Why is this called the widowmaker? Never had a problem using one. Im jacking the car up with hydraulic trolley, and use this guy to share the weight of the car as I couldnt find low profile axle stands, have to jack up way too much to fit normal ones.
Anyway.
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because the base of the jack is tiny and its easy for the car to fall on it.
This, I cant believe people would be dumb enough to get under a car with this lifting it.
Because they can fail more easily than a trolley jack which is what you should be using.
It's not.
Now this! This is a widow maker.
Oh my sweet summer child
That's not a real thing, right?
Yep, My Volvo came with one.
...
Not using a jack stand after lifting the car. I used one before, just long enough to throw a jack stand under it.
both of these jacks work perfectly fine and if used properly are safe. I've learned that most people here have no idea how to fix their cars and like parroting other meme horseshit they have read here.
this is a widow maker and is a shitty design. Dont just this.
this is basically what race cars use(d) to jack an entire side of a car. If built right they are much easier to use and safe. I have no experience with a benz example though
Sweet fucking jesus were these designed by a shinigami?
Vw uses this deathtrap shit too
>Muh Yurop
>Muh get fuckin crushed
that is the best original jack i have ever used
Any jack, used by itself, is dangerous. By themselves, those scissor jacks should only be used in an emergency like changing a tire.
When I was younger and more retarded, I was replacing brake pads on my Corolla with just the scissor jack holding up the car. Was really leaning into one of the caliper mounting bolts to get it loosened and unbalanced the car enough it shifted. Since the scissor jack has a base the size of a deck of playing cards, it toppled over and car came crashing down. I was fucking lucky no part of me was under the car. Extra lucky nothing broke because of this stupidity. Learned my lesson that day and promptly went to parts store and bought a set of jackstands.
What the fuck
Because dumb fucks use these alone instead of axle stands and hop under the car to work on shit, they're meant for tyre changes only.
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This. Always use jackstands. Even trolley jacks are prone to slipping
>huge footprint tends to hold jack in place while vehicle slides off frame
Used properly (IE the slot is actually in part of the pinch frame), those jacks are pretty solid. Its the idiots/manufacturers that don't use the slot/have any place that can be picked with the slot, that kill people
Are jackstands safe?
Yes, that's why everyone recommends them but you have to place them correctly
Where do you place them out of curiosity?
Anytime I've changed oil with my uncle he always uses them but I've never got a really good sense of where they're supposed to go. Kinda seems like there's some metal work that runs the length of the car that they go under but I'm not really sure exactly where it is cause I'm retarded.
I mean, can you left your car laying entirely on four of them, will they hold the weight?
Anywhere on the frame if it's BOF.
Pinch welds on a unibody
yeah
I second this.
Not directly on the pinch welds especially if it's a salt state. Look for jack points and place them there.
Nobody I know calls these widowmakers. They're pretty damn stable, its the 5' long off road jacks that are known as widow makers, those things will slide out real easy.
I had a similar type of jack for my MGB. I had a flat tyre, put the jack in the hole, started winding the handle and discovered that the floor at the driver's seat was going up and the car wasn't moving. Shitty British cars and rusty sills.
I've never had a problem with my scissor jack. (I like to call it my 'spinner jack'.)
>Any jack, used by itself, is dangerous.
Agreed.
>they're meant for tyre changes only.
>This. Always use jackstands.
Probably the most agreeable Veeky Forums thread I've ever seen.
>I cant believe people would be dumb enough
Nah, lots of people are fucking idiots and its not like an IQ score which only goes up to a certain number, stupidity is an infinite and exponential possibility.
The more fucking idiots you add, the more impressive the resultant stupidity is.
Yep, can confirm
this is a widow maker.
my S4 had one of those, tried to jack it up with it and it started making scary noises halfway before i got genuinely scared and put that fucker down and asked my room mate to bring me my hydraulic jack.
fuck those things, what were they thinking?
I've used the ones like the ones in OP's pic before and it felt safe and stable.
Literally how do these even work? They scrape along the ground as you turn the thingamajig?
Kinda, the inside lifts up and creates a dumb V shape and it supposedly balances itself because of the angles, but its fucking terrifying.
Pinch welds ARE the lift points on a unibody.
>but its fucking terrifying.
I don't know why that made me laugh as much as it did.
Hi lift jacks.... Never seen anyone use a base with them except me.
I have a 1.5 inch thick (2X 3/4" birch ply) x 24"sq plywood base that bolts to my hi-lift.
I had one sink on my during a tire change. Never again with my base.
I always have a jack stand in ny trunk. I wont change a tire without one
OK, whatever the points on the corners of the floorpan are where it's made to be jacked as opposed to the wafer-thin pinch weld itself.
pinch weld is stronger than your frame rails sometimes actually
Do you change your tires from under the car?