TC jack

[hanko]

I am looking to purchase a jack for my TC. I don't know if, back in 1948, you had a choice of manufacturers? Seems like King Dick or Shelly would have been the choices. I realize an original would probably break the bank so I'm searching for a vintage jack that would be very close to either the King Dick or Shelly available at the time. Does anyone know what was standard on a TC and was it a screw type or ratchet jack?

[Tom Wilson]

Spec 259 lists Shelley double lift jack and a Shelley double lift jack handle. This is a screw type jack.
Tom

[Tom Wilson]

http://www.classic-british-car-jacks.uk ... acks_1.htm
For some good info

[Ray White]

I don't wish to be alarmist but these car jacks are now very old. Just how safe are they?

[Rob Reilly]

With all these old cast iron screw type saddle jacks, the condition of the bevel gears is the main concern, which greatly depends on whether it was oiled and where it was stored. There's not really all that much that can go wrong with them except getting rusty or severe abuse.
I restored all my antique car jacks and just display them, never intend to actually use them. I carry a modern hydraulic jack for that.
Any pedestal saddle jack is somewhat less stable and safe than a 4 wheel trolley jack or the kind that plugs into a socket. A lot depends on getting the jack straight, no angle, and having solid firm ground. In the old days people were known to push the car off or simply drive off them after their wheel was changed, rather than jacking down. I saw that once in an old movie from the 1940s.

[Steve Simmons]

This is just my opinion, but I think most spare tire jacks have only been used a few times no matter how old they are. So I wouldn't expect one to be unsafe unless it showed signs of abuse or damage.

[jddevel]

I remember in my youth having found one of my cars rear wheels partially in a ditch very late at night, I used the jack to get myself out by raising it and then by pushing it sideways off the jack gradually got both wheels on solid ground and able to drive off.

[i.thomson]

The most importanr question when choosing a jack, apart from whether the person who is likely to use it knows how it works, is whether it will fit underneath a car which is closer ti the ground than usual due to having a flat tyre. I would rather trust a screw jack, however old, than a small hydraulic jack, however modern. We do not need them often but when we do need them they have to work thus the simpler the better. There is much less to go wrong on a mechanical, screw, jack. When we are desperate to change a wheel that is no time to find a hydraulic jack's seals have failed. Of course it goes without saying that it will happen at the most inconvenient time and place - and it will be raining. As for trusting the jack we never put any part of ourelves under the car when it is supported on a single point anyway. Do we?

Ian

[Rob Reilly]

Right, they used to teach jack safety in school with driver training when I was 15. Things like "Put the spare under the car." I wonder if they don't now that so many people can't or won't change a tire.
Speaking of jack safety, there is a recall on chinese jack stands sold by Harbor Freight, just certain model numbers, that have defective pawls and can easily collapse. Check their website to see if yours are part of the recall.

[ROGER FURNEAUX]

Why am I not surprised to hear the words Chinese and defective in the same sentence???

The thing about our British-made Shelley screw jacks is that they are inherently safe - the double screw thread cannot collapse, it has to be wound down. Mine is pre-war, used for years by my father, and only shows minimal wear to the bevel teeth.

Roger