Portable jack

[andrewket]

I'm taking a cross country road trip this summer and am planning on bringing a full size spare with me. I have a two-ton floor jack that I normally use at home but it's way too heavy and big to bring on the trip.

Anyone have any recommendations on a travel jack that can handle the weight of the MS?

 

[jerry33]

These weigh about 14.5 kg (32 lb). Otherwise a bottle jack and a hockey puck.

 

[JohnQ]

Honestly, I'd just use your regular floor jack. They pack down small enough. Alternatively, you can carry a one-ton floor jack (don't know how much weight and size that saves you) since that will be enough to lift one wheel without creating real safety issues. How often do you plan on carrying it and a full time spare?

 

[JST]

Carrying a hydraulic floor jack for the possibility that you might potentially need to change the tire seems...a bit much. I drag a floor jack to the track, but I do it only because I know I'm going to have to have the car in the air several times during the course of the weekend. For a trip like the one you've got in mind, I'd buy a medium duty scissor jack and just be done with it. As I said in another thread, this is what every OEM gives you for changing a tire, so the idea that it's somehow too dangerous to use just doesn't hold water.

 

[andrewket]

Thanks for the replies. I'm looking at high-end scissor jacks now. As long as it can hold ~1/4 of the weight and will be stable on the side of a road it should meet my needs.

 

[wycolo]

Recently someone posted a mil-spec sissor jack made for Humvee, actually a whole kit but still light weight. Very pukka.
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[russman]

That's in this thread.

http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/28385-Best-Jack-for-Model-S

All these options seem like a lot of money to spend for a something used maybe twice in my 10 year previous car ownership. Of course, the minute I don't have it, I'll wish I did have it.

Recently someone posted a mil-spec sissor jack made for Humvee, actually a whole kit but still light weight. Very pukka.
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[doctorwho]

I don't know if this is possible in a Tesla with air suspension but in event of a puncture it was possible to drive any Citroen with hydropneumatic suspension with only 3 wheels fitted
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuUATfZxHTw

 

[jerry33]

I don't know if this is possible in a Tesla with air suspension but in event of a puncture it was possible to drive any Citroen with hydropneumatic suspension with only 3 wheels fitted
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuUATfZxHTw

It's not possible in a Tesla--Continental air suspension is nowhere near as good as the hydro-pneumatic suspension in the 1969 DS-21 that I once had. However, it is simpler to make. I miss the turning headlights too.

 

[doctorwho]

It's not possible in a Tesla--Continental air suspension is nowhere near as good as the hydro-pneumatic suspension in the 1969 DS-21 that I once had. However, it is simpler to make. I miss the turning headlights too.

so you can't lock the suspension in a 'fully up' position like you can in hydro-pneumatic Citroens? It also meant that you could change a flat tyre without a jack, all you needed was something solid, it didn't have to be extensible as you'd wedge something under the jacking point and then lower the suspension and it would lift the wheel with the flat tyre off the road!

 

[jerry33]

so you can't lock the suspension in a 'fully up' position like you can in hydro-pneumatic Citroens? It also meant that you could change a flat tyre without a jack, all you needed was something solid, it didn't have to be extensible as you'd wedge something under the jacking point and then lower the suspension and it would lift the wheel with the flat tyre off the road!

Correct.

 

[wycolo]

The Citroen likely not 48/52 weight distribution of the MS.

After watching the race at Bridgehampton, LI, NY we stayed to watch the crapouts wending their way back to the pits. One was a Mini Cooper that had lost a rear wheel. Two guys were perched up on the driver's fender. I would have guessed it could have made it without them, but after loosing a wheel I'd be more cautious too.
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[jerry33]

The Citroen likely not 48/52 weight distribution of the MS.

Yes, the DS-21 is significantly front heavy, but it works with any three wheels, not just the rear wheels. I'd think that a more even weight distribution would be even easier to implement.

 

[KenN]

Does anyone know the lift height required for a jack in order to lift a wheel off the ground? I'm looking at a little 2-ton double ram bottle jack to keep in the car for fixing flats. I drive a P85 without air suspension and measured the height of the car off my driveway to be just under 6 1/2 inches. So I figure this jack ...

Torin Double Ram Bottle Jack TF0202 | Bottle Jacks| Northern Tool + Equipment

at 5 5/16 height will give me room for the hockey puck. What I'm not sure about is whether the 14 1/2 max extension will be enough to pull a wheel off. I could drag out my floor jack and just try it out, but it's raining in Vancouver today and the car parks outside!

 

[Chris TX]

I use a single-sided scissor jack from a B6 Passat. The weight rating is more than enough for the Tesla. It's very small and light for trips.