Widowmaker strikes again

[manguyen]

i bet if enough of us write in to AoA, something could be done. I personally had mine fail on me as i was taking my front wheel off, all lug bolts were off the wheel and the jack just failed and car came down on the wheel.

[b6onboost]

The OEM jack is meant to be used when changing a flat on the road, not as an all purpose shop jack. It is perfectly fine for its intended use. Even with that said, I've used my OEM jack probably 100 times. I've used it in situations I probably shouldn't have, and while I don't do that anymore...it did work fine.

[pa4ul]

i had my jack bend and the car fell. Thank God the tire was still on or it woulda been ulgy

[B6Lovin]

someone should start a new thread somewhere on the site where they list their address or a willing attorney's address so that everyone can mail in a formatted letter outlining what happened to them, and any pictures or description of possible damage.

all that could then be put into a folder and mailed out to AoA as a packet to their legal department.

[Mark]

I've had mine fail on me as well . . . it just bent in half sideways, buckled and slid out from under the car. I would never use it for any real work where I can use my real jack. In a pinch though, I still have used the OEM one a few more times when I had flats on the side of the road though. Just work fast . . .

[KNaudi]

jesus christ.... I have 2 of these things and I refuse to use them. One sits in the trunk just in case I REALLY need it. Have a 4 ton floor jack for major work. I will never feel right if I have to use this on the side of the road to change a flat.

[alexza4]

The OEM jack is meant to be used when changing a flat on the road, not as an all purpose shop jack. It is perfectly fine for its intended use. Even with that said, I've used my OEM jack probably 100 times. I've used it in situations I probably shouldn't have, and while I don't do that anymore...it did work fine.

sorry... but this is bull. you've just been very lucky that you've used it so many times and its still hasn't failed on you.
i don't care if the OEM jack is only designed to be used once or many times or emergencies only, that thing is unsafe and should not be used period. wether you're changing the tire on the side of the road or actaully stupid enough to do any kind of a repair with it. like i said all i was doing was jackin car up to get my big jack under it and it failed on me, same hapenned to many other people. that thing is tragedy waiting to happen.

[Papachristou]

mine slid while i was trying to take a wheel off..... came out from under the car and ripped my door blade

Mine did the exact same thing on perfectly level concrtete inside an aircraft hangar while i was at the tool box 100 feet away. I threw that pos out

I can't imagine getting under that thing

[a4wd]

i know a guy in the area that was working on his car with one of these jacks in front of his driveway. He was under the car when the jack failed and burned off layers of his face because he was working on a vehicle before cooldown. Basically the oil pan melted his face

[KNaudi]

pictures of said face please.

[jstcalmebatman]

forget the coilpack recall we need these to be recalled..

[manguyen]

^^^ hard to recall when its already in the trash :-)

[b6onboost]

It's not bull. I am not exaggerating the 100 either. Yes, for years it was my only jack and was always used for minor work at each corner. Mainly wheel swapping, never with me under the car. Posts like these have scared me into not using it anymore though, but I cannot personally say anything bad about it. Mine has far exceeded the intended use without issue.

sorry... but this is bull. you've just been very lucky that you've used it so many times and its still hasn't failed on you.
i don't care if the OEM jack is only designed to use once, that thing is unsafe and should not be used period. wether you're changing the tire on the side of the road or actaully stupid enough to do any kind of a repair with it. like i said all i was doing was jackin car up to get my big jack under it and it failed on me, same hapenned to many other people. that thing is tragedy waiting to happen.

[dougyfresh]

This is why I like to keep wooden steps to drive up on before having to jack up the car. Cause no matter how low you are you can fit a 2x4 under it to drive up a little and then have a 2nd one nailed or screwed down about 1/2 or 3/4 of the way down it to get you 4" in the air for a jack.

/\
That is the way to do it.




BUT.
I prefer to use my Hi-Lift jack to swap my wheels.

[B6Lovin]

/\
That is the way to do it.




BUT.
I prefer to use my Hi-Lift jack to swap my wheels.

yeah, cause hi-lift's are safe to use anywhere (as long as anywhere is a garage floor)....



just bustin balls - but really... i HATE using them. they work great if you have an intentionally placed part on your car for use with one, and if you're on good, hard, level ground....

aka never when you need one

[A4SoftWalker]

I try to get the car on the jackstand as quickly as possible when using this deathtrap and it still almost got me once.

I was bringing car up so I could get at the DV and i was parked beside the pole in the underground parking. The jack FLEXED OUT and dropped the car sideways! Almost into the pole. Literally missed the pole by < 2 cm!

Same here mine walked the car sideways and bent the lip of the jack.

I was trying to get the car up to use my jack stands too.

Carry a scissor jack and block of wood for the front. Jack fits under the rear jack points fine.

I still got mine somewhere I think so I'm down for a joint class action lawsuit.

[poop_on_jdm]

Audi definitely failed on the jackstand..that shit happened to me a month after i bought my car when i was changing a tire..it scared the shit out of me..so i went a bought one of those floor jacks

[Papachristou]

can you imagine having to use that POS on the side of the road with 18wheelers thundering by or on some gravel or grass on the edge of the road? forget it......

[B6Lovin]

can you imagine having to use that POS on the side of the road with 18wheelers thundering by or on some gravel or grass on the edge of the road? forget it......

when i was working roadside assistance - half my calls for "flats" were cars (of all makes and models, yes i had 2 audis) that had fallen off the jacks for that exact reason. 18 wheeler roars by @ around 80mph and woosh - car comes down. hard.

[dougyfresh]

yeah, cause hi-lift's are safe to use anywhere (as long as anywhere is a garage floor)....



just bustin balls - but really... i HATE using them. they work great if you have an intentionally placed part on your car for use with one, and if you're on good, hard, level ground....

aka never when you need one

I was joking about the Hi-Lift and the Audi. I use a hydraulic floor jack like this on with the Audi.


Also use that with the Jeep unless I'm offroad and fubared a wheel. Then I use my Hi-Lift.

[Tiluleshpingen]

THAT THING SHOULD NOT BE USED.... EVER>> PERIOD never know when it can fall never know when ur luck runs out

[woofster]

FOR SALE: One brand new, never-used Audi OEM manual jack. Item still in its original location in trunk. A1 condition. Reason for selling: I have a trusty old reliable and safe 2.5-ton hydraulic jack in my trunk already. Best offer, no low ballers please.

[Greedo]

i bet if enough of us write in to AoA, something could be done. I personally had mine fail on me as i was taking my front wheel off, all lug bolts were off the wheel and the jack just failed and car came down on the wheel.

Same thing happened to me a few weeks ago. I had my hand on top of the wheel and the car came down. My finger is still a bit fucked up from that. Hurt like hell!

[Lusticles]

yeahp. When i got a flat on the side of a highway during rush hour, the thing popped off while I had the whole wheel off of the car, so of course my audi just fell to the ground.

After 45 minutes of standing there like an idiot unable to contact anybody who would actually be able to help me, a technician that actually worked at the Audi Dealer where I bought the car stopped and helped me out.

I still don't have a replacement, so if I get another flat im SOL to change the tire myself.

[a4wheelin]

The OEM jack is meant to be used when changing a flat on the road, not as an all purpose shop jack. It is perfectly fine for its intended use. Even with that said, I've used my OEM jack probably 100 times. I've used it in situations I probably shouldn't have, and while I don't do that anymore...it did work fine.

2nd. I've used mine uncountable times. It's the only jack I've ever used on my car. I still use it. I always use a jack stand though. But reading this thread has scared me a little so I think I'll go grab a nice floor jack before mine fails.

[alexza4]

2nd. I've used mine uncountable times. It's the only jack I've ever used on my car. I still use it. I always use a jack stand though. But reading this thread has scared me a little so I think I'll go grab a nice floor jack before mine fails.

then both you guys are lucky. that's all i got to say. and i'm actually glad that this thread has possibly made you change your minds. cause' sooner or later that thing will fail and at the worst possible time. and there's nothing worse then false sence of security.

[a4wheelin]

then both you guys are lucky. that's all i got to say. and i'm actually glad that this thread has possibly made you change your minds. cause' sooner or later that thing will fail and at the worst possible time. and there's nothing worse then false sence of security.

Well thanks for sharing your shitty experience so that the rest of us can learn.

[GermanAudi]

I took it out of my trunk once and after about 10 minutes of fiddling with it, I couldn't ever figure out how to use it.

[alexza4]

Well thanks for sharing your shitty experience so that the rest of us can learn.

No problem bud. I can't beleivE this thread keeps popping up but it's good I suppose.... Many people know how big of a POS thta Jack is but a lot don't so if thus thread has helped to change someones mind about using it i'm happy.

I took it out of my trunk once and after about 10 minutes of fiddling with it, I couldn't ever figure out how to use it.

haha good one.

[tbg226]

Hello-

I work at a law firm and we have a client with severe injuries from proper use of the widow maker jack.

If anyone else out there also became injured after using the jack please call or email our office. 818-528-7600.

My email is [email protected]

Thank you.

This is about to happen to my '04. I saw it as I was putting it away after using it to pull a wheel to measure the brake rotor dia. when I was away from my tools.

I can't believe that threaded pivot rod the screw threads through is just crimped in. I checked the jack on my wifes '05.5 & its still cheesy aluminum, but it looks like they realized the crimp is grossly inadequate, since the design is a bit different.

Searching around to see if there's any solution other than driving around with a) no jack, b) floor jack/bottle jack knocking around the trunk, or c) some jack from another car knocking around the trunk.

The OEM design isn't really so bad, save for the alumium construction ffs.

[Rupesworth]

People use these for things other than rolling fenders?

[bgzs4]

Do they still use this design on the current generation cars?

[f1torrents]

Widow maker failed badly on my Jetta.
I went out and picked up a Honda jack (made of steel) to replace my Alum. and plastic VW one.
I wont go near these things anymore.

Lesson learned, and lucky neither me or the car was damaged.

[black2.7t]

Was taking tire off to put spare on, just as I had started to take tire from hub, widowmaker broke and car fell on the tire, heres what it did to my fender :(







sorry about the muddy tires, it was raining that day :/

[AudiBama]

I kept my jack from the mustang I used to own. It's nice and low and a better design than the Audi jack.

I just use my low profile floor jack when I'm at home though.