Ever heard of a Jack Rod? (Sounds dirtier than it is)

Hydraulic jack brace on Amazon for $99

"The AGM Jack Rod is designed to keep you safe and worry-free while using your floor jack. It extends into place effortlessly with a simple lever push and securely locks at your desired height. Even if your floor jack seal fails, the Jack Rod will continue to hold your car in place, giving you peace of mind during every project."

It popped up on my Facebook feed recently, looks interesting.  My floor jack slowly leaks by & if I leave it more than a few minutes it slowly lowers itself.  I have to give it a couple pumps to keep it up.  (Phrasing.)

I'm not thinking long term project storage, but like for 30min or so.  Anyone heard of these?

--- found a forum thread that said "With so many newer cars not having good locations to place a jack stand, there is a market for this."  My feelings exactly, the GRC has 4 dedicated spots and that's it, everything else is covered in plastic panels.

I've seen ads for these for a while and they look interesting, but I'd love to hear someone with an engineering background weigh in. I don't think I'd ever use one as the only thing holding up a car/truck.

Using a jackstand or stack of wood or cinder blocks under a different spot is a better idea. I used a partially broke Hf jack this weekend and a 12" 2x6 to do a trackside repair. Way less than $99. 2x6 is usually used under the trailer jack. 

At first glance I don't see any major issue with this.  I don't see a real advantage though either, it only secures a single jack point.  On cars like the GR with only 4 points, you are probably going to want to use another point anyway.

I could swear Craftsman made, and I think HF cloned, a jack that basically lifts the stand and can leave the stand behind when you disengage.

Neat idea. It would hold but then I'd need 2 of them to get the entire end of the car up and the jack out of the way. I also tend to stick the jack under the center of the car which would have me crawling under it to jack my rod. That sounds like a really bad idea. I think I'll stick with my hammer store jack stands. 

If you want to jack up the car and leave a jack stand, these are a good solution. 

https://jackpointjackstands.com/

I made some U-shaped spacers using dimensional lumber and plywood to add another 5" of height when needed. They are pricey, but are very stable. There's a piece of aluminum bar that goes through the hole in the jacking point of most cars (well, most of the cars I've worked on) to positively locates the stand to the vehicle.

Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) said:

Using a jackstand or stack of wood or cinder blocks under a different spot is a better idea. I used a partially broke Hf jack this weekend and a 12" 2x6 to do a trackside repair. Way less than $99. 2x6 is usually used under the trailer jack. 

Please don't use cinder blocks to support a car

prodarwin said:

At first glance I don't see any major issue with this.  I don't see a real advantage though either, it only secures a single jack point.  On cars like the GR with only 4 points, you are probably going to want to use another point anyway.

I could swear Craftsman made, and I think HF cloned, a jack that basically lifts the stand and can leave the stand behind when you disengage.

I was starting to question my sanity thinking I imagined this whole thing, but here is a picture of the Craftsman version:

Apparently its called the Lift N Secure system.  Looks like it was released around 2008 and I can't find any recent references to it.  I wonder why it went away.

Jacks are for jacking not for holding.  If your jack leaks down then fix the jack don't buy something to prop it up.  If you need to hold the car up then stick some jack stands under it.

So having acquired an new car, Ioniq 5, I realize the potential need for this product. Upon initial looks I cannot see any spot other than the 4 jack points to lift the car for rotating tires. 

Yes the battery tray is a huge flat area. However, without some inside knowledge of if and where there are any hard points to put a stand under I would not want to experiment by making multiple dents in the flat tray area. 

I hear something similar from a fellow GRM guy about some modern BMWs.

I have actually looked at my harbor freight jack in the past and theorized about this exact product. I might buy one or 2 and see. 

In reply to Advan046 :

I'm still tempted.

I've used the term "Jack Rod" for years and am disappointed to see Amazon misappropriate my culture.