Ranger QuickJack, Change of plans Options

[A&P Mech]

I am looking at adding a set of Ranger QuickJacks to my garage. I am looking at the Bl-3500. It appears that they cost around 1k.

http://www.bendpak.com/Shop-Equipment/QuickJack/BL-3500.aspx

It looks like they would be easy to store when not in use. Thoughts?

[mikesmith]

I bought one very early on, and had/have a number of issues with it. Their customer support wasn't very ... supportive so I've mostly just had to deal.

1) It arrived pretty beat-up, with one of the safety supports bent such that it didn't properly engage. After pulling it apart and hitting the pivot bolt a bunch with a hammer it works OK now.

2) The fluid reservoir was punctured (I discovered this after I had emptied half a quart of ATF onto my garage floor...). Bendpak never responded to my request for a replacement, so I fixed it with FG and epoxy.

3) The hydraulic unions seep, so wherever I put the compressor there's always a wet spot on the floor under it.

4) There is very little travel between the point where the safety supports can be engaged and the final limit of travel, so your floor needs to be *very* flat if you want to get the car all the way up and onto the safeties (otherwise you'll get one side up and then it'll stop, so the whole setup starts to twist as you try to get the other side up). I don't normally go all the way up; I put jackstands inside the frame as safeties (front and back).


Overall I'm happy enough with the device; it's compact enough that you can store the jacks in the middle of your parking space and park over them, then pull them out to the sides when you need a lift. The build quality isn't fantastic, but compared to the other compact lifting options I think it's a more solid design.