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Menas fortwo

Jacks

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I am interested in getting the compact spare tire.What kind of car jack do you guys carry and where do you store it?

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CT or Princess Auto, 2 ton hydrolic jack for $11.99 small and compact :doublethumb:

Is that a bottle jack? Is a bottle jack small enough to fit under the jacking point if a tire is flat? I've been wondering about that...Bil :sun:

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I carry my front snow wheel in the summer and front summer wheel in winter. My jack is a scissor jack from Princess Auto. That jack does NOT fit under the passenger seat

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I would be careful about keeping a jack in the passenger compartment; they would become a lethal instrument in a collision, unless it is jammed behind a seat very firmly.

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I have a scissor jack from an old toyota. I keep it under the drivers seat, finger tightened against one of the cross bars. That way, it also keeps the other tools in place under there.MG

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As SCHMART mentioned, I do get in a jack kit from time to time that was designed for the smart - found here... but if you're looking for something less expensive, ValgardForbeard said it - a scissor jack from an old toyota, or any Suzuki Swift, Chevy Sprint, Geo Metro, or Pontiac Firefly from the 90's - they fit and work very well for the smart. I don't actually store mine in the car mind you (that's what SmartMove roadside assistance is for), but finger tightened under the seat should be safe, I would think.

- Steven

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Working on an idea of using an air bag - similar to what they use for suspension but smaller - phoof it up using the compressor that comes with the car - simply a case of getting some time to do some ordering and hmmning and hawing.Details as I figure it out. Should be super light (couple of pounds) and will compress down to fit nicely in the cavity the rim forms.Cheers,Cameron

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Working on an idea of using an air bag - similar to what they use for suspension but smaller - phoof it up using the compressor that comes with the car - simply a case of getting some time to do some ordering and hmmning and hawing.

Details as I figure it out. Should be super light (couple of pounds) and will compress down to fit nicely in the cavity the rim forms.

Cheers,

Cameron

There's the Draper Air Bag Jack that inflates by exhaust pressure. Though I'm not sure if the fortwo has enough exhaust volume to pump it up very quickly :dunno:

They're about $100 plus shipping from the UK.

Bil :sun:

..........................Posted Image

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The Draper style are like for lifting big cars/ trucks - you would probably launch a smart - plus they take a lot of space. Looked at them already.Steve - no pop hiss argh if you do it right - no more so than the tip clunk argh if you don't get a mechanical jack set up right. The air springs are really tough rubber about 1/8" thick - not likely to pop and if you fit them with a tire like air valve deflation is very controlled as is the lifting.Cheers,Cameron

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Still... probably want to use jack stands before getting under them, right? Same with a jack of course. - Steven

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Still... probably want to use jack stands before getting under them, right? Same with a jack of course. - Steven

I was using a scissors jack once, got the car about half way up to high enough to change the tire when it suddenly dropped back to the ground. The threads had stripped right out.The local fire department had a safety demo. They cut a car apart with the jaws of life, and used air bags to lift another one off of their dummy.MG

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I would not trust an airbag jack. I don't even trust regular jacks.....

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Gang - it is not for working on the car - just for changing a tire in an emergency situation - one would hope you would do something smart like stick the spare under the car as an emergency block or find a similarly sized hunk of wood etc.Also it is not one of those air bag nylon things - it is an industrial air spring - look it up - heavy duty - Goodyear type thing - and you nay sayers would do well to do some research before extending an opinion - these are the same sort of air springs holding up about 1/2 the trucks on the road - slightly scaled down. They are widely used in industry for exactly the use of holding stuff up - safely - dependably - and with no moving parts to fail (simpler = safer).Besides no one is asking you to use it - I just offered it up as what I am considering -You can go for what ever you like - heck a 10ft long 2x4 and a willing dwarf as fulcrum if you like.Cameron

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Haha, naysayers....I still wouldn't trust a pneumatic jack. I dont trust big trucks either - their suspensions, their brakes, their tires.I imagine the jack being punctured just when you need it most....like an air mattress. Maybe you can get retreads for them, LOL

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Hmmmm......I wonder if the increased back pressure from the air jack would do anything bad. Considering how many problems smarts seem to have with exhaust things (turbos, EGR, etc.), might not be the best thing for it. I think I'd avoid it. Plus who wants a bag of exhaust?Mike_T, actually in a big truck the air keeps the brake off. If you lose air suddenly, the brakes come on full. It's fun.... :tremble: Later! Dang

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Right, but I mean all trucks and semi-trailers should be required to have ABS!

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Hmmmm......I wonder if the increased back pressure from the air jack would do anything bad. Considering how many problems smarts seem to have with exhaust things (turbos, EGR, etc.), might not be the best thing for it. I think I'd avoid it. Plus who wants a bag of exhaust? Dang

Air Bag I am thinking of would inflate from the compressor included with the car - not the exhaust.Cheers,Cameron

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Right, but I mean all trucks and semi-trailers should be required to have ABS!

How would ABS work if you lose all the air? If there's no air the barkes are on full, with nothing to take them off.On passenger vehicles, if you lose your brake fluid, you have no brakes. At least trucks will stop if they lose air pressure.

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I drove a truck with ABS several times. One of our mobile units had it. It was sort of weird actually. The thing only cycled about once every two seconds. Never engaged them in real driving, just trying it out on icy side roads to see what it would do. A light on the trailer would come on to let you know it was working. (...like you'd be looking in your mirrors if you needed to brake hard enough to engage ABS). Not sure they actually gain you that much in a truck. The main advantage of ABS is they let you turn, but in a semi if you yard the steering wheel to one side, the trailer is still going to pretty much go straight. If there was ever a vehicle to drive defensively, a semi is it. Never understood the guys that speed/tailgate in a semi. The 0 to 60 normally on a semi is like 75 seconds. If you drive the s#!t out of it, it's 65 seconds....so why?Back to the topic at hand, would our smart compressors have the volume to inflate the air jack? Seems like it might burn out first.Later! DangEdit:By the way, the "dead man switch" is in case of brake failure. You would never, ever engage it in normal driving. It's only if you have a massive sudden air failure, so the thing will stop. Happened to me on an MC9 once (a bus).

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Mercedes-Benz did extensive tests on semis with ABS back in the 1970s....now I think all their semis have it.

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