Making a very long electric jack

[Flapdisk]

Hi guys, I have a car roller and in the link you can see a very long electric jack is available for doing the lift, trouble is it's £400 with vat, do you think a version of it could be built for less? I presume it's a screw jack, but where would you get a strong enough threaded rod that long? and does the box section have to meet some kind of certificated standards?

http://www.cjautos.eu/CAR_LIFTING_DEVICE_FOR_BASIC_ROLLER_p/ct01a.htm

It's not really jacking the car as the weight is on the roller, although I suppose the initial part of the lift would be a fair weight.

 

[MrFluffy]

Dont know about legal guff, but you will find very strong (rolled en8) long threaded rod and bronze nuts in lathe leadscrews to suit whatever diameter thread you want, but you can buy it in leadscrew stock and machine to suit your need :-

http://www.automotioncomponents.co.uk/en/page/lead-screws-and-ball-screws

As for cheaper, depends on how good your skiprattery and sourcing and fabrication is. But you wouldnt want to use it where anything would get injured if it fails.

 

[BrokenBiker]

acme threaded bar and nut or ball screw and nut, same thing really.

i have an electric jack that has a 12v 80w motor and will easily lift a jacking point and bring the wheel right up to a comfortable height.

maybe a 240v motor would be better suited to your application and if buying new this will be the most expensive part

 

[Rig Pig]

For home use you can make what you like, for business use it would need to comply with LOLER and PUWER - probably much cheaper and simpler to buy one!

 

[BrokenBiker]

thinking about the forces involved id rather buy one too

 

[rtbcomp]

You could keep out of the way when lifting and lock the car in place with pins, bolts or whatever, before working on it.

 

[AndyStobbs]

farm jack plus blocks would be my method

 

[BrokenBiker]

You could keep out of the way when lifting and lock the car in place with pins, bolts or whatever, before working on it.

i wouldn't be worried about it falling on me, id use the methods you described, i would be more worried about the damage to the car/floor if it fell

 

[magnet]

Ive used something like this years ago to roll my ford orion over to do the sills and floor, it had no screwjack you just handballed it over and inserted some stays mind when i finished i lost me bottle getting it back on its wheels so i went to the farm up the road got two bales of straw and dropped it down onto them worked a treat............................Magnet

 

[wookie]

acme threaded bar and nut or ball screw and nut, same thing really.

i have an electric jack that has a 12v 80w motor and will easily lift a jacking point and bring the wheel right up to a comfortable height.

maybe a 240v motor would be better suited to your application and if buying new this will be the most expensive part

Dr Nik has a nice geared down 240v motor that he doesn't know what to do with http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/what-shall-i-do-with-this.47425/, that would do for the power, just need some threaded rod...

 

[rtbcomp]

I'd fit sprockets to that motor and the jig and use it like a spit.

 

[Flapdisk]

farm jack plus blocks would be my method

That's what I did Andy and it was a pain in the ****! because you can only lift about a meter at a time and then you have to prop it somehow and then find a load of blocks to stand the jack on to lift again, three times I had to do that until I got up to the point of balance and the weight comes off and you can roll the remainder by hand.
Now then, the problem comes when you want to lower it as the stupid farm jack will only lower something if there is a minimum weight on it, otherwise it just collapses and that is really dangerous!!

This is why I want one about three meters long so it can go up and down in one hit, like the one in the link.

I was planning on powering it with a power drill with a half inch drive socket on it.

 

[rtbcomp]

A farm jack will wind itself down with full weight on it and the handle flaps around like a demented railway signal. It won't lower at all without some weight on it.

 

[AndyStobbs]

Would just suck it up by and large. Unless you're doing one a week you can stand some agro.

 

[Rig Pig]

What about a chainblock from a beam?

 

[Flapdisk]

A farm jack will wind itself down with full weight on it and the handle flaps around like a demented railway signal. It won't lower at all without some weight on it.

When I first got mine and I was trying to figure out how it worked, I operated the handle and watched it climb up the post, then I was holding it with my left hand,roughly around the centre, switched it to the lowering mode and nothing happened, lifted the handle up and then as I moved it down the whole assembly just slid down and wacked my hand, bloody hurt and I swore I would never do that again, or trust lowering a vehicle with it.

 

[Flapdisk]

What about a chainblock from a beam?

My workshop is built of wood, 4x2 wall panels and 6x2 roof frames.

 

[Rig Pig]

Ideal opportunity to put in that lifting beam you always wanted!

 

[Wallace]

Hi guys, I have a car roller and in the link you can see a very long electric jack is available for doing the lift, trouble is it's £400 with vat, do you think a version of it could be built for less? I presume it's a screw jack, but where would you get a strong enough threaded rod that long? and does the box section have to meet some kind of certificated standards?

http://www.cjautos.eu/CAR_LIFTING_DEVICE_FOR_BASIC_ROLLER_p/ct01a.htm

It's not really jacking the car as the weight is on the roller, although I suppose the initial part of the lift would be a fair weight.

Have you used the roller yet? I have an Autovip 1700 and have no problems rolling a car on it's side on my own, in fact I recently chose a different set of mounting holes to put the car on and it rolls too easily now!

 

[Flapdisk]

Have you used the roller yet? I have an Autovip 1700 and have no problems rolling a car on it's side on my own, in fact I recently chose a different set of mounting holes to put the car on and it rolls too easily now!

Hi Wall. Yes the Toyota is on it's side in the roller as we speak. I could only afford the standard one and believe me the initial lift is as heavy as jacking the car off it's wheels.