Since my last tool recommendation thread yielded some great options, I figured I'd try again. I need to find a good compact, lightweight floor jack to keep in the back of my squad car.

I currently have an old scissor jack out of a junked car for changing tires and whatnot. It's small, but it's flimsy, and has limited reach. Last night some drunk guy ran himself over with his suv and got trapped under the wheel. My crappy jack didn't have enough reach to get it off of him, so we had to wait for fire to get there and employ a complicated solution that took a lot longer and was less safe than a simple floor jack would have been (not knocking the fire guys...they did good with what they had to work with. They're also volunteer, so they all had to come from home). It's not the first time I've been in this type of situation at work...not to mention it'll make the routine tire change a lot easier, too...so I figure it's time to do something about it.

I need something that is:

1. Compact. Has to fit in the back of a Dodge Durango along with all the other assorted crap I carry around, but still be big enough to lift your basic car or SUV high enough to change a tire or get your average-sized drunk guy out from underneath of it. Removable handle is a must.

2. Lightweight. I can't have a 60lb floor jack rolling around back there. It'll break things, piss off the EVO guys, and blow a disk out in my back taking it in and out of the car.

3. Not Leak. Once upon a time I had a compact Craftsman floor jack that liked to leak oil everywhere. I can't have this happening in my car.

4. Inexpensive. I'd like to keep it around $100. I could probably swing a little more, but I can't afford to go crazy with it. This doesn't have to be professional grade...it's not going to see a lot of duty cycles. But it has to work when I need it to.

I saw this https://www.harborfreight.com/...loor-Jack-64545.html and it seems to fit the bill, but it may not have quite the reach I'm looking for, and it's still a little heavy. It's also HF, so I'm afraid it will leak. I need to swing through the local store and take a look at one in person I think.

I'm sure there are better options out there. Hoping the SF brain trust can point me in the right direction!

The problem with removing a person from a weight that is crushing them, is that you might actually do more harm than good...at least waiting on fire to show up, you also have more medics that can handle the hypovolemia injury from when you remove the car.

When I was a cop, I changed a few tires, I always used the cars jack. With my vehicles I used my floorjack, at my house, or if my son or wife called me to help with a tire, I used my floorjack.

But no way am I going to jack a car up to remove a person from a car unless it’s on fire, I’m no longer an EMT, so I would wait for them.

That’s my two cents.

But there are aluminum made floorjacks that are out there.

You may be better served with a bottle jack.

The combination of features you've spec'ed out don't go with $100.
Look up the project triangle, Good, Fast Cheap and you'll get the idea.

Light=mostly aluminum construction.
Doesn't leak=not Chinese or other third world origin.
Capacity specified=larger or heavier construction.
$100 or under=none of the above.

Here on the ranch we use a floor jack (cast, heavy), jack stands, and blocks. If you run out of reach, no problem - just set two jack stands, lower the floor jack, add a block or blocks, and head up again. Note, this is normally on a concrete slab, nobody puts any body parts underneath, and one can take the time to do it right.

As far as trying to help someone stuck under a vehicle, the floor jack is one of the more stable jacking systems, but screwing around with blocks while lifting a vehicle with someone underneath it sounds scary. If you were going to do such a thing, I’d look to add lightweight jack stands to your kit.

Let me ask you this: If you use an aluminum floor jack (that you purchased) while on the job to try to help someone trapped under a vehicle and the jack fails or slips, or something else goes wrong and it all turns to shit, will your chain of command have your back and accept the liability for whatever damages or will they run far away and leave you to fend for yourself?

ETA: If this is a really good idea, maybe you can sell it to you Department and get them to buy the equipment, train everyone in it’s use, and own the liability if anything goes wrong. Just a thought...

Pittsburgh Automotive 2 Ton Aluminum Racing Floor Jack with Rapid Pump®?

Weighs 37 lbs. They have 1-1/2 and 3-ton versions for a little less and a little more, respectively.

One could add a block of dense, heavy wood to set atop it to extend its "reach." Be careful of load stability, though!

When I was in the landscaping business we used to equip our trucks with "tractor jacks." Not fancy, or hydraulic, but very versatile and with a long lifting capacity, over three feet IIRC. Very strong and useful in a variety of situations, and much lighter than your standard steel floor jack.

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
When I was in the landscaping business we used to equip our trucks with "tractor jacks."

Those are also known as "farm jacks." The problem with those is you have to have a lift point right at the edge of what you're trying to lift. No such luck with a modern car or truck.

quote:

The problem with removing a person from a weight that is crushing them, is that you might actually do more harm than good...at least waiting on fire to show up, you also have more medics that can handle the hypovolemia injury from when you remove the car.

I'm with you there. We had medics on scene relatively quickly, but we still had to wait for fire. And once fire got there, they didn't have a jack, so they had to set up a bunch of equipment that took a really long time to deploy, whereas a jack and some cribbing for safety would have been a lot quicker, easier, and safer (I won't go into detail here as to what they finally did, but lets just say it was "field expedient").

As to the liability...I'm pretty positive my chain of command would have my back. I'm also well versed in working on vehicles and have jacked up thousands over the years...I'm not going to do something sketchy or risky (Yes, I'll admit to putting a wood block on the jack to gain lift in my garage, but there's no way in hell I'd do that with somebody under the car). If I'm not positive I have a solid surface to work with to safely get it lifted, we'll wait for a better solution.

All that said...the incident last night is what got my wheels turning, but 99% of the intended use will be changing tires.

^ as to liability...

I can guarantee that if something you do that leads to a death, on duty and outside of your Leo scope,they will most definitely not have your back.

I’d bet my retirement check on it.

Doesn’t matter how long you have known each other or how long you have worked there.

When the city attorney is looking for a way out o f shelling over a buncha cash to a family, you won’t have a single friend......

Now, back to shit I carried in my trunk that actually helped and worked and I used on a regular basis:

Bolt cutters- three foot long handles
Four or five pound hammer and a short length of solid stock- for smashing a lock off when the bolt cutters didn’t work
Construction paint- sprays upside down for wrecks

Other than that, the dept issued all the other tools I needed.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
Pittsburgh Automotive 2 Ton Aluminum Racing Floor Jack with Rapid Pump®?

Weighs 37 lbs. They have 1-1/2 and 3-ton versions for a little less and a little more, respectively.

One could add a block of dense, heavy wood to set atop it to extend its "reach." Be careful of load stability, though!

I have this jack in 1.5 T capacity. Works for me

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
You may be better served with a bottle jack.

I agree with this...

Smaller, lighter, with much higher ratings than a floor jack.

When I was in the towing business, we often used our equipment for that type of rescue because that was the right tool for the job from a safety standpoint.

I have the Harbor Freight aluminum jack, and it is light and works well. The problem with this type of jack is that you absolutely can not side load it. It will buckle under that type of stress, so you have to be careful that you're placing the jack in a fashion that prevents that from happening.

quote:

Originally posted by Patriot:

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
You may be better served with a bottle jack.

I agree with this...

Smaller, lighter, with much higher ratings than a floor jack.

This is a good idea. Cheaper, too. I floated the idea to my supervisor tonight, and he thought it was a good idea. He's going to pass it up the chain to see if the dept. will buy them for us.

Problem with bottle jacks is that they are sometimes too tall to go beneath a car, and not tall enough to lift a truck. In addition unibody cars often have jack points that are not suitable for bottle jacks.

They are cheap though.

quote:

Originally posted by a1abdj:
Problem with bottle jacks is that they are sometimes too tall to go beneath a car, and not tall enough to lift a truck. In addition unibody cars often have jack points that are not suitable for bottle jacks.

They are cheap though.

Pinch weld pucks
AWEIR Slotted Rubber Jack Universal Black Rubber Slotted Floor Jack Pad Frame Rail Adapter, Diameter 6.5cm / 2.56inch for Pin Welding Side Pads (2pcs) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082..._api_i_ZTYuEbV4P9CM4

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
^

Construction paint- sprays upside down for wrecks

Can you explain this one? Thanks

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
You may be better served with a bottle jack.

This and a couple of 1' pieces of 4"x4" wood.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
Pittsburgh Automotive 2 Ton Aluminum Racing Floor Jack with Rapid Pump®?

Weighs 37 lbs. They have 1-1/2 and 3-ton versions for a little less and a little more, respectively.

One could add a block of dense, heavy wood to set atop it to extend its "reach." Be careful of load stability, though!

We use one of these for the occasional service call. We don't do many but use it more than almost any non-professional application. It will fit your parameters. Play the game and catch a Harbor Freight sale and it will be in your price range.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
You may be better served with a bottle jack.

This and a couple of 1' pieces of 4"x4" wood.

Maybe after you've lifted it some with the floor jack. It's tough fitting a bottle jack under most of the vehicles on the road, especially if they have a flat tire.