A couple of weeks ago during their sale I bought a QuickJack TL5000. At the time, there were a few posts on here about how dangerous they are and how I would surely die if I used one. Today, I used mine for the first time and I thought that I would share my experience living on the edge of certain death. First of all, I have to admit that the thing did hurt me and that delayed the first test lift. It was no fault of the QuickJack, just a stupid move on my part. When I unpacked everything and went to put it in my garage, I managed to drop one of the side rails on my foot. DO NOT DO THAT! After a week, the swelling has gone down and I am sure that it will turn a lighter color again someday. Now that I have recovered from that, I followed the instructions on how to assemble everything and bleed the system. That seems to be an important point in that the problems that others have reported appear to be directly related to operator error and not following the instructions. I decided to test it on my TR4A because that car has the narrowest spacing between the lifting points. My concern was that the car would be unstable when lifted to the top lock. It was not. As I was lifting the car, I stopped about five times and tested it to see if it would move or feel shaky. At every level, it was solid as a rock. At the high lock point, I was amazed at how high it was and how much room there is underneath. You can easily roll around on a creeper with plenty of room to work. After the TR4A, I tried my 65 Coupe and I was just as impressed. The car is rock steady when lifted and you have great access to the whole underside. This thing is a great tool and just what I was looking for in a garage with a standard ceiling height. I had just agreed to buy a very nice four post lift from the estate of a friend who recently passed away. After using the QuickJack, I decided that it is a better tool for what I need so I passed that lift along to someone else. I understand all of the advantages of a good four post lift and I am not saying that they are not a great addition to a shop. I am just offering my experience to anyone who is concerned about the reports of how dangerous the QuickJack is. I suspect that the folks who are saying that do not own one.

Doc

 

You got under a car lifted on a Quik Jack?

What's next, going over the falls in a barrel?

 

Sorry to hear about the foot. Glad you like it. Just make sure that you are in one of the locked positions and not in between when messing with car raised.

 

Last year I bought the Quickjack 7000 on sale from Home Depot for around $1,200. I connected everything, bled the lines. and all seemed okay. Then I went to lift my precious '66 big block and it began to tilt on one side. It continued to get worse. When I attempted to lower it down, the frame hadn't made enough contact with the rubber blocks and the car now spun at an angle on the cross member (which is lower than the frame). So now I had a cockeyed car that was tilted, making it dangerous for me to get near the low side.

I carefully spun the car straight, propped up all four corners with jacks and jack stands, and kept the low side propped while lowering the high side. After an hour of intense stress, I finally got it down on the garage floor. That's when I noticed that the hydraulic hose on the low side had been kinked, caught under the leg of the lift. I hadn't run the hoses the proper way. But I noticed that it was a narrow opening to run those hoses.

That was a close call, and I swore that I would never take any chances with a Quick jack again, operator error or not. I'll trust a 2-ton hydraulic jack and jack stands (together) any day over that convenient but scary lift mechanism. I sold it fast for $900 after replacing the damaged hydraulic line (which is shorter than what the jack came with) and warned the buyer!

 

Ken,
Thank you for being open and honest about your experience with your Quick Jack...being candid about "operator error". For many, many of us who can't fit a two-post or four-post lift in our garages, these Quick Jacks are the only way we can quickly and safely get these cars off the ground so that we can perform maintenance. I totally understand the apprehension of those inquiring about the safety of this product, but as an unpaid spokesman for this product, I appreciate your candor.

 

Leif, you were the one who fully explained how it would fit and showed pictures of placement of the rubber blocks. And I believe it was recommended to cut wooden blocks to place at each end, in those recesses. You helped me out, as well as many others on the CF who had questions about the Quick Jack. And I greatly appreciate you for doing that.

It would be dishonest and unfair for me to make it appear that it malfunctioned, when I could see the hose that was pinched. But I've had more close calls in life. And something told me to avoid this. One reason is that I was almost crushed to death under my first Corvette (a '64) in 1975 at age 21, while pulling the tranny. I was pulled out just in time. And that cause was "operator error" too. LOL

 

I like mine and it’s a revelation since I can’t do a lift in my garage
I do my own maintenance but am safety conscious. Jack stands as a back up is strongly recommended
Marshal

 

Nice write-up, Doc. My Quick Jack 3500 has added to the years I'll be able to work on my 67. Pulling the lifting rails out from beneath my Sting Ray and hitting the Up button is a whole lot easier and safer than working with jack stands.

 

Lief, PM sent.

 

Ive had zero issues with mine.

 

I like mine once I installed casters on it now it rolls and makes it much easier to use

 

FatEddy, can you post pictures of the casters? Are you saying you can roll your car around on the casters or just roll the jack itself with no car on it?

 

You can go yo you tube and there is a video and no you can’t roll your car around there there just to make rolling the jack on the floor for alignment makes it a lot easier to use

 

I had also been thinking about buying a QJ. One of my concerns is that my garage floor in graded to the drain so it is not flat...
Is that a problem or does the QJ have provisions for leveling?

 

No not a problem at all

 

I would like to add to this thread that I went back and read each negative experience twice with the quick jack system and I have concluded the problem lies in the users attention to detail on set up.
I take my time when I set mine up. I check the route of the hydraulic lines to make sure I don't burst or crush one during operation up/down. I inspect the placement of the lifting blocks thoroughly.
Do they sit properly on the frames side rails without interference. The very same thing a shop should be doing with a lift. I raise it slowly and scan for anything that may interfere with the lifting process.
I make sure it passes the stop and lower it back down till it locks. I will place jack stands if I am going to be under it for an extended time. I would not want to at 60yrs old pull a trans out using the quick jack.
I did it in my teens on car ramps.
It is exactly what it is designed for preventative maintenance.

If you do not take the extra time during the initial set up then things are likely to creep up. Read the owners manual it is very good.
Make sure you vent the compressor at the fill cap prior to engaging the lifting procedure. It is necessary. Check the fluid and make darn sure you use the right ATF in the compressor. Is it full?
With that said and done, I think you should have a very safe and positive experience with your lift system.
Remember, your butt is the one that's under there! Nobody wants to end up like the bad witch from the Wizard of OZ.
Marshal

 

I bought a Quickjack 7000 XL to use on my C4, my Durango, and my Silverado. I wanted the XL7000 for the added weight of the Durango.

I didn't care for the QJ's weight of having to position under each car. The silerado was easiest with the open frame.

The C4 was a challenge trying to get the blocks NOT to crack the boyd around the cutouts.

The weight of the Durango seemed to be a struggle for the QJ. And it also Had limited places to place the blocks on the so called frame.

After 6 months I sold mine.

I'm going with a midrise lift when my garage is done in 2 months.

I too had one lift that started to tilt the QJ. I stopped and repositioned but to me......I was not impressed with the QJ. It has it's place but not in my life.

I also used jackstands, as that little tiny catch on that metal flipper lock, not very reassuring....and the lift height was not comfortable unless I was on
a roller seat.

To each his own............

 

My QJ story (so far):

Bought it on sale but it sat in the boxes for some time while I built my garage. Eventually assembled it and used it twice, both times very pleased with they way it worked.

Then this weekend tried to use it on my C3 and only one side would go up. I swapped hydraulic lines and then the other side wouldn't go up. Swapped lines at the pump and found the lower port was not putting out enough pressure. I even swapped the fittings but no improvement.

Contacted QJ through their website. They emailed me back saying the power unit (pump) was probably bad and I'd have to replace it. It is no longer under warranty. I emailed back inquiring the replacement cost or if I could send it to them for repair. A rep actually called me and told me I should try removing the flow control valve and check for debris, bad o-rings or anything else abnormal. They even sent an email with instructions and photos of how to do this.

So, I am disappointed with the failure but pleased that they are trying to help me out with it. I will pull the flow valve tomorrow and see what I find.

As far as instability off the QJ with a car on it, I check the jack and lift blocks several times when lifting the car. I have not had a problem and it seems very stable. I will probably throw a couple jack stands under the car just for extra safety in the future (if I can get the thing working again!).

I do plan of buying a four post lift as well. I'll keep the QJ for small jobs that require removal of wheels.

I

 

I concluded the same. Perhaps for some the QuickJack is not as foolproof as some other units, who knows? What I read is that people didn't read or follow the instructions, didn't purge the hydraulic lines properly (or at all), did not properly charge the air accumulators (or at all), or did not ensure that the locks were correctly set before lowering the QuickJack to the desired raised point. Since safety checks should be mandatory for each cycling of the system, I'm not sure how one could wind up in an unsafe situation with one if they follow all the procedures and maintain a scrupulous eye on all things safety. Before I get under a car I do a 100% hand over hand safety check and try as hard as I can to knock the car off of its stands, whether jack stands, quick jack, or ramps.

One should never ever forget that gravity is unrelenting and suspended objects are always trying to find a way to get to zero potential energy, even if it's through your body.

Since I'm the guy that's going to be under it, I'm following the instructions as well as proper safety practices 100%.

 

When I was putting mine together it said to run it up and down several times to make sure that both sides go up and down together. A year later I have had zero issues with it. I get in my car when I haven't driven it for a while and start it up and run it some even in gear. If you look at the construction of it there is no way for it to fall or fail. I guess you could have a total steel failure somewhere but not realistically. I used to use jack stands but then as time went by, I realized that when the jack is lowered onto the stops, there is no way for it to fail at that point. Once it is lowered to a stop point, it is no longer a hydraulic unit but steel on steel which is what a jack stand is. Everything mechanical can fail at some point but not in the structure itself unless steel just suddenly breaks.