Davery

I was jacking my cabriolet up to remove and clean the wheels and the jack stand bent, then collapsed. Thankfully, I wasn't hurt and the wheel was still on the car. Anyway, I really dislike the OEM jack. Are there any other options that will take about the same space in the trunk? If I have to replace with the same style, any idea which models and years used this jack?

JohnnyC

A bottle jack is vastly stronger and compact but just as unstable and very heavy.

Also your terminology is wrong, a jack is a lifting device that can be hydraulic, mechanical, or pneumatic. A stand is a stable platform you rest the vehicle on. You should not use a scissor jack for this task, it is for emergency use only and can't support great loads. You should be a trolley jack/floor jack and 4 stands.

pwsharpe88

Take a look at these stands (requires a floor jack). Make sure to get the Mercedes adapter. I have had great success with them.

https://safejacks.com/collections/co...ck-single-unit

Stuttgarten

The factory stand from W211 is identical to W212.

2011E350

I will do a +2 on pwsharpe's endorsement of the Safe Jacks. I have not used them yet but they seem steady and stable. The slight flare of the jack at the base is to allow the jack underneath to be wheeled in and out. They are pricey for initial purchase but seem sturdy enough.
Personally I would not plan on using the Safe Jacks to support the entire vehicle but this setup allows you to raise the vehicle higher on the initial lift to find a good sturdy place to install jack stands. The typical problem for me at least was the place I wanted to
use to install the jack stand was already occupied by the axle jack pad. The Safe Jack was a bit high for initial purchase...just barely South of $800 That included a set of four Safe Jack axle jack pad adapters.....(Bridge) Four sets of the bridge support legs...(Pier)
Adapter plates for my 2011 E350 AND the 2018 Explorer...four pad adapters per vehicle. Two carrying cases and shipping. The company does not offer FREE shipping but not the end of the world. Made in USA and fairly easy to use and understand the concept
of]how they are supposed to work. Again I personally don't recommend using them to support the entire weight of the vehicle especially for long term but higher initial lifting surface to allow better more stable placement of the jack stands under the vehicle,
Steering Knuckle, K member, you get the idea.

The Safe Jack is pretty easy to use but I would recommend purchasing a cable, chain or something that can attach the quick release pins to the base or the side. I can see them accidentally disappearing, ie getting kicked under vehicle, kicked outside into the great beyond, etc...

Easy to install, and break down, the storage cases are nice. I plan on bringing at least one set with me for any major road trip for lets say Flat Tire, Oil Change etc.. Primarily flat tire but you get the idea.

The only thing I can think of right off the top of my head but could work for "Roadside emergencies" Flat tire etc... Might be Amazon. They sell a pretty good variety of better than OEM scissor jacks or bottle jacks.
They even have Electric scissor jacks that can help the lifting process along. Most have a adapter cord that can plug into the 12V Charging port (Cigarette Lighter) inside the vehicle or directly to the POS/NEG terminal posts of the OEM battery. If you go that
route I would recommend a decent piece of 3/4" or 1 inch board underneath the jack to act as a stabilizing platform for the base of the jack. The electrically operated scissor jacks are about the same profile as the OEM jack and usually come with their own
carrying case for storage. The Safe Jack solution although very good would in my opinion be more practical for Home use but as we all know Tires don't ask...."Are we there yet?" before giving up the ghost due to debris, old age or just bad luck. The reason the Safe Jack
is not as good on the road is obviously you need an axle jack to get underneath the bridge so that means carrying around a Three ton capacity jack in the car at all times...+ the Safe Jacks.

When I use them I will try to remember some "At Work" photos.

2011E350

Here is a photo of the overview of the Safe Jack. Yes there are more but this one from their website should be enough to show proof of concept and overview of how they operate.

Darel

I bought a pair of the Rennstands above and they're actually great. Work perfect out of the box for my Audi, which uses the pinch welds for jacking. For the MB, not so much, at least until they come out wht an adapter for our jack pads. What I do to use them is remove the factory jack pad, and insert an adapter I fabbed up from some 2x2 steel tubing with a few bits and notches welded on to it to take the place of the factory pad. When SafeJack comes up with an adapter for the factory jack pad they'll be perfect.

Darel

EDIT: it looks like they finally did come out with an adapter for our cars, which is strikingly similar to what I made for mine:

https://safejacks.com/collections/re...stand-jack-pad

pwsharpe88

As I mentioned above, I used the Mercedes adapters, and also purchased adapters for my 13' Boxster. They are the tool purchase of the year 2018 for me! I do wish they were less expensive.

KEY08

I use the same low profile Arcan lift shown in the photo above with a custom jack pad to fit the notch in the frame. You can buy these jack pads on eBay. No biggie. I have 2 ton adjustable jack stands if needing to keep the car in the air.

2011E350

I got two sets of Adapters, set of four for Mercedes and four Ford pinch weld adapters...………………...FYI I think I know how this phot came about. Take a look at the tire in the photo, about middle of screen near outside of the tread.....Note the white/grey headed object. My guess is he got screwed...Literally.

DFWdude

I like the innovative concept of the SafeJack. That said, it is a very expensive set of tools. To rotate two tires, I understand you will need two stands ($125 ea), two MB adapters ($20ea), plus shipping, maybe sales tax? Let's say $320 or so.

For that amount, one can pay any local shop eight times for a 4-tire rotation ($40 per visit). No dirty hands, no exercise needed, and even "safer" than the SafeJack.

I'm all in favor of DIY work. I change oil on my MBs and Brake Pads/Rotors, etc., like everyone else. But I have to think more about this one. To work on a single tire, I can always find a sturdy suspension jack point for the floor jack and then use a traditional jack stand for safety (I have my own MB adapter).

Darel

Yeah but that doesn't account for all the other times you have to jack the car up. Doing an actual service A or B is way more than just a tire rotation, but a lot of it is just simple inspections that you can easily do yourself and save well more than the cost of taking it to a shop just once.

ygmn

for the price of 4 you are halfway to a 2 post lift which sell for $1500....

THink I would just get the lift and ask wife for forgiveness later.

Darel

Because everyone has room for a lift in their 1-car attached garage.

KEY08

Lifts are nice, but take up a lot of room in any garage, plus a two-post will probably require a reinforced slab where it bolts to the floor. Most garage floors are a simple 4" slab and then you are stuck jacking out a section of floor and pouring concrete, etc. The $1,500 lift becomes a pipe dream at that point. Budget $5,000 for a lift.

ygmn

check out lifts... 4" slab is ok for most
I have since I have a large exterior building with my house.

Big thing is ceiling height so you can lift enough to stand under versus being crouched.

4 post lifts are cool as well...

KEY08

No doubt they are nice to have. I would only install a 4 post lift in a garage with enough ceiling height to stack a car up top. Once again, with garage door mods and everything else, including installation, it is a $5K investment.

kajtek1

My $1900 lift come with casters, so I can roll it whenever I want.

ygmn

got pics of the lift on casters?
very interesting.

Would allow me to put where ever I need instead of fixed in one spot.

bbirdwell

+1 on the photo. Do you have to use a jack to raise the lift so as to attach the casters?

Shuffle puzzle garage. Kinda cool how many cars you can place in the garage.

The mountain range in the background is nice!

Plus it took me a moment to "get the pun" with the California license plate...

cetialpha5

Here's a 4 post lift for $2125. Doesn't need to be bolted to the floor as 4 posts makes it stable.

https://www.mytoolequipmentguy.com/t...tomotive-lift/


There's a video about it here with the wheels:

retna7

No Quick Jack fans? $1250 out the door most places.

KEY08

5,000 # capacity Quick Jack is $999 at Costco. They always have it on sale. Free ship

ygmn

these are cool: