Jacks....bumper, floor, scissor on Driver

Today I had mounted a new tire on the spare and realized what good is a spare if I don’t even know how to use the old style bumper jack.....

So question is should I keep the bumper jack and learn to use it or keep it for nostalgia in the car (it’s cool to see when you show people the car) and put a “mini” jack in the spare wheel tub? Even a scissor jack sure seem easier to use.

background on the car would be I bought it to drive and enjoy fairly regularly two to three times a week.Almost there, making good progress fixing things since I bought it. If I get a flat, I want it fixed safely, fast and right.

I would
Keep original jack, but should learn how to use it, for nostalgia.
Dont rely on it unless you must. Have a quicker jack handy.

I have a lightweight aluminum floor jack strapped to the original jack in Vixen's trunk. Although I know how to use both.

Mako21 said:

Today I had mounted a new tire on the spare and realized what good is a spare if I don’t even know how to use the old style bumper jack.....

So question is should I keep the bumper jack and learn to use it or keep it for nostalgia in the car (it’s cool to see when you show people the car) and put a “mini” jack in the spare wheel tub? Even a scissor jack sure seem easier to use.

background on the car would be I bought it to drive and enjoy fairly regularly two to three times a week.Almost there, making good progress fixing things since I bought it. If I get a flat, I want it fixed safely, fast and right.

Click to expand...

Where would you keep the spare if a mini jack is in the spare tire tub?

A bumper jack isn't rocket science. You could take it out and practice, but you didn't say what car/jack you have. Some later models have a large hook and or a tang that goes in a slot through the bumper. The jack in my 67 fish hardly has a hook at all. I wouldn't dare to use that thing.
I once helped a lady change a flat in a store parking lot using the jack in her Pontiac. I thought, "This is a pretty neat jack design". I got one from a parts yard and tied it onto my OEM jack with a bungie cord. After 14 years I've never needed to use it. 1978-88 A-G BODY SCISSOR JACK OEM GM T TYPE Car Jack Buick Chevrolet Pontiac | eBay
Do have one flat story. A few years ago we were washing the fish, before going to a cruise in, and broke a rubber valve stem. Parked right at the floor jack so other jack still not needed.
I replaced all of the rubber valve stems with metal valve stems. That is one of the improvements new vehicles have that is hardly noticed.

If you use original jack do yourself a favor and keep a chaulking block so the car doesn't move when using it. The old syle lets the tire hang so if you have real wide rear tires it's easier to get off and on. I have stock jack in Ragtop and nothing in Hardtop except AAA. lol

All good help ^^^.
The trickiest thing about the bumper jack was that after you switched the lever to "down", the jack still had to go up 1 more click before you began to jack it down.
If that makes sense?

Original bumper jacks actually deform the bumpers. My otherwise pristine 64 Valiant's bumpers were bent when I got it. I keep a well wrapped scissor jack in the trunk and leave the bumper jack home. Just extra weight.
Of course if you enter a car in a judged show you'll want the bumper jack just for show points.

Guy has one of them long body mopars. Car was full of gear for a trip and he jacked up car to change tire, and left rear 1/4 buckled right above the wheel. I was under this car and it looks solid.

a small floor jack and a piece of 3/4” plywood big enough to suit the jack would be my 1st choice.

NEVER put your hand on top of the jack! I use 2 chocks as a good safely margin. Also never crawl under the car with one.

There's a little flip lever on the side of the jack mechanism- one position marked "up", the other "down". Not much to learn. A small hydraulic isn't a bad idea, it's certainly much easier and less cumbersome than trying to figure out all the folding handles/extensions on a scissors jack on the side of the road in the middle of the night. Just get a decent one- I've seen some hydraulic jacks that are flimsier and less stable than the bumper jack. Agree on the wheel chocks, too- even a couple of 2x4 cutoffs help. Plus I carry an "X" type (four way) lug wrench- that 30* factory wrench was always a pain in the @$$.

I much prefer the Monte Carlo jack. Never wanted to mess up my Barracuda with the factory jack. There are factory holes on the bottom on the front and rear frame rails. I welded a short round piece of pipe to the jack to fit inside the factory holes in the frame rails. The Monte Carlo jack raises the car by the frame rails so that you don't have to raise the car so high in the air like when you use the factory jack. Because factory jack lifts from the bumper it has to lift the car pretty high to get the tires off the ground. This is unsafe!! I would of course have tire chocks for safety. I usually find them at swap meets for $25-$35. This jack lifts the car very easily and is much easier to use than a scissor jack and causes no damage like a factory jack. Also, it won't leak like a hydraulic jack. 1984 1985 1986 1987 regal cutlass monte carlo

Treblig said:

I much prefer the Monte Carlo jack. Never wanted to mess up my Barracuda with the factory jack. There are factory holes on the bottom on the front and rear frame rails. I welded a short round piece of pipe to the jack to fit inside the factory holes in the frame rails. The Monte Carlo jack raises the car by the frame rails so that you don't have to raise the car so high in the air like when you use the factory jack. The factory jack has to lift the car and get past all the suspension before the tires get off the ground. This is unsafe!! I would of course have tire chocks for safety. I usually find them at swap meets for $25-$35. This jack lifts the car very easily and is much easier to use than a scissor jack and causes no damage like a factory jack. Also, it won't leak like a hydraulic jack.
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I like that! Next time I go to the boneyard...

Wow... lots of good responses! Thanks guys. I’ll leave the bumper jack home and keep a lightweight scissor or aluminum floor jack for emergency use in the trunk with a wood block in a milk crate.

I definitely don’t want any bent bumpers and feel more secure with a newer style jack under the frame rail.

My car is a 76 Dart 4 door.

Edit: Im going to order this one. It's 7 pounds. Thanks for all the good feedback.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004PX8BC2/?tag=fabo03-20

Mako21 said:

Wow... lots of good responses! Thanks guys. I’ll leave the bumper jack home and keep a lightweight scissor or aluminum floor jack for emergency use in the trunk with a wood block in a milk crate.

I definitely don’t want any bent bumpers and feel more secure with a newer style jack under the frame rail.

My car is a 76 Dart 4 door.

Edit: Im going to order this one. It's 7 pounds. Thanks for all the good feedback.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004PX8BC2/?tag=fabo03-20

Click to expand...

Those work fine.........the only draw back is when you first start trying to raise the jack it tends to rotate the whole assembly. So you'll sit there trying to hold onto the whole thing while you crank on the handle and get it up high enough to make contact with the car. Once it makes contact with the car it won't give you much trouble. But since you won't use it very often it will work.

You won't bend a 76 Dart bumper with the factory bumper jack. It has a big ol honkin steel plate behind it! If the car has no rust issues, I'd just use the bumper jack. Get it out and practice with it! Buy you a rubber wheel chock and a 4 way lug wrench at Northern Tool. Here's how you do it. Say, if you're changing the left rear tire....place your chock in front of the right front tire. Always place the chock on the opposite corner tire than the one you're changing. Get the spare, jack, and lug wrench out of the trunk so it is ready. Pop your hubcap off the flat tire, and take your 4 way lug wrench, and select the socket that fits the lug. Break each lug nut on that wheel loose BEFORE you jack the car up. Just break the torque....don't loosen em way up. Jack the car up until the tire clears the ground enough to get the spare that is inflated back on. Take the 4 way, and get the lug nuts off. Pull the flat off, put the spare on, and put the lug nuts back on till they are snug. Flip the lever on the jack, and set the car back down. Be careful with the jack handle on the way down. You need to hold pressure against the handle as it's coming up, and not just let it jump each time you feel it release/click. In other words...don't let it free wheel. When the tire you just changed has good pressure against the ground, take your 4 way and tighten the lug nuts good. Put the flat in the trunk, and store the jack back where it goes. Leave the hubcap off, and put it in the trunk where it will rattle and piss you off! That way, you will get the flat fixed ASAP, and put it back on! Go pick up your wheel chock and throw it in the trunk and go on down the road! Not everyone lived thru the bumper jack era like us old guys....so I hope this makes sense and helps!