WNY08TLS

IF ANYONE HAS HAD A PROBLEM THAT GOT ADDRESS BY SOMEONE WITH ACURA (and doesnt want to read this long post)WHO HELPED THEM OUT, PLEASE SEND ME THE CONTACT INFORMATION. Here's why:


Over the weekend I got a flat tire. No big deal....

I have never used my AAA membership for a flat tire; I have always changed them myself. I pulled into a parking lot (nice and flat) and proceeded to change the tire (front pass)...

I should mention my wife and daughter were in the backseat... My wife is 38 weeks pregnant and was having contractions.

Anyway, I pulled out the absolutely pitiful spare tire and the foam insert that accompanied it. My Lexus that I had before this had a full size, same as OEM spare tire.... The Jack that comes with the 2008 TL is a cheap piece of junk that actually made me nervous to attempt lifting the car. I manufacture mechanical parts for a living, including sheet metal--Acura cut a corner here to save some $$.

Anyway I jack the car up a little, loosened the lugs and then proceeded to jack the car up the rest of the way...as the tire started to lift off the ground the jack suddenly was unable to lift the car and I had to put allot more effort into getting the car off the ground. I was able to get it up high enough to take the wheel off.

AS I WAS PULLING THE TIRE OFF THE CAR--I realized that the car was slowly lowering (seemed to be leaning forward) and that it was GOING TO FALL. So I quickly put the tire back under the fender and the car came crashing down on the tire with the rotor against the rim---almost crushing my arm and cutting and bruising up my hand.

I pulled the jack out and looked at it--the center spindle is completely bent which is what caused the car the lean and eventually fall. There was no other force that could have caused that type of movement since I was pulling the wheel and tire perpendicular to the direction that the car moved.

Bottom line is I am really happy I didn’t get hurt, and that I was able to prevent the car from slamming to the ground but I am definitely not going to ignore this...

BTW -Acura client services is a complete joke. They are rude and unhelpful which is also the opposite of my experience with Lexus. Unimpressive from a customer who just bought a car that I would not consider cheap...

PS as another side note....my rim is completely destroyed from the Pot hole and had to order a new tire and rim for a healthy $650.00... Not a good weekend in that regard....

TeknoKing

Sorry to hear about your experience...

I'm guessing you did not line up the jack with the notches made for lifting, and you should never (EVER) lift a car with people in it...it only takes for one person to move to shift the weight to the weakest point...

What are you trying to get out of ACURA? New Rim? Better Jack? Full Sized Spare (though I do agree would of been much better, but would make the car heavier)..

berite100

i attempted to change my flat too...till i saw the flimsy jack...then realized i had the road side assistant call them had a guy come and changed the flat in less than an hour. i was okay with that.
but yeah that jack i is a joke.

berite100

oh and i remember the conversation with my dealer. when i said ... damn thats cheap no full spare. and without missing a beat he goes you just call the road side assistance. so you dont have to get your hands dirty.

ussi

iTrader: (1)

HOLY CRAP that is scary! i'm glad you're ok.

black label

x2 on not having people in the car when you jack it up.

blatallic

You guys think this jack is bad, check out the ones for the old school Mercedes (1988) type models....

Those are the worse EVAR!!!!!

Glad your okay man....I usually end up buying a small jack and keep it in the car...

WNY08TLS

Im with you guys that there should be no one in the car...

You ask your about to give birth wife to get out and sit on the pavement...Sometimes you have to improvise

It was lined up on the notches...Its just a shitty jack.

No one got hurt, so really there is nothing to complain about.

stillhere153

iTrader: (1)

I dont agree about the shitty jack... I've used these jacks alot and I've never had a problem except for little skin missing from my knuckles....

you might not have read the instructions correctly

csmeance

the movement of one person can throw off the jack.As you mention, a daughter and wife who was pregant were in the car. Your wife was having contractions. I would figure that either of these two people would shift their weight during the couse of the changing of a tire.
I have used my stock jack more than 8 or 9 times to do my tire rotations and nothing has happened to it. I would figure that the jack would have stripped the center spindle before bending.
I will put it this way, be lucky that the jack colapsed and it did not cut into the floor pan and possibly injure someone. That happened to a member in italy where his car slipped and the jack put a hole in the car.

Call up acura-client services and tell them the jack failed and it damaged your car. they warranty 5-6K out of warranty repairs, a 650 dollar rim and tire plus any other damage is not much to them.

pkarandi

I have used the jack once and it worked fine. But, it does seem pretty flimsy and cheap quality. But, it should be able to easily hold the car up for a wheel/tire swap. It sounds like your jack is defective. I would talk to Acura and try to get them to pay for the problems it has caused. Just to be safe, don't mention that people were in the car.

As far as the people inside the car moving causing the jack to fail... That doesn't make sense to me. Am I missing something here? I mean, the car must be putting about 1000 lbs of pressure on the jack. As long as the jack's on stable ground, I don't see why a little shifting in the car would cause this. I would think his pregnant wife or kid would have to be jumping back and forth to mess with the jack.

I'm glad I saw this thread since it has engrained in me that the folks in the car should get out before using the jack. Don't think I ever gave that any thought before. It's safer this way, but I would think the jack would still work fine with a few people in the car.

Good luck to the OP and glad to hear you and your family were not hurt.

csmeance

People moving in the car causes rapid shifts of weight, and if the jack was supporting the car, it is more of a pulsing effect on the jack, like hammering a nail. Like I said before, I would think that the center spindle would stip before bending, can the OP post a pic of the damaged jack?

BlacuraTL-S

iTrader: (3)

im sure there was some R&D that went into making that jack...

i dont think acura/honda would have something that is completely crappy in there trademark vehicle...

it has its limitations, but its sole purpose is for lifting to change a flat...

but you may have had a defective one

if you call client services ask for anthony dalia...i dont remember his etension but maybe 115092 might be it...

he really took care of me last year...and trust me long story short, i caused all hell for acura...i got 2 car payments out of client services and a couple services...

RACINGHART03

iTrader: (2)

Sounds like user error. The jacks are perfectly fit for their intended purpose under the conditions SPECIFIED in the owners manual. They are however much less forgiving of any variation ie. unveven road surfaces or unexpected weight changes such as people moving around in the car while you lift it...wait did I just even type that!!?!?!?!?!?

rka4570

iTrader: (1)

Was the parking brake set? If not, since the car could roll once either either of the drive wheels are lifted. It's usually a good ideal to put a wheeel chuck one the tire diagonally opposite the wheel being lifted.