Good emergency roadside jack for MS

[ericscottf]

Hello,

I got a flat yesterday, but was able to work on it at home fortunately. For practice, I decided to use my roadside screw jack instead of the hydraulic racing jack. Screw jack went wonky at about half the height I needed to get the tire off, so I put the car down, swapped in the hydraulic and did the repair (plug worked great).

The scissor jack was one of the $25 amazon "2 ton" deals - but definitely won't cut it. I've searched the forums here and elsewhere for someone who wholeheartedly recommends a jack for roadside emergency work and can't find one.

Anyone happy with what they've got? If so, which one?

p.s. Tesla roadside tried finding me a loaner wheel, but couldn't. I was gonna have to get towed to the SC if I wanted their help. I pulled the puncture ( a small 1/8" hollow tube, oddly enough), it closed up enough to re-inflate to drive the 1/2 mile home, where I did the repair.

 

[John5396]

I would suggest a short bottle jack similar to:

Amazon.com: Sunex 4913A 12-Ton, Short Bottle Jack: Automotive

At 12 ton, over capacity for the tesla, key is to get one short enough.

 

[idoco]

You can plug a tire without removing it. Front is easier. Raising the air suspension to very high makes it easier for the rear.

 

[SPXMike]

2 ton Compact Trolley Jack

I have one of these. It was recommended in another post (I have to find the post). It works.

 

[jaguar36]

I would suggest a short bottle jack similar to:

Amazon.com: Sunex 4913A 12-Ton, Short Bottle Jack: Automotive

At 12 ton, over capacity for the tesla, key is to get one short enough.

A bottle jack short enough to fit under the jack pads when the tire is flat not going to have enough lift to get the tire off the ground.

For the OP, what did you mean by 'Went wonky'?

I've used my screw jack to lift the Tesla without issue and its only a 1.5 ton one.

 

[JonathanD]

Aren't the lug nuts tightened to some ridiculous 129 lb/ft or something? Isn't that tough to get off on the roadside?

 

[jaguar36]

Aren't the lug nuts tightened to some ridiculous 129 lb/ft or something? Isn't that tough to get off on the roadside?

Yep, 129 ft-lbs is not difficult to get off with a breaker bar though. Might as well use one anyway since its not like the Tesla comes with a wrench.

 

[Decibelle]

Jaguar36,

Which screw jack are you using and do we need something between the jack and the bottom of the car when lifting?

 

[ericscottf]

I forgot to mention... I have coil suspension.

my 1.5t jack was extremely hard to raise, and started leaning on use, despite the car being level. I just didn't trust it, and since I had a proper hydraulic 10ft away, I figured there was no reason to risk it.

Yeah, I could probably have done the repair w/o removing the tire, but I'd still like to have an emergency jack just in case.

As far as torque, I have a tire iron that's 1ft long, and I weigh just under 130#, so I figure I can at least get close enough to make it road-worthy.

 

[Patrick W]

2 ton Compact Trolley Jack

I have one of these. It was recommended in another post (I have to find the post). It works.

That's the same one I use. Fits nicely in the trunk under the floor. I took it and my S to the service center and they were kind enough to show me how to jack the car.

They said that one should not use any sort of block between the jack "head" (or whatever it's called) and the jack-pads on the underside of the car. Also showed that the head is just the right size and the head's raised areas dig right into the jack pads and hold the jack and the car very steady.