Jack knackered

[Mugwump]

Just nipped out to the work car park at lunchtime with the intention of replacing a duff brake wear sensor, the final part of the pad replacement from last weekend.

Lifting the car on the OEM jack, the jack collapsed! Just fell to bits!

The plastic hand-knob and metal nut for the jack handle look to have been only pressed onto the end of the threaded rod.
The pressing couldn't take the weight so the nut/knob simply popped off, which allowed the car to drop back down.

Fortunately the car was still on the way up, with the wheel still on the ground so no damage and no injury.

Definitely original OEM jack, still has MB 168/245 stickers on it. And I don't think it's ever been used before.
Stickers and jack were both spotless.

Will post pics when I get somewhere I can take them.

A word of warning to other owners though. Don't rely on the factory jack.
Has there been a recall on these?

I hate to think how this could have left me stranded with a damaged car in the middle of nowhere, or the injury it could have caused.....

 

[SpikyMikey]

Just nipped out to the work car park at lunchtime with the intention of replacing a duff brake wear sensor, the final part of the pad replacement from last weekend.

Lifting the car on the OEM jack, the jack collapsed! Just fell to bits!

The plastic hand-knob and metal nut for the jack handle look to have been only pressed onto the end of the threaded rod.
The pressing couldn't take the weight so the nut/knob simply popped off, which allowed the car to drop back down.

Fortunately the car was still on the way up, with the wheel still on the ground so no damage and no injury.

Definitely original OEM jack, still has MB 168/245 stickers on it. And I don't think it's ever been used before.
Stickers and jack were both spotless.

Will post pics when I get somewhere I can take them.

A word of warning to other owners though. Don't rely on the factory jack.
Has there been a recall on these?

I hate to think how this could have left me stranded with a damaged car in the middle of nowhere, or the injury it could have caused.....

Glad no damage to you or car. I seem to recall (or I may be imagining it) the less than optimum quality of the OEM jack being mentioned before. It's not just MB; BMW jacks are made of cheese as well (although you'll be hard pushed to find a newish Beemer that comes with a jack these days)

 

[Tonygw]

OEM jacks are useless and not fit for purpose. Its scary they even put them in cars at all. Even in and emergency tyre change I wouldn't use them.

Manufacturers should know better

 

[Gazwould]

 

[190]

If you are doing any work on the car at all then a trolley jack is a very worthwhile investment. Besides being safer it's so much faster though you will need a puck to fit the MB jacking points. I don't even trust a trolley jack without putting something else under the car for safety and as if it fails with the wheel off it's a tricky job to pick the car up again if you can't get another jack underneath.

I have never even looked at the OEM jack in the boot. I hope it will work to put the spare wheel on if ever called to do so.

 

[MancRick101]

If you are doing any work on the car at all then a trolley jack is a very worthwhile investment. Besides being safer it's so much faster though you will need a puck to fit the MB jacking points. I don't even trust a trolley jack without putting something else under the car for safety and as if it fails with the wheel off it's a tricky job to pick the car up again if you can't get another jack underneath.

I have never even looked at the OEM jack in the boot. I hope it will work to put the spare wheel on if ever called to do so.

Couldn’t agree more. A Trolley jack is a great investment for people working on cars. They can be picked up for not a lot of money.

I have a basic 2.5 ton one which I bought from Aldi. Works fine, however my current car is too low, so I ended up getting a Halfords Advanced workshop type jack and it is excellent. It’s big and weighs a ton but highly recommended for the price.

 

[Mugwump]

Normally I'd have used a trolley jack - I have several, along with bottle jacks, axle stands etc.

This was just going to be a quick 5 minute job at work, using tools that were already in the car.

Glad I found out about the crappy jack this way, rather than when trying to change a tyre in the pouring rain in the left lane of a smart motorway....

 

[vijilants]

Probably better to keep a bottle jack in the car for an emergency. SGS make nice reasonably priced bottle jacks but they appear to be having production / delivery issues as most of their smaller jacks are out of stock.

The one legged Merc jack has been there forever but has always looked soo ropey and unsafe.

 

[johnsco]

The OP was lucky:
- Not to have suffered this collapse in the dark in an emergency
- Not to have been seriously injured.
One of my W210 jacks collapsed in use some years ago .... Again - Not fit for purpose.
I've used the W211 E280 jack a few times, but I always put blocks under the car to be safe.
It really is not good enough that manufacturers supply safety-critical equipment that is so poor.
I used the W203 C200 jack - Just to try it out when I bought the car.
It works - But it doesn't give much confidence.

When I had the Chevy - Full Size Sedan in the late 1970s, that jack had to raise a corner of a car that weight 2.1/2 tons.
The jacking point was a slot in the corner of the front or rear bumper.
I never doubted it for a minute.
It seems that UK / European consumers have accepted low price when set against safety.

 

[Doodle]

The one legged Merc jack has been there forever but has always looked soo ropey and unsafe.

While it looks precarious, the monopod jack itself is tough as old boots. The deployment method makes it surprisingly stable for movement across the car, but it's definitely not happy with front-back movement.

 

[Petrol Pete]

I too tested mine when I got the car just to see that it would work in an emergency. That was enough for me . I have two trolley jacks and a few bottle jacks at home .

The one in the car is for emergency use only . (stating the bleedin' obvious ), although my car has two MB folding wheel chocks in the boot . Probably help to stop it rocking off the hooky jack MB supplied.

 

[vijilants]

I've never been a fan of jacking up the car using the Merc Jack.

In the event of a puncture, first you have to fiddle around on your hands and knees to try and figure out how to remove the plastic cover for the jack access on the sill, and then lift the car on that one legged unit and pray that it doesnt fall over whilst rapidly trying to change the wheel. Wheel chocks plus the screw in gadget to hang the wheel on the hub are a must or else more panic is involved.

 

[Mugwump]

Probably better to keep a bottle jack in the car for an emergency. SGS make nice reasonably priced bottle jacks but they appear to be having production / delivery issues as most of their smaller jacks are out of stock.

The one legged Merc jack has been there forever but has always looked soo ropey and unsafe.

This is a scisson jack, not a one-legged one.

I thought about carrying a bottle jack in place of the OEM one. The problem is that there isn't going to be enough clearance underneath, especially if you have a flat tyre.

 

[vijilants]

This is a scisson jack, not a one-legged one.

I thought about carrying a bottle jack in place of the OEM one. The problem is that there isn't going to be enough clearance underneath, especially if you have a flat tyre.

You can purchase low clearance bottle jacks. The untra low clearence units are super expensive but this one is a reasonable price and may work....Check the dimensions first re clearance.

SGS 5 Tonne Low Profile Bottle Jack | 110mm Stroke

Professional 5 Tonne Bottle Jack with screw height adjustment, serrated saddle and low pickup height.

www.sgs-engineering.com

There are other low profile units on their site.

 

[Petrol Pete]

What is the dimension 'A' on this jack ? does not look like it would fit , not sure it would be safe to use with the MB 'top hat hockey puck' insert added .

 

[Bellow]

This is a scisson jack, not a one-legged one.

I thought about carrying a bottle jack in place of the OEM one. The problem is that there isn't going to be enough clearance underneath, especially if you have a flat tyre.

Lift it enough with a standard jack to get the bottle jack in place then continue with the bottle jack?

 

[SpikyMikey]

What is the dimension 'A' on this jack ? does not look like it would fit , not sure it would be safe to use with the MB 'top hat hockey puck' insert added .

Manual states min height 185, max 355mm

 

[Petrol Pete]

35mm too long for my car even without the hockey puck.