Have any of you guys tried this DIY auto floor jack accessory of this type ?

https://www.amazon.com/OEMTOOL...a-353229956109&psc=1

I see this as a nice tool for rotating wheels, flushing/bleeding brake systems, bearing and brake jobs, etc. Obviously not a professional tool but for home auto aficionados and duffers.

Notwithstanding possible stability issues resulting from improper setup, or improper use like getting under the vehicle, what do you think about it, other things being equal ?

Unless I’m missing something a second floor jack would accomplish the same thing and have more flexibility. Plus a Harbor Freight jack would cost quite a bit less.

Interesting ...

I see that Harbor Freight as a crossbeam like this for $55.

I wished I had one of these when bolting on the hitch receiver to my wife's Subaru Forester. Was a pain in the arse trying to balance the hitch receiver on just the floor jack.

It wouldn't fit under my 330ci's rocker panel. My old Sears 2 1/2 ton jack barely fits with the saddle off.

I have the Harbor Freight one, but have yet to use it. The plan was to use it on track days to swap wheels and brake pads by jacking up one side of the car at a time.

I would much rather use a second floor jack. Not only from a safety standpoint but most newer vehicles have very specific jack points that I don't see this setup playing nice with. On top of adding height to the floor jack that is an issue all by itself on many vehicles. It just seems like a bad idea all the way around.

The point of the thing is to hit both jack points on one side of the car at the same time. The car is still being supported by the front and rear wheels on the other side, so the jack makes it in effect a three legged stool. It'll still be stable. Besides, you put jack stands under the beam on each end right under the jack points. You can't do that with a jack by itself on the jack point.

If I needed to get the entire front end up, I’d jack one side and put in a jackstand and go to the other side and do the same.

Seems like if you were trying to jack the car up with that beam under it, the car might topple to one side or the other

By side, I mean passenger's or driver's side, not front or back. I wouldn't use this to lift the front or back.

Again, the issue with using a jack and jack stand is many cars only have four jack points. When you use a jack on the proper jack point, there's no place to put a jack stand because the jack is in the way. These points are really made for real lifts. For one of my cars, I even bought a kit to give me more places to either jack the car up or place jack stands.

I'm trying to picture where I could put it and still be able to jack the car up. If we're talking about both sides of the frame, that wouldn't really work anywhere but behind/in front of the frame arches. At which point the heck would be so far under the car I wouldn't be able to pump it.

quote:

By side, I mean passenger's or driver's side, not front or back.

I'm pretty sure when they say 'cross' they meant the other way across the car. Like a real lift would be. And not a chance I'd use it laterally myself given the way it attached to the underlying jack.

I just looked up some videos and you are right. Some cars have have a crossbeam between the left and right suspension that this type of thing would work great with. Not the jackpoints along the edge of the car as this type of thing is too short to reach both sides.

Dad made a bar like that in the 1950s to lift the Jeep front axle with the 5 ton Walker

The service station where I worked had a large crossbeam jack, which we used on solid rear axles and solid front crossmembers. In 1977-1979 these were common. Jackstands were necessary before we worked on the cars. The jack was convenient, but my goodness it was twice the weight of the standard type and took up the space of two or three.

quote:

Originally posted by bob ramberg:
It wouldn't fit under my 330ci's rocker panel. My old Sears 2 1/2 ton jack barely fits with the saddle off.

I have 4 pieces of 2x12 about 18” long. I put 1 in front of each tire on the S2000 and drive the tires onto the boards. This gives me enough clearance to get my normal jack under the car.

I used the large jacks back in the day and the footprint was equally wide. They were pnuematic and hooked to bumpers or lifted from the frame rails, not unibody.

The link to owner reviews points out an unequal load will break the center bolt. Another posted that the collapsed height won't work with modern FWD cars. I can see getting it under my F150, but NOT on a grade that tips 8 feet in 50. No jack will get under the nose of her Verano, I use ramps to change the oil.

You still need a concrete pad to work on, I have a 5 ton which will pick up a Forester but jack stands are still required. Because of the length of the beam to reach frame or subframe members I'll pass.

A few issues I see.

If you use this at the side of the vehicle, not across the front or rear, there is no easy way to determine the center of gravity. That could easily make it unsafe, especially with the el-cheapo narrow Chicom jack most people in need of this device would be using.

Next, I don't see it fitting under sedans and sports cars, only pickup's and SUV's and the 3000lb. capacity is marginal for many of those.

Then there's the issue of where to put the jack-stands once you get it off the ground. This device would most likely be using those points and would encourage the non-use of a jack-stand.

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Originally posted by 220-9er:

Then there's the issue of where to put the jack-stands once you get it off the ground. This device would most likely be using those points and would encourage the non-use of a jack-stand.

Funny, the jack stands are the reason I was looking into an option like this cross bar.

On my GD250, when I jack it up, the jack sits right where I need to put the jack stand. But using a bar like this, I can place the jack stand right next to the pad and there is nothing under it...like there would be if I used a jack.

So i use the bar and a single jack...raise the trucks front end and place jack stands just outside each pad on the bar...lower jack...done.

I even thought about removing the pads and notching the end bars to fit my jack stands. So I could lift using the jack stands as contact points...let them ratchet up...insert jack stand pins...lower jack.

All floor jacks do not use the same size hole for the plate; you would need to be sure before you buy.

I have the Harbor Freight one. I used it to lift the front of the X-Type because it didn’t have a center jack point. Worked ok. Spread out enough to get the lower A arm knuckle, got high enough and slipped jack stands in. Was plenty steady.

Also used it to hold a gas tank in place on the 57 Chevy. Not that it was heavy, the tank was just cumbersome as a solo job and the cross beam held it in place until I could get the mounting straps down tight.

Sold the X-Type, so the cross beam part sits under the toolbox, waiting for some job in the future.