overall, I hate that piece of E36 M3. Heavy, bulky, instructions left something to be desired. But I guess it does what it is supposed to do and lift vehicles.

Finally put in my order for the BL-5000SLX model. Very excited to try it out and will report back once it gets here.

So here's my report after first time setup.

Shipping: I ordered last weekend and it arrived on Friday. Shipped ground freight from CA to VA. The boxes the ramps are packaged in were completely demolished by the time they arrived. The plastic strapping had eaten halfway through the cardboard and half of one box and all the styrofoam packaging was completely gone so the ramp was just hanging out naked. Fortunately the ramps didn't appear to be damaged. The box containing the power unit was in perfect shape.

Assembly: The ramps come assembled but you have to put the hydraulic fittings and dry-break connectors on everything, including the hoses, power unit, and ramps. After connecting everything up, there's an air bleeding process to follow. Taking my time it took a couple hours to assemble, fill, bleed, etc. The dry-break fittings they use are pretty impressive. I was ready for some fluid to come out but not a drop was lost after disconnecting the unit. None of the connectors leaked while in operation. They supplied teflon tape which I used for every non-o-ring fitting. The instructions listed four sizes of wrench needed for assembly but 0/4 of them were the correct size for the fittings it came with. They were all standard sizes though, just not the ones specified.

Other thoughts: I purchased the optional frame rail rubber blocks. For each corner, there's a bit of fiddling around getting them to seat properly while you go up and down and up and down but it's all just pushing buttons so not really a chore. This won't save you from getting on your knees and crawling around but it only took a minute and I suspect after some practice it'll be even faster. The rails themselves are pretty darned heavy (got the 5000lb model) but they have wheels on one end for easy rolling around the garage. The instructions don't mention that you need to flip the cams when using the first lock in order to lower the car to the ground. It's pretty obvious though. The instructions correctly indicate how to lower the car to the ground from the second lock position by lifting the arm slightly which works fine. Not sure why the discrepancy.

So far, so good...

Bumping this thread up, as I am considering getting the 5000 lb model, since it has been shortened back up enough to work with a Miata.  Primary use will be in the garage on a B-body Impala, a S10, and a NA Miata.  May also occasionally use it on a Mazda5.  Would like to use it on a Super Beetle, but not sure that’d work out well.  Anyone used a Quickjack on full frame vehicles like the S10 and Impala?  I suspect the frame extension they sell could come in handy.

Also, for garage use, any opinions on 110 vs 12V?  I suppose I could use it at an event in the future, but the greater likelihood is it’ll live in the garage.  Finally, what are people opinions of it after long term ownership?

I've got the 110V 5000lbs model in my shop - decided to go for the 110V as I don't expect to lug it around much.

They do fit under a Miata, but at least for the NA, it's a very tight fit. Still works, though.

I'v had mine for about a year and while I still want a two post lift, but I'm glad I bought mine. And I'll probably splurge for the motorcycle lift attachment at some point, too.

Aside from portability, the other reason for the DC motor over the AC one is that it's more powerful and will raise the lift faster.  If you're lifting a running car then you've probably got a battery handy, so the need to have 12V isn't all that inconvenient.

I think the AC motor has been upgraded with the SLX models so it's no longer a slowpoke. But I still recommend the 12v variant for flexibility. I attached a set of jumper cables to mine permanently to make life a bit easier. You might have access to 110v 95% of the time, but that 5% of the time is when you'll be glad you have the 12v :)

Keith Tanner said:

I think the AC motor has been upgraded with the SLX models so it's no longer a slowpoke. But I still recommend the 12v variant for flexibility. I attached a set of jumper cables to mine permanently to make life a bit easier. You might have access to 110v 95% of the time, but that 5% of the time is when you'll be glad you have the 12v :)

I put a 175A "Anderson" DC battery connector on mine with a matching connector in place of one of the pairs of clamps on an extension cable.  Worked well. :)

I've had the original 3500 since it first came out, 12 volt model, hundreds of cycles with two Corvettes, a Honda CR-V, Toyota Matrix and my Lincoln Town Car.  The Town Car is about 4100 pounds or so and I've lifted it maybe a 20 times and I've left it up on the lift for a few weeks during a rear axle rebuild.  They are a million times more stable than jack stands and it's way more stable during the lift as compared to jacking up one side or one end of the car and then inserting the jackstands, and then jacking up the other end of the car as it pivots on the jack stands.  All in all I've been very happy.  I don't endorse lifting a 4,000+ pound car for anyone else, just sharing what I've done with it.  Also if your garage is really tight it can be tough to swing the handle of your floor jack.  This is a really nice upgrade for not a lot of money.  

I have the 5000lb version.  I love it for wheel/suspension/brake work.  I feel like it was a great purchase.  That said I would never consider getting under the car with it on there.  I've never had any incidents, but they do not have a redundant safety mechanism.  Underneath the car, the first failure would be the last.  Maybe I'm just overly cautious, but I'm not risking it.  I also have a 4 post lift, which I'll happily work under all day...

cbaclawski said:

I have the 5000lb version.  I love it for wheel/suspension/brake work.  I feel like it was a great purchase.  That said I would never consider getting under the car with it on there.  I've never had any incidents, but they do not have a redundant safety mechanism.  Underneath the car, the first failure would be the last.  Maybe I'm just overly cautious, but I'm not risking it.  I also have a 4 post lift, which I'll happily work under all day...

Huh?  They definitely do have a redundant safety catch.  There's a square tube attached at one end to the top of the frame that will slide down into a "cup" on the bottom of the frame and lock it in the raised position.  Once locked you need to raise the quickjack an inch or so and move the bar back out in order to get it to go down again.

In this photo they're the extra tubes on the side with the loose zip ties around them (to stop them flopping around when you pick up the frames).  The "cup" isn't visible in this photo because it's hidden beneath the tubes.

Once sitting on the safety catch they're rock solid and can't fall down without the welds failing or bolts falling out.

Edit:  You can see the safety catch in position in the "cup" in this photo:

They have a mechanical lock along with the hydraulics. Just like my big boy two lift. 

Those pictured look different than the safety catch on mine.  The set I have has a u shaped channel that the tubes ride in with 2 roughly 1/2 inch high "stops" that catch the bottom of the ziptied tubes in the above pic.  Don't get me wrong, it feels sturdy, but it looks like it could possibly slip past the stop.  1 in a million probably, but I'm not getting under there. 

Well, if you don't trust Ranger's engineering, you could always weld in bigger stops. There's no way the design I have is going to slip. As noted, you have to raise the lift to disengage them. I'd much rather be under a QuickJack than a set of jack stands.

Got any pics?