A2 jack - stay safe

Cheers pal. Agree with the benefits of the using the factory sill point, my logic too. Mine was a slip sideways and towards me and the neighbours caravan. Looks like there are a number of us who have experienced some very unpleasant experiences with the A2 jack. Glad everything worked out okay for you too.

I'd also not venture under the car without axle stands. I used both the jack and stands when refitting the under-tray. I've employed the wheel technique in the past two - I guess sometimes it is easy to be too complacent, a life-lesson.

Pinkythelabrat said:
Yikes! Glad you are okay.

It’s toppled on me a couple of times as well. A slow backwards slip both times I think.

I was looking into the possibility of using something in the factory sill hole with an extension to allow use of a trolly jack and leave the axle stand free because I will not go under a car just on a jack - too afraid. I’ve got four jack stands, wedges and wooden balks.

I also alway slide the alloy wheel under the sill if I’m working with it off. That way I’ll only be flattened to 205mm and have some chance of remaining alive until help can arrive.


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Sorry if I missed an important point. Not read every post on this thread, as I’m working Nights and about to go to sleep. I never use the Jack that came from new with the A2. Tried it a couple of times early on ( we’ve had the A2 since 2004 ) but found it just was not stable, even on completely flat tarmac ! Is it to do with it having a round arm on the jack and a round hole in the jacking point ? I suspect the round peg in a round hole is part of the problem, unlike a square peg in a square hole ?The Beetle, proper old type like our 1966, is a better idea - one square jacking point on each side of the car, at the point of balance, so both front and rear wheels lift off equally, with a square arm on the jack. The 1972 VW Type 3 Variant is the same, and I think possibly Morris Minors ?
 
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Pinkythelabrat said:
Yikes! Glad you are okay.

It’s toppled on me a couple of times as well. A slow backwards slip both times I think.

I was looking into the possibility of using something in the factory sill hole with an extension to allow use of a trolly jack and leave the axle stand free because I will not go under a car just on a jack - too afraid. I’ve got four jack stands, wedges and wooden balks.

I also alway slide the alloy wheel under the sill if I’m working with it off. That way I’ll only be flattened to 205mm and have some chance of remaining alive until help can arrive.


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My Dad taught me this trick as a youngster Whilst I was working on cars, it has helped me out on a couple of occasions, I'd rather a dented wheel than a dented torso or worse...sadly, my Dad was trapped under a car for nearly 45mins until a customer heard his shouts many years ago, this is why he taught me this lesson early on...he managed to hold the entire weight on his chest until help came....a mean feat in itself seeing as he was shouting for help at the same time....thankfully he survived...otherwise I wouldn't have turned up some years later lol.
 
Clackers said:
My Dad taught me this trick as a youngster Whilst I was working on cars, it has helped me out on a couple of occasions, I'd rather a dented wheel than a dented torso or worse...sadly, my Dad was trapped under a car for nearly 45mins until a customer heard his shouts many years ago, this is why he taught me this lesson early on...he managed to hold the entire weight on his chest until help came....a mean feat in itself seeing as he was shouting for help at the same time....thankfully he survived...otherwise I wouldn't have turned up some years later lol.
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Glad to hear your dad is ok :)
 
Might need to use the A2 jack in the event of a puncture out on the road somewhere. I carry a piece of wood so that the jack doesn't sink into soft ground.
Or call out the AA or RAC of course.
 
On the contrary to this thread I've always thought the standard jack to be very good. Top tips for success. Hand brake and in gear but most importantly steering lock on, this stops the car twisting/pivotting when lifting one side at the rear.
 
Appreciate your view, but tick and tick to your points and still it happened. The ground isn't overly loose either.

I'm satisfied I did things to the best of my ability, I'm no novice as I've said, and wanted to raise awareness. If people want to carry on using it for regular lifting and trust in it that's equally fine.

putyourmittenson said:
On the contrary to this thread I've always thought the standard jack to be very good. Top tips for success. Hand brake and in gear but most importantly steering lock on, this stops the car twisting/pivotting when lifting one side at the rear.
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I think one point worth making here Darren is that your car like our A2's has the H&R ARB'S and springs-making the car very rigid, this may have added a sideways loading to the standard "emergency" use jack. Glad no real lasting damage was done and a nasty accident was avoided.
 
a2sumo said:
I think one point worth making here Darren is that your car like our A2's has the H&R ARB'S and springs-making the car very rigid, this may have added a sideways loading to the standard "emergency" use jack. Glad no real lasting damage was done and a nasty accident was avoided.
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Agree on this. I'm **** scared of jacking up my car which is on coilovers. Everytime I put an axle stand on and Jack up the other side invariably the axle stand has moved a little. It's a game of cat and mouse
 
One thing I've noted when lifting the A2 on the built-in jack is that like my 2CV that also has a proprietary jack, you need to be quite careful about positioning the foot when it first makes contact with the ground, and think about chocks. If it isn't quite in the right place, as you lift, you can see the car gently moving forwards or backwards - to the point where it begins to look as if it is in an unstable position just as the car is lifting (I was used to looking at bits of rowing boats and a degree off vertical is something I am quite aware of). I will regularly put the car back down and reposition the jack 2-3 times before I even start to take the wheel off. This does make me wonder - would putting a pair of decent-sized wedges behind a couple of wheels also help in this situation with the A2 (the 2CV handbrake is on the front axle and the wheelbase varies with suspension travel so if you're lifting the front end the car will move quite happily of its own accord unless you are assiduous about chocking).

I managed to drop my A6 using its own jack that locates securely on the floorpan edge seam because I had located it on the sill - schoolboy error. Fortunately the wheel had only 2 bolts undone at the time, but the jack ripped a 5 inch chunk out of the sill when it slid off. Could have been so much worse...
 
Agreed 100%. Many a time I have begun lifting to observe the jack start to make an unorthodox twist and have stopped and lowered and started again. Several times in some cases, critical to make sure it always lifts straight. Foot position is also essential to this.

Given the shear number of times I have lifted the car without issue, I wonder if Mike may well be onto something. In effect this was only about the 9th lift with the new suspension set-up.
 
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