Kind of a Cool Find

[Hamilton]

My `49 Plymouth still has the original trunk mat, but since it's pretty fragile I've pretty much left it alone over the last 30 years.  I was doing a bit of tidying up in the trunk today and, while vacuuming, pulled the mat back farther than I ever had before.   Noticing what appeared to be the corner of an old piece of paper, I gently pulled it back a little farther and found the original jacking instructions.  I could be wrong, but it seems unlikely there are many of these still around.

 

 

 

Edited October 9, 2020 by Hamilton
typo

[plymouthcranbrook]

I love finding stuff like that.

[greg g]

Cool find. But for safety reasons don't try to use it.

[Go Fleiter]

My placard with Ply fotos the lady is looking at,  is held by the old jack. The instruction You found hang at the jack on mine.

I made a fotocopy of it, laminated it and hang it on again (see insert).

The original is kept in the folders.

 

Beautiful details, for sure. The use would be less sure and leave a damaged crome plating!

Greetings! Go

[Hamilton]

I like the idea of the photocopy.  The wire for the placard is still attached to the jack, along with a couple of small reddish washer-type things that I presume were put there to strengthen/support the hole at the top of the placard.

_

[Hamilton]

6 hours ago, greg g said:

Cool find. But for safety reasons don't try to use it.

What, you've never used a old, unstable bumper jack and the weight of your car to break a tire bead alongside a busy highway?  What's wrong with you, Man?!

_

[Eneto-55]

Back when cars had real bumpers we sometimes did this.  A stubborn one might require hooking a chain in the wheel center (from the bottom), and running it under the tire, then up to the car frame, to put all of the force of the jack on the tire, and not have it just raise the car.  By the way, I've never had a bumper jack slip off, or fall over.  Worst thing is if the base sinks into the ground (you cannot always control where you have to change a tire), but there is the same danger with any other type of jack as well.  I still do not consider bumper jacks to be dangerous, or any less reliable than what they put in cars now-a-days.  The big difference is that cars don't have any substantial structure you can get to except the four designated "jacking points".  (Just my opinion, I guess.)

[Dodgeb4ya]

Neil Riddle still sells those bumper jack instruction cards.

[pflaming]

A single bumper jack usually isn’t dangerous, but two very! 

[Go Fleiter]

Yes, and when I forgot to consider, that the emegency brake works on the propeller shaft, the car fell off the jack in the moment, when the back wheel was lifted off the ground.

Now, I always have wheel wedges on hand!

[Loren]

Remember the old (it was current then) joke about bumper jacks?

"On a $1,500 car you always get a $1.75 bumper jack, why is that?

Because they ran out of the $1.50 ones."

[DJK]

22 hours ago, Hamilton said:

What, you've never used a old, unstable bumper jack and the weight of your car to break a tire bead alongside a busy highway?  What's wrong with you, Man?!

_

I still do, but I use the trailer hitch on my Nissan Frontier.

[Eneto-55]

1 hour ago, DJK said:

I still do, but I use the trailer hitch on my Nissan Frontier.

To lift the vehicle, or to break the bead on a tire? 

 

But that's a great idea - a person could easily weld up a "Reece hitch" type fixture to insert into the receiver, that would prevent the jack from tipping.  (Not that I plan on doing a tire repair on the roadside, or even that I plan to put a hitch on my Plymouth.  Anyway, roadside repairs only work with tubes - try airing up a tubeless tire with a hand pump....)

[desoto1939]

I have the original jack for my 39 Desoto and the ground plate only has a dimple or indent for where the metal bar would rest inthe bottom plate.  I would never have used that jack in a million years.  i carry a big sizzors jack that has a study bottom plate and also a pice of wood to put the jack on top of if I am on dirt or soft grouns.  You can never be to carefule when working on a 3000 Lb car with the whell off the ground.

 

The complete jack is just for show only.

 

Rich Hartung 

[DJK]

14 hours ago, Eneto-55 said:

To lift the vehicle, or to break the bead on a tire? 

 

But that's a great idea - a person could easily weld up a "Reece hitch" type fixture to insert into the receiver, that would prevent the jack from tipping.  (Not that I plan on doing a tire repair on the roadside, or even that I plan to put a hitch on my Plymouth.  Anyway, roadside repairs only work with tubes - try airing up a tubeless tire with a hand pump....)

Break tire bead. It is a bumper jack from a 68 Chevy, works great to lift my zero turn for blade service also. The bottom plate is welded to the jack shaft.

Edited October 11, 2020 by DJK