Quickjack new owner - any tips?

[ps2cho]

Hi all -

After many years of looking at the quickjacks, I finally bought one for black friday and just finished setting it up and the cylinders bled.
Anybody have any tips from long-term experience? Anything I should know or good practices to follow?

Thanks!

 

[Astro14]

Don’t try to lift on a completely collapsed frame. It needs to rise a couple inches.

You’ll get used to guessing the arc as it rises, so you can place the blocks correctly for the lifting points. Tall frames, like a pickup truck, may need wood blocks to add enough height.

Throw a stand under each lifted frame once it’s up. It’s in the owners manual, and I’ve never had one come off the locking sides, but a back up is a good idea.

Watch your hose routing. You’ll likely move them as you work. Be sure to put them back in the right place before lowering. Don’t drop the lift onto a hose, they can get crush damaged.

For very low clearance vehicles, make certain that the blocks are out, and the frames won’t catch on the underside before you drive on/off. Dragging a frame may damage the car, and may damage the hose.

I usually place the frames in the center, drive over, and “pull” them to the lifting points. It’s easier than pushing. For low clearance cars, you may need to have them outside the car, and “push” them under.

 

[ps2cho]

Thanks!
I have a 535i and a Q5 so the 7000TLX I got should work for both from my measurements.

Have you done anything with casters to help move around?

I also found some UHMW tape I was thinking of applying to the underside of the frame to give it a little protection from scratches?

 

[Astro14]

I muscle it around and accept the scratches. It’s used and stored indoors, so there isn’t any significant corrosion as a result of the paint being scraped off.

I think the UHMW pads would be great on my smooth concrete shop floor. They wouldn’t have worked on my driveway.

Casters would be nice. Don’t see how I could add them though. On most of my cars, the rear of the frame has to be close to the rear tire, to correctly engage the lifting point. So, they couldn’t go on the ends.

 

[LDM]

Which model did you get? I have the 7000TL, which works great on my Camaros and other cars, along with the extension kit and truck/SUV adapter kit and pinch weld blocks. I found the TL to be a bit short when lifting my truck and the truck kit helps a lot as it gives the extra height needed without having to use extra wood blocks.

I use them in my garage, which has a smooth floor, so pushing and pulling them around isn't too difficult. On top of all the things Astro14 already said, make sure to keep the air cylinders filled to 50 PSI, they seem to like to leak out fairly quickly on mine. Makes lowering them down a lot easier once the vehicle weight is off the lifts.

 

[eljefino]

Tape on the underside is a great idea. Mine are four years old and have surface rust from being on the same concrete surface as snow meltings, even though I kept them mostly dry.

If there are grease zerks for the hinges, ensure they're greased. One of mine is coming down rough and it's not the hydraulics. Bendpak is looking into the situation... slowly.

 

[Sam_Julier]

On top of all said above make sure you open the air valve in the fluid reservoir before lifting.

I second @Astro14 to place jack stands underneath when lifted. I use 4 of them, one of each end.

 

[B6_Dolphin]

When connecting the hydraulic lines, always connect to the powerpack last. When inserting the quick disconnects (QD) of the hoses onto the power pack QDs, with the powerpack plugged-in, relieve the pressure on the powerpack QD by pressing "DOWN" while making the last connections (2).

I learned my lesson. Sometimes it was easy, and other times it was impossible, and I ended up squuezing out an o-ring on a QD by forcing it together. Since I relieve the pressure in the powerpack during the connection, I've had no issues with hydraulic back-pressure preventing the connection of the QDs.

 

[Astro14]

For lifting my truck, I made these blocks. They’re 3 layers of 2x8, glued & screwed together, then jointed flat.

They just fit in the pockets of the Quickjack, so they won’t slide around. once they contact the frame, the vehicle won’t slide on them and in fact, you can see divots in the top surface from frame rivets.

I know Quickjack sells SUV lifts, but a 2X8 from Lowes yielded stable, sturdy blocks. They’re 7” (roughly) tall after jointing them flat. I built a similar set of blocks from a 2x6, which give a 5” rise.

 

[ps2cho]

is there any oil drains that are low profile enough to use under the quickjack? To avoid splashing from the oil falling far at the top height setting…

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

is there any oil drains that are low profile enough to use under the quickjack? To avoid splashing from the oil falling far at the top height setting…

ValvoMax Oil Drain System

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www.valvomax.com

 

[ps2cho]

Can’t ever get on board with those valves. One failure whether it’s impact from road debris or something else and your engine is done.