308 Jack alternatives

You are so right, a hydraulic bottle jack won't fit under the car and it is pretty heavy to carry around....I use a cheap sissors jack from my old triumph spitfire and then I bought another sissors jack from pepboys that has a hydraulic ram to it and comes in a nice plastic case and makes jacking the car in the real world easier and I keep my OEM tools and jack at home ....(I learned this lesson form my earlier 308 when I picked up the car from the mechanic and the OEM tools, and manual were gone....he shrugged his shoulder , gave me the " I'll look around for them , I am sure they are around here somewhere and I will give you a call" you guessed it the call never came). Also it is weird, the front trunk only fits the front tire..so if you actually drive the car and have to fix a flat in the rear ( as I did,) you replace it with a rear tire and then the flat rear tire doesn't fit to well int he front, ( you have to have it really deflated and have the lid open ...DO NOT TRY AND FORCE IT CLOSED over the bigger tire...it will bend easily)...also if you are like me and have OEM mag wheels....they leak...and a can of air or flat repair is a must in an emergency...just be sure and clean that crap out when the tire is removed as it will unbalance the wheel. I don't use a post and screw type jack as I always was worried the post part would scratch the bodywork....also I put a little red dot on the lower body work to let me know where the correct jacking points are so the I am not hunting around for them under the car at night....also be sure you don't jack the car up in the rear by the gas tank or the engine!

 

for around town the tow truck will suffice, if i need it. for road trips i carry an aluminum racing jack. not the most space efficiant but the quickest and best for those side road emergencies.

last trip it came in handy when i had to R&R the starter. sears has them for a decent price.

 

When I got my car it came without the stock jack, so I went to the local junkyard and hunted around for a jack that went low enough. The problem is that the cheapo scissors jacks that come with Hondas (for example) that are low enough to get under a 308 are not really strong enough. I used a jack from a Civic that went low enough, but I bent it when I lifted the 308! I finally tracked down an OEM Ferrari jack and they are made much stronger!!

Birdman

 

Buy a Mercedes C class jack. It folds flat and will fit under the car even with a flat tire. It is also much lighter than the factory jack, which does not fit if you have a flat (at least on 328's). I learned this the hard way about 2 years ago on my way from San Diego to Monterey. I had to go through big hassles to get the car jacked up with the factory jack. Now I carry the Mercedes jack in the car all of the time, leave the other one at home.

Alberto

 

I use an "aluminum racing jack" at home purchased from Harbor Freight. It is rated at 3000lbs and is much lighter than my old steel Sears one. In the car I use a scisoors (sp?) type that I got out of a 3rd gen Mazda RX-7. It too is aluminum and much lighter than the stock one. Of course the stock one is in the garage "for originality" purposes.