I had a quickjack for my other cars, overall works well, it's convenient if you don't have room for a full 4-post or 2-post lift, and is faster than jacking and placing jack stands, especially if you're going to be working on the car for a while, since you can lower it to access engine bay, interior, etc and then raise it to do stuff underneath the car. Up until recently, however, it wasn't a good option for an E9 because the ideal lifting points are staggered, with the frame rails much more towards the center in the front and then either the subframe or back end of the frame rail more to the side in the rear. Because the QJ lifts along a linear path, it needs the right and left sides to be parallel to one another. One option is using pinch weld blocks and lifting by the edge of the rockers or the weld seam, but again not ideal in our cars because the fuel line is right there on the driver side. IN the past QJ would have recommended that you place the two lifts running across the car rather than along it, and to have the front lift have its supports closer together than the rear lift. That works but is pretty wonky - the car lifts sideways and then you have two cross beams underneath the car. Maybe good for changing wheels or doing brakes but not ideal for any engine/drivetrain work.
Earlier this year they came out with a crossbeam that spans the front portion of the two lifts and has sliding lift points so now the fronts and rears can be staggered from one another. I got it planning to use it for the E9 and my MG, and so far it works great. A few small issues:
1. You still do have a crossbeam, but see the pictures below. When I installed my drivetrain today I did it with the standard jack stands, but I probably could have done it with the QJ. I think unless you're dropping the transmission it isn't an issue
2. Setup takes a little bit longer. It was about 10 minutes, between positioning the lifts, orienting the crossbeam, etc. In addition, because the frame rail comes down fairly low, I did need to jack the front of the car slightly to get the crossbeam and the lift supports under there. But once it's set up it's easy.
3. The crossbeam is very heavy. I have the 7000TL version, since I wanted to be able to lift my truck, so all of the parts are heavy. I had the wall mounts but found lifting the things onto the wall onerous. Instead I added casters to them so they glide easily, and in its disassembled state I can keep the two lift portions and the cross beam slammed together on the floor and just drive over them with the car. They clear easily and that's not space I'm using anyways since it's under the car.
4. Once you have the car lifted you can detach the hoses if you're not going to be going up and down routinely. I have the pump and hoses on a small Harbor Freight welding cart, so I tend to lift the car, detach the hoses and then push the cart out of the way if I'm going to have it lifted for a while.
5. On the QJ facebook forum there are instructions for making the remote wireless. I HIGHLY recommend this option, since I can have the remote in hand, start going up, walk around the car, adjust, lower a bit if needed, adjust, etc. When the remote is wired you're a bit limited in your movement.
There's no way that this beats a full lift, but for those of us with garages that won't support a lift, this is a very viable option.
Earlier this year they came out with a crossbeam that spans the front portion of the two lifts and has sliding lift points so now the fronts and rears can be staggered from one another. I got it planning to use it for the E9 and my MG, and so far it works great. A few small issues:
1. You still do have a crossbeam, but see the pictures below. When I installed my drivetrain today I did it with the standard jack stands, but I probably could have done it with the QJ. I think unless you're dropping the transmission it isn't an issue
2. Setup takes a little bit longer. It was about 10 minutes, between positioning the lifts, orienting the crossbeam, etc. In addition, because the frame rail comes down fairly low, I did need to jack the front of the car slightly to get the crossbeam and the lift supports under there. But once it's set up it's easy.
3. The crossbeam is very heavy. I have the 7000TL version, since I wanted to be able to lift my truck, so all of the parts are heavy. I had the wall mounts but found lifting the things onto the wall onerous. Instead I added casters to them so they glide easily, and in its disassembled state I can keep the two lift portions and the cross beam slammed together on the floor and just drive over them with the car. They clear easily and that's not space I'm using anyways since it's under the car.
4. Once you have the car lifted you can detach the hoses if you're not going to be going up and down routinely. I have the pump and hoses on a small Harbor Freight welding cart, so I tend to lift the car, detach the hoses and then push the cart out of the way if I'm going to have it lifted for a while.
5. On the QJ facebook forum there are instructions for making the remote wireless. I HIGHLY recommend this option, since I can have the remote in hand, start going up, walk around the car, adjust, lower a bit if needed, adjust, etc. When the remote is wired you're a bit limited in your movement.
There's no way that this beats a full lift, but for those of us with garages that won't support a lift, this is a very viable option.
