Affordable Airjacks?

[longislandwrx]

25940

Does anyone know of an affordable kit?

JLS kits are about $2500

AP racing about $2000

Any more affordable options?

[David Hodgkins]

Those are actually cheaper than the ones I priced 5 or 6 years ago. The best I could find was $3500 - $4000 so although I really wanted them at the time I built my roadster without them.

I hope you have better luck. I think that's the coolest mod you can do.

:)

[RM1SepEx]

you do realize that all you need are air cylinders capable of holding the correct weight and some plastic air lines and fittings...

McMaster Carr would be my first stop to investigate building your own. Check out Bimba.com Three 2.5 inch at 250 lbs pressure should do it...

is $2000 that much compared to your time to develop your own?

[Rasmus]

Affordable airjacks? I'd be more worried about the salary of the pit crew you'd need to go with them. poke.poke.poke.

Airjacks are cool.

[FFRSpec72]

I have noticed some of the folks in our league using http://ksportusa.com/products/air-jack/ these in the Subaru, they seem to work well and light weight.

[CHOTIS BILL]

A while back someone suggested using four electric trailer tongue jack.

Bill Lomenick

[Canadian818]

Won't you need to bring a nitrogen bottle with you to the track? Pretty sure a small one could be used though.

[Jeff Kleiner]

I can pump a jack handle a whole bunch of times for $2-4,000! ;)

Jeff

[longislandwrx]

I have some old nitrous bottles. I think they are 20lbs I have to do some more reading but that should be good for quite a few lifts.

I'm trying to find a second hand set, I saw someone recently sold a complete setup with a lance, 3 jacks, the hose kit, valve and regulator for $1000

Just pie in the sky for now, but if the right deal comes along you never know.

[Mechie3]

I can pump a jack handle a whole bunch of times for $2-4,000! ;)

Jeff

Yeah, but then you when you get gas at the corner station you can't pull up, get out, jack the car up, and pump gas. :D


That would be really funny to see though.

[tirod]

I've seen kits available on line for $800 - just the cylinders, no onboard air.

They come with load sleeves to prevent the car coming down if you are working under it - mandatory safety item. Same for hydraulic, there is no way to guarantee a leak won't bring the car down.

Onboard air easily doubles the cost, although some four wheel drive guys have converted A/C compressors. They aren't great for volume, tho.

As Bill mentioned, electric trailer tongue jacks have been proposed, they run $99 up, it would take four, 12VDC wiring and a good location on the frame is necessary. They would not be fast, but they won't fall down, either. They use Acme screw threads and the technology there is hundreds of years old.

It's really about a certain need on the road. Me, I have a 45 pound lift restriction with no twisting or bending (despite my job,) it's not getting better. At least I wouldn't have to wrestle a jack out of a high liftover trunk and crawl around in horrible weather trying to get a tire changed. Still leaves the spare as a challenge.

Put in that perspective, it's viable if you are an old physically handicapped geezer. Or, maybe I'm just trying to protect a cool idea so I could do it first (electric.) It's been discussed, few do it, the "cool" payback is about all there is for the average builder.

I'd rate it about as helpful as pin drive, honestly.

[RM1SepEx]

I carry an air pump, plug kit and spare tire in a can. I have a AAA+ membership and a cell phone...

[FFRSpec72]

I've seen kits available on line for $800 - just the cylinders, no onboard air.

All the ones that I have seen around here use external nitrogen tanks (high PSI), so plug in hose car rises, remove hose and release valve car lowers

[Dougget]

So I'm just dreaming here... but I do like the idea of using some type of electric jack. They make linear actuators that work like the air jacks. You could use 12vdc actuators if you wanted to use the car battery for power. They also make 24vdc and 110vac if you wanted to use an external battery or extension cord. Mount the actuators on the car and wire them to a plug located somewhere convenient. Pull out an extension cord, or roll out a pair of 12v batteries wired together.
Jack it up, change tires, change oil, etc. Sounds pretty cool, but without the need for onboard air/jacks in a pit stop situation, it's really only about the cool factor.

But anyway... back to my dream...

Here's one at Surplus Center that has a max load of 665 pounds. Runs on 24 volts. Four of these for $45 each... mounted somehow near the corners plus a $100 24 volt tractor battery... the sky's the limit. Well, maybe not the sky, but a foot off the ground, not bad.
http://www.surpluscenter.com/Brands/VistaMounts/24-VDC-18-STROKE-LINEAR-ACTUATOR-5-1785.axd

Doug

[Scargo]

Found these K-sports which would be $929 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/KSPORT-PNEUMATIC-AIR-JACK-AIRJACK-RACING-UNIVERSAL/260900581585?_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222008%26algo%3DSIC.MOTORS%26ao%3D 1%26asc%3D19852%26meid%3D4670805819570233770%26pid %3D100011%26prg%3D8938%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D10%26sd%3D 291052836261) for three, shipped. I was thinking I'd like some for my car. This seems very affordable and adds only 15 pounds to the car.

[Mechie3]

This would be great for autocrosses too. Rain coming? Not sure what tires you want? Only have 1 jack? We ran into this issue with the Fmod. We could only do he front or rear reliably at a time. Made it take longer to do tire changes. We did have centerlock wheels on the front though which saved a lot of time.

[longislandwrx]

AAA+ membership and a cell phone...

"This is Triple A, where are you located"

"Turn 3"

[RM1SepEx]

"This is Triple A, where are you located"

"Turn 3"

street vs track car... :-)

[flynntuna]

The cool factor is off the charts!!! In the paddock area other options cold be...

[Santiago]

If I was planning on doing enduros I'd seriously consider air jacks. I'm not sure I'd be confident in only three though, but at any rate when you tally up the cost of a 4-post set up (lines and all), it no longer sounds so "cool" even though it really is cool as hell (if you've ever seen it used in person, it's pretty darn neat!).

Since I'm not doing enduros though that QuickJack looks promising...

[Scargo]

Pretty sure I'll do them and do three. I can think of times where my son and I were both driving HPDE in my STi and we sure could have used the air jacks. Running out of brake pads or tires when you have a tight or back-to-back sessions is not fun. Plus, I'm not that young. Sometimes I borrow my buddies jack and get the whole car up at once. I swear, it seemed like we did his pads in less than ten minutes one time.
Speaking of which: it is a test of the true mettle of a car to do an enduro or a two driver HPDE and make it through a one or two day event.

[CHOTIS BILL]

Mechie3

I always hated it when I had to make a last minute decision on what tires to put on the car. To save time I would put on two rain tires and two slicks so I only had to change two at the last minute.

Bill Lomenick

[Turboguy]

"This is Triple A, where are you located"

"Turn 3"

Hilarious!!!

[Santiago]

I always hated it when I had to make a last minute decision on what tires to put on the car. To save time I would put on two rain tires and two slicks so I only had to change two at the last minute.

Bill Lomenick

That makes so much sense in its simplicity I feel really dumb now for not thinking of it before. Wow, very cool idea.

Thank you for the tip.