Ford Zephyrs and the like used jacks like that. Jacking points are still where they have always been on modern cars.
whqqsh,
Sep 4, 8:10pm
My old Valiant had a bumper jack, try asking someone these days to work one of those out
mojo49,
Sep 4, 8:11pm
That was a pretty standard generic jack well into the 60's. Most UK cars I think still had the jacking points then. Long time since I used one of those though.
mojo49,
Sep 4, 8:13pm
I remember the bumper jacks. They were really dangerous and could slip or drop very quickly for no obvious reason. I recall you had to flick a little lever to crank them down as well as up.
socram,
Sep 4, 8:18pm
I think have a similar jack. Possibly from the MG ZA Magnette.
As to when they stopped, no idea. I think some just have a reinforced part of the sill, back or front or centre, but the standard jacks tend to be the scissor type and obviously can also be used under parts of the suspension.
saxman99,
Sep 4, 8:52pm
BMW used holes in the sills as recently as the 1998 E36, possibly even later.
toyboy3,
Sep 5, 11:07am
Thanks for that information socram I put that into Google and up came a photo of King dick jack
yz490,
Sep 5, 12:27pm
Yes that brings back my AP5 memories. Worked well too. & torsion bar front suspension--just like CB450 valve springs? if anyone remembers that far back.
whqqsh,
Sep 5, 12:34pm
I had air shocks in the rear too so when a guy at work said he'd paid big bucks to get his Valiant front end lowered I came in the next morning with mine even lower, then the next day had the back jacked up too. went through various silly combinations during the week until back to stock on Friday then told him how easy it was to do. He was pissed!
supernova2,
Sep 5, 1:50pm
Looks like a jack from an Austin 1800 or maxi perhaps.
mrfxit,
Sep 5, 1:56pm
I think Hillman/ Chrysler Hunters had them in to the mid 1980's
mike107,
Sep 5, 2:22pm
My 1969 MK2 Cortina had a similar jack.
yz490,
Sep 5, 4:08pm
Ha Ha, yes had air shocks on the back of mine carrying a cr250 bike on a carry frame, worked good too. Wound the front up & down a bit having a play one day.Loved that car, good old torquey motor. Changing wheels had me stuffed early on with LH thread on left side--or was that the right side! lol.
purple666,
Sep 5, 4:19pm
The number of them you would see on the road with only 4 wheel nuts and studs on the front left.
rodeorunch,
Sep 5, 4:55pm
Now days the cars don't have a spare wheel. With the jeeps you get a small compresser and a tyre panda.
hkjoe,
Sep 5, 7:54pm
I remember those as my dad had Valiants. Seem to remember the car slipping off he jack once and causing some damage.
elect70,
Sep 6, 3:43pm
Merc still had them behind little covers on the sills & the screw jack at least until 05 , dam sight easier to use than poxy under car jacks & those deadly bumper jacks
rsr72,
Sep 6, 4:42pm
Plastic outer sills saw the end of them. Be careful on old cars, rusty sills can collapse using them.
flack88,
Sep 6, 6:13pm
P6 Rover ?
bryshaw,
Sep 6, 10:40pm
Bigger Austins in the 50s used to have built in hydraulic jacks.
elect70,
Sep 7, 2:26pm
^^ i aways wondered why car makers never put in self jacking ( other than Citroen ) guessits because its not a fashy gadget you see .
supernova2,
Sep 7, 2:54pm
Too much bother for very little return.
In say the 1st 5 years of ownership how often would the jack system be used these days? I say probably never.
socram,
Oct 2, 6:59pm
Two years ago, I would have agreed with you, but having had three or four punctures in fairly quick succession - debris left by builders (long sharp roofing screws), inorganic rubbish collections (spark plug) etc., you can never tell. The spark plug through the tyre incident was with a 1 week old car. If during the day, I could have made it to a tyre place, 200m away, but at night? Good job I was driving and not my wife, as there is no way she would have even managed to lift the full sized spare out of the boot, let alone lift it onto the studs. I struggled.
The last two were daytime but I just heard the noise of the screw before the tyre deflated, so straight into the tyre shop.
I do have an electric 'Jackazz', but with several cars, which car do you put it in? So it lives at home where I have a couple of trolley jacks anyway.
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