Need advice on scissor jack

[Wizard$]

Hi All

My SO drives A 7 seater VW Touran, which came with no spare wheel. I'm not really comfortable with the "patch and repair" kit, so my plan is to buy a spare and take it with us when we travel for holidays. Obviously, I also need to acquire a jack to lift the vehicle if the need arrives.
My question:
Is a 1 ton scissor jack sufficient, as one is only lifting a corner of a vehicle that weighs in at about 2 ton?
1 ton seems to be the popular size that is available at Autozone/Midas.

Any advice/experience is appreciated.

 

[Nastaliq]

Should do the job.

Only issue is, a scissor jack is a frikken nightmare to wind up and down.
if you have ever used a scissor jack on the side of the road before, you will know what a ball ache it is.

 

[samman325]

Just be sure to get a decent scissor jack if thats the route you choose. Many of the cheaper ones twist easily and you will end up with your disk and hub hitting the tarmac when it fails (dont ask how i know).

A better option may be a bottle jack if you just put it into the car for long trips.

 

[Wizard$]

Should do the job.

Only issue is, a scissor jack is a frikken nightmare to wind up and down.
if you have ever used a scissor jack on the side of the road before, you will know what a ball ache it is.

Thanks

Agree on the ball ache, but for travelling purposes I don't really see any alternative.

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Just be sure to get a decent scissor jack if thats the route you choose. Many of the cheaper ones twist easily and you will end up with your disk and hub hitting the tarmac when it fails (dont ask how i know).

A better option may be a bottle jack if you just put it into the car for long trips.

Thanks - where would I find "decent" makes - I too am skeptical about the the cheap er products when it comes to this, but so far all that is available are rather cheap models at the Midas or Autozone stores.

 

[Nastaliq]

those are pretty much par for the course in terms of what you will find.
buy at a makro, take home, test jack your car up, leave for an hour or so with the tyre still on and see.

if it fails, you car will bounce back from the height it has been jacked up (dont overdo it).

and if it fails, take it back to makro and get your money back.

 

[sash]

There's space will for the owner Jack on the left of the boot. Would you consider getting an oem on and putting it there

 

[Wizard$]

Would consider but oem jack very expensive , and also not highly rated by owners

 

[Nikhil]

I would get a 2 ton bottle jack. Its safer easier and more compact

 

[Maljan]

I would also go for the bottle jack. If you need to lift the car while on holiday it will be fully loaded. A scissor jack might not be up to the job.

I once bought a 2 ton trolley jack that just could not lift my E39. I took it back and got a proper 3 ton trolley jack. It was double the size and five times the price but it lifts the 5er without any problems.

 

[sash]

Would consider but oem jack very expensive , and also not highly rated by owners

True, maybe a scrappie might have one, but in general i also dont like the OEM one, but in an emergency it should suffice.

 

[Pho3niX90]

Scissors jacks are a nightmare, considering there is never a flat surface where you will get stuck and always on a slope. I rather travell with 2 cans of tire jack. The only scenario where that didnt work for me was when I completely shredded a tire and bent a mag in a huge pothole.

 

[Wizard$]

Settled on 2 ton jack from Midas, guv rated, thick steel, should be good.

 

[frikkieh]

One more vote for the bottle jack.
Just keep it upright at all times (sometimes oil can leak from it resulting in no jack at all...)
And test it as soon as you obtained it to ensure it works as expected.