Wapsi Square Forum

Alkarii wrote: ↑Mon Nov 19, 2018 10:11 pm My dad and I both got a jury duty summons the other day, probably for the same date.

Weird family. Most people don't meet dates at Jury duty.

Bookworm wrote: ↑Tue Nov 20, 2018 12:36 pm

Alkarii wrote: ↑Mon Nov 19, 2018 10:11 pm My dad and I both got a jury duty summons the other day, probably for the same date.

Thanks
Weird family. Most people don't meet dates at Jury duty.

My dad had a months-long affair with a fellow juror he met when be served as Chairman of the SC Federal Grand Jury for a year.

{Wasn't the total cause of the divorce - but definitely a contributing factor.}

So, anybody have any luck with a particular brand of hydraulic bottle-jack for use in raising up a car, or bad luck with one? I'm having to buy a new one. The only two brands offered in local stores have very mixed reviews.

Catawampus wrote: ↑Sun Nov 25, 2018 6:47 pm So, anybody have any luck with a particular brand of hydraulic bottle-jack for use in raising up a car, or bad luck with one? I'm having to buy a new one. The only two brands offered in local stores have very mixed reviews.

In Canada, the Canadian Tire stores sell their own brand, Motomaster. I used to have one, and it has always served me well.

I'm just throwing this out there, since I forget whereabouts you live, so I have no idea whether you are close to Canada or not...

Funny you should ask, I'm shopping Harbor Freight for a Floor Jack (personally don't favor Bottle Jacks), for about $67 for something that will raise 3 Ton, 18 inches:

https://m.harborfreight.com/3-ton-steel ... 62584.html

(There are a couple of choices at that price, I can't see the difference...)

I have a bottle jack. I've never had any success using it to raise a car. I'm suspecting that they lie about it to drive sales, because you'd have to put it on top of a stack of lumber to reach the shortest car I can think of.

I just picked up a 1.5 ton Harbor Freight speed jack, and it works fine. The main problem is that it slid the first time I used it, due to the jack REALLY moving center while pumping.

if you were local, I'd happily hand off the bottle jack to someone that could use it. It's useless to me.

TazManiac wrote: ↑Sun Nov 25, 2018 7:53 pm Funny you should ask, I'm shopping Harbor Freight for a Floor Jack (personally don't favor Bottle Jacks), for about $67 for something that will raise 3 Ton, 18 inches:

https://m.harborfreight.com/3-ton-steel ... 62584.html

(There are a couple of choices at that price, I can't see the difference...)

The main differences are aluminum vs steel, and rubber plate vs metal dish.

At least when a roller floor jack goes, the flying bits are contained (mostly) in the frame. Burst bottle jacks go everywhere, I'm sad to have observed.

Atomic wrote: ↑Mon Nov 26, 2018 2:02 am At least when a roller floor jack goes, the flying bits are contained (mostly) in the frame. Burst bottle jacks go everywhere, I'm sad to have observed.

I've never observed anything other than seals failing. What in the WORLD was being done to cause the jack to burst? Trying to use a 2 ton jack to lift 6 tons?

I've known bottle jacks that failed because they didn't hold pressure, but none that exploded. Limited experience, I guess.

Observationally, all the younger guys who work on cars in the streets around here use the little floor jacks. I used to raise the vehicle with whatever I could find that would work,and then put it on jackstands. Because Newton was English, y'know.

The bottle jack case had a crack, apparently, and a heavy lift gave way, so the vertical cylinder shape threw bits 360 degrees sideways. Great on the ankles!

Lift jacks are basically bottle jacks in a metal box with leverage, so the box would contain the bits attempting to flee the scene.

I've been happy with the scissors-type hydraulic jack i bought at WalMart something like twenty years ago.

Enen though i DID almost manave to lose the third joint of the pinky on my non-dominant hand when I was working too fast getting a flat changed in the torrential rain that signalled the end of Georgia's years-long drought.

(Lake Lanier went from eleven feet low to slightly above official full pool in less than a month, as i recall...)

Catawampus, mate - the best place to shop for a quality bottle jack for lifting cars is in the SUV section of your local scrapyard.

Personally, I have screw jacks in my antiques (looks like a bottle jack but works off a bevel drive and a screw). SUVs have the most annoying lifting requirements, and the jacks show it. Not terribly expensive, and rarely used (so not worn). Personally I don't trust any of the small hydraulic jacks for sale at all - seen too much dodgy engineering in them. Useful for pressing soap, mayhaps, but lifting anything big? No. Hellno.

Al

Just Old Al wrote: ↑Mon Nov 26, 2018 8:12 pm Catawampus, mate - the best place to shop for a quality bottle jack for lifting cars is in the SUV section of your local scrapyard.

Personally, I have screw jacks in my antiques (looks like a bottle jack but works off a bevel drive and a screw). SUVs have the most annoying lifting requirements, and the jacks show it. Not terribly expensive, and rarely used (so not worn). Personally I don't trust any of the small hydraulic jacks for sale at all - seen too much dodgy engineering in them. Useful for pressing soap, mayhaps, but lifting anything big? No. Hellno.

Al

Honestly, there's no dodgy engineering in them. They're one of the simplest 'complex machines' you can build. Cheap components? Absolutely. I tend to buy the cheap ones, and replace every 5 years or so. Maybe a bit more. Mostly because a seal rebuild kit would cost more than the jack.

That said, I've never had one catastrophically fail, other than a wheel coming loose.

Jack up one side enough to get a stand under it. Move to the other side, jack slightly higher. install stand. Move back to first side. Repeat until both sides are the height you want. The _failures_ are in the jack stands, and it's not because they're from Harbor Freight. It's because idiots decide that cranking one side all the way up, then the other, is a great idea - not bothering to realise that now at least one of the jack stands is leaning sideways. (Or they decide to use a hydraulic jack as a long term solution for holding up one side, other than just an emergency five minute tire change)

Have you ever heard of the Actually Squad?

lake_wrangler wrote: ↑Tue Nov 27, 2018 12:18 am Have you ever heard of the Actually Squad?

"Counting Coup" on the Intertubes.

lake_wrangler wrote: ↑Tue Nov 27, 2018 12:18 am Have you ever heard of the Actually Squad?

One of my chat room nicknames is 'Pedant'. Does that help?

Hmm. I don't appreciate someone stealing my routine. I'll have to complain to that artist.

Actually, unless you copyrighted it, I'm pretty sure it's public domain...

lake_wrangler wrote: ↑Tue Nov 27, 2018 12:39 pm Actually, unless you copyrighted it, I'm pretty sure it's public domain...

Under current law, copyright automatically exists as soon as the work is completed.

AnotherFairportfan wrote: ↑Tue Nov 27, 2018 6:03 pm Under current law, copyright automatically exists as soon as the work is completed.

True, but that applies only to creative works of sufficient uniqueness.

Pedanticism on the Internet is scarcely unique. Nor are Internet flame-wars of various sorts. "Flamer's syndrome" has been around almost as long as TCP/IP, and probably dates back to the pre-Internet dialup-BBS era of yore.

So, somebody trying to sell videos of Bookworm performing his pedantic routine would be a copyright violation, but other people being pedants would not be.

(And, of course, I've arguably gone all meta on you by responding in this particular fashion )