[rajivanoj]

My car's jack broke last week, while i try to lift the car, i was actually intended to interchange front wheels, since my car tends to pull left.

Luckily, the jack broke before i have removed tyre, so there was no damage, but jack broke(weld got broke), i tried to weld it again, then i changed mind, since it is risky business while on long trips. So bought one. I should keep spare tyre under car, thats good information.

[abhipuru16]

The Ford A.S.S themselves don't know how to use the jack in case of the Fiesta Sports which comes with the side skirts.
The jacking points are different for these cars.
While tending to my car, they damaged both the side skirts while jacking up the car without using rubber blocks at the jacking places. This must have been the hydraulic car lift that lifts the whole car for underbody inspection.
This is my theory of how they might have damaged the side skirts, it happened while I gave my car to Harpreet Ford, Gurgaon for a service.

[Tejas Ingle]

^^So are they going to replace the damaged skirts?

[k_nitin_r]

Originally Posted by abhipuru16

The Ford A.S.S themselves don't know how to use the jack in case of the Fiesta Sports which comes with the side skirts. The jacking points are different for these cars.
While tending to my car, they damaged both the side skirts while jacking up the car without using rubber blocks at the jacking places. This must have been the hydraulic car lift that lifts the whole car for underbody inspection.

Did the service station offer to replace the side skirts for you FoC? If they do not, I would insist on having the service station adjust the cost of replacing the side skirts against their invoice (they might just write it off as one heavy discount).

I believe hydraulic car lifts that lift the entire car would have damaged the side skirts unless the rubber blocks were placed further toward the inside of the vehicle (i.e. even if the rubber blocks made contact with the side skirts on lifting, the side skirts would have fractured due to the weight).

[abhipuru16]

No, after a long argument spanning to 2 months, all they agreed to do was repair. What intrigued me is how they could repair fiber skirtings that were cut!
I decided to leave the matter and get it sorted out through Pandit & Co. here in Delhi, they would do a better job any given day.
I am still to find time to get it done.

[kkr2k2]

Originally Posted by abhipuru16

No, after a long argument spanning to 2 months, all they agreed to do was repair. What intrigued me is how they could repair fiber skirtings that were cut!....

What were they arguing for two months??

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by Mr.Boss

A costly mistake!!!

BTW, Jack base rounded? (or curved?)
I've seen a quite range of Cantilever jacks but none with this kind of curved base. Normally the base will be pivoted, refer the below picture
Attachment 614141

The yellow line is a link rod connecting the jack arm and the base to adjust the jack such that the load falls exactly on the base to what ever height the jack is lifted. But with a curved base there is a big question of stability.

PS: For some countries Jack is a safety critical item and should involve 8 bench tests ans 6 vehicle tests where the stability of jack is tested under all possible worst cases.

Now this indeed is a weird jack! Check out the following images to see how this thing is to be used. Imagine using this on soil and not on hard ground, if the owner doesn't have a plank ready this sure would dig in. And even if its on hard ground this jack doesn't look very stable.




In the pics above the Merc jack is being used on a Smart Car.

Source; Mercedes jack - SOLD - Smart Car of America Forums : Smart Car Forum

[Tejas@perioimpl]

We faced a similar issue last weekend during the mercedes performance drive testing. One of the GLs blew a tyre and the jack supplied could not raise the car and kept slipping. Used the jack of another GL to give additional tandem support, but both the jacks in unison were not enough. Finally had to use the jack of a fortuner to change the tyre.

The jacks of the GL are slightly different than the sedan ones shown here but are equally inadequate.

[m-hawk]

Even we recently had a similar experience of our innova slipping of it s jack while changing it's rear left wheel ! Thankfully no damage and yes the ground on which car was parked was uneven and soft hence the rear wheel drum got lodged in the soft mud but instead of playing the blame game we quickly borrowed another jack from a smaller car and raised the rear and placed our jack to raise the car to the desired height ! LESSON learnt park on even surface place a stone to the tyre or tires engage 1st or P yank handbrake high enough to lock your car so that it doesn't shift a centimetre !!

[Tejas Ingle]

Originally Posted by m-hawk

LESSON learnt park on even surface place a stone to the tyre or tires engage 1st or P yank handbrake high enough to lock your car so that it doesn't shift a centimetre !!

Also, loosen and tighten the bolts when the car is unjacked. Keep yourself clear from the spaces under the car to avoid injury. Keep the reflective triangle provided at some distance behind the car if you are changing tyre by the roadside. Make everyone in the car get down. I have seen children inside the car when the tyre is being changed.

[wartikars]

The Mercedes cars are very heavy ones. And the S Class is very heavy. I am talking in comparison with the normal cars in India.

Its good that no one was injured. But the bad thing is the beauty got damaged which is a very costly affair.

I can see the fright on the face of the driver in the snap as he will surely get the heat from the owner.

Very few people in the automobile line know the anatomy & physiology of the Mercs which is very different than the most of the other cars in India. Hence such accidents are bound to happen.

Soneome amongst has rightly pointed out the point of fixing the jack and also the spare tyre under. Had it been a normal car there might have been more damages to the body.

Really feel very bad for such incidents.

[ambivalent_98]

@Tejas....thats on the Petrol Pump opposite to Agriculture college correct. The puncture remover person is quite responsible and this is surprising that he used the car jack to jack up the car. Usually they have a pneumatic jack to hoist up the car. Thats a very unfortunate occurence. How much expense would that be ?

I am reminded of the first puncture I had on my Vento. The German jack is weird to use the first time. My car to slipped from the jack but it was during I was removing the punctured tyre. Fortunately the tyre was able to stop the car from entirely coming down. In my panic I had not pulled the handbrake. Also since I was on the side of the highway the soil below was fairly loose. And guess what I had the jack the otherway around. (Thats awfully stupid but I was in a little state of panic and common sense was masked out completely.) But then after giving myself some 5 minutes when common sense came to the fore I pulled the handbrake and also but a stone on the rear tyre to make sure that the car was completely immobile. A scary experience indeed.

[rxpaul]

Ambivalent,
Does the Vento have a jack similar to the Merc ?? My Octavia has a normal scissor type jack. The Merc jack (as shown by Shankar) looks as though you need to dig in and place the foot in a hole ! That foot is bound to slip if placed on asphalt or concrete. Wonder why Mercedes makes it this way...

[VW2010]

[QUOTE]Does the Vento have a jack similar to the Merc ?? [/QUOTE]

I think all VW jacks are similar to the Merc jacks. Except the big red hyrdaullic jacks most of the other jacks have probability to slip at one time or another.

Can you source those hydraullic flat bed jacks from outside

[honeybee]

Tejas, are you sure the jack was used by the puncture shop person on the car? From my experience, these guys prefer to use their own equipment (as would any professional do).

After going through such experiences, I believe it's better that along with all the other accessories such as tyres and headlights, the first thing a car buyer should do is buy a good scissor-fashioned jack with a good and long tommy, or if you have the space, go for a hydraulic jack that the garage mechanics use.