Do you have questions about the Jack Rod? Well then check out F87source's independent product review below, for your answers.
Introduction:
In this product review I will be taking an in-depth look at the AGM products jack rod and all the benefits this incredibly ingenious tool offers. If you would like to buy this tool here’s a link to do so: https://agm-products.com/collections/jacks/products/jack-rod-stand
Disclaimer:
Damage/Injury Disclaimer: Any information, guidance, technical advice, coding advice, tuning advice, datalogging advice, installation instruction, calculation, experiment, safety information, or product installation demonstrated in my reviews is to be consumed and or done at your own risk. I will not be responsible for personal injuries, injuries to others or any living being, or any damage to your car, or any property damage.
Monetary disclaimer: I do not make commission, or profits or any kind of monetary gain from the sale of the Bootmod3 tuning software.
Sponsorship disclaimer: The way my reviews work is that I determine what product that I want to buy and actually use on my own car, and during this process the product that I end up choosing is what I believe is the best option on the market. I then reach out to the company offering the product and ask them if they would be willing to sponsor me in a review, if the answer is yes then I write a review, if the answer is no I would end up buying the product (sometimes at a later date) but I would not make a large review about it. But the critical thing is that I reach out for a sponsorship and not the other way around, this means that the products I am reviewing are actually things I believe in and would use on my own car. This also means that I am not being paid to review something I do not care about. Would I do a review if a sponsor reached out to me? The answer would depend on if I believed in the product, and I would make it clear in my review if this were the case. But at the time of writing this review, such an interaction has not occurred yet.
Time of writing disclaimer: everything I am writing about in this review is described at the time of writing and may not be updated in the future, so there is a potential that things are no longer accurate in my comparisons as parts are changed and upgraded as time passes.
Bias and comparison disclaimer: Throughout this review I will attempt to be as unbiased as possible while drawing comparisons to other products.
Image Credits:
Images and videos used in this review are all property of their rightful owners as credited below each image, I am just using them for the purpose of this review but if you (the owner of the image) would like them removed please let me know via pm. Otherwise thanks to the respective image owners (I made sure to credit your online name and link where I found the photo) of the photos, without you this review would be so much more bland.
Review Disclaimer:
First and foremost I would like to thank the AGM Products for agreeing to sponsor me for this review. Despite this I will remain as unbiased as possible during the review. Please note, the dynamics of this relationship was that I reached out for a sponsorship review and not the other way around, this should demonstrate how I truly feel about the jack rod - in the sense that I truly believe it is an incredibly ingenious and useful tool, and would absolutely use it myself (in fact I am using it as I write this review, and I am using it to help me install some mud flaps - which I will be talking about in another review).
Shipping, Customer Service, and Packaging:
The first few things I would like to discuss is the shipping, Customer service, and packaging that I experienced when acquiring the jack rod.
So customer service, customer service was very good, Kyle from AGM answered all of my questions promptly, was professional, courteous and extremely knowledgeable about the products I inquired upon (in this case the jack rod). When he didn’t know the answer, he would contact the engineering department to get the answers for me - so props to Kyle for going above and beyond to help me. So overall customer service was great, no complaints here.
Next is shipping, the shipping experience was very good. I had the order placed around maybe 2PM PST (so later on in the afternoon) and despite this my order was packaged and shipped out via DHL on the same day, so order processing speed was absolutely astonishing (this can be very helpful if you need parts for your build ASAP). The package also reached me in less than a week despite it being shipped over the July 1st (Canada day) and July 4th (Independence day) long weekends and across the border into Canada.
Packaging was also excellent, the Jack rod itself was packaged in a cardboard box and surrounded in a foam insert perfectly cutout for the Jack Rod. This prevented the Jack Rod from being flung around during shipping and potentially damaged, so this was an excellent choice of packaging material. The other upside of this style of packaging is that the foam insert can be removed from the box and integrated into a tool cabinet allowing for a little insert to place your Jack Rod, or it can be used as a template for you to cut out your own section of foam for the Jack Rod to sit within.
The shipping container was also high quality, it was a uline certified cardboard box (has a BMC certificate from ULINE) meaning it was tested for a specific weight tolerance and strength. Why does this matter? Well if your package is damaged the shipping company will often ask for the Box’s BMC to ensure it was a quality box designed to be able to handle the thing shipped inside of it, without a quality box your damage claim may be denied.
Jack rod:
What is a Jack Rod? The Jack Rod is a compact spring loaded tool capable of turning your hydraulic floor jack into a replacement for the traditional jack stand and capable of holding anywhere from 2 Tons to 3.5 Tons! The Jack Rod works by slotting the lower cradle onto the front axle of your hydraulic floor jack (or for the 3 wheeled versions sitting right on top of the front wheel), you then press the handle and the jack rod extends the upper cradle onto the metal rod that supports the saddle of your floor jack. Next you release the pressure from the hydraulic jack and as the saddle lowers the jack rod will click into place and hold the hydraulic jack in a fixed position. That’s all there is to it, your hydraulic floor jack is now a jack stand! Gone are the days of constantly fiddling with the height of a jack stand and raising and lowering the jack to try and get it to fit, with the Jack Rod all you have to do is lower the jack and the Jack Rod will click into place - and this saves a massive amount of time.
Here’s a video from AGM showing it in action!
3.5 Ton Jack rod:
Next let's talk about the 1st variant of the Jack Rod, the updated 3.5 ton version - meant for 4 wheel jacks, and this is the version I have.
Lets begin with some images:
So the 3.5 ton version is an update from the previous 2 ton Jack Rod because it adds an additional cross pin that increases its load capability to 3.5 tons. This cross pin is optional meaning you can use it with the cross pin to reach the 3.5 ton load rating, or without the cross pin to have a max load of 2 tons. I would also like to add that the main pin is locked into place (I believe due to friction) once the Jack Rod is loaded with weight, and this makes the handle near impossible to depress, so you don’t have to worry about accidentally bumping the handle and unlocking the Jack Rod. Even with just my foot on the floor jack, or just the floor jack’s built in leveling springs pulling the saddle down, I could not depress the handle on the Jack Rod and I tried quite hard to squeeze it. So accidentally bumping it will not cause the jack rod to collapse.
Other than that the 3.5 ton is identical to the previous version with the exception that it has the additional cross pin to help it support additional weight.
2 Ton jack rod:
The second variant of the Jack Rod is a specialized version with an enlarged lower cradle made specifically for the front wheel of the 3 wheeled floor jacks (2 rear wheels and one large cylindrical front wheel), this variant also lacks the cross pin and is limited to 2 Tons (which should exceed most if not all 3 wheeled floor jacks anyways, since these models are typically low load light weight aluminum jacks).
Here is an image of the 3 wheel floor jacks that I am talking about:
Other than that the 3 wheeled version of the Jack Rod functions identically to all the other versions (the new 3.5 Ton, and the original 2 Ton) and there are no other differences (minus the lack of cross pin) other than the larger bottom cradle to be able to support the large front wheel instead of a smaller axle.
3.5 Ton Jack Rod Size and Specifications:
In this next section I would like to go over the size and general specifications of the Jack Rod - because it is one of the biggest strengths of this product compared to a jack stand.
First let's analyze a typical jack stand. I chose an Alibaba seller because they conveniently have a few models and their size and weights listed in a table, also because I'm sure a lot of the auto parts stores resell jacks sourced from similar manufacturers in China.
If we look at the specs of the 3 ton jack (to remain comparable to our 3.5 Ton Jack Rod) we can see that it has a minimum height of 285 mm, a max height of 426 mm, a base width of 180 mm (so the widest part of the jack stand), a cradle of 85 mm, and it weighs approximately 6.3 kg.
Now let's compare this to our 3.5 ton Jack Rod:
1) Weight:
The Jack rod weighs in at 1.30 kg, so 5 kg’s lighter than a typical 3 Ton Jack stand.
2) Minimum length:
The Jack Rod has a minimum length of *23.5 cm (technically a bit less because I measured to the top of the saddle), vs. 285 mm (28.5 cm and again its going to be a bit shorter because its also measured to the top of the saddle) of a typical 3 Ton jack stand. So the Jack Rod is 5 cm shorter than a typical jack stand.
3) Maximum length:
The Jack rod has a maximum length of 14 inches (35.56 cm) according to AGM products compared to 425 mm (42.5 cm of a typical 3 ton jack stand). So technically the jack stand has a ~7 cm taller reach, however you must factor in the height of the floor jack from the ground and the height of the saddle to the supporting rod and add that to the max length of the jack rod to get a true comparison.
But the critical part here is that the Jack Rod has a bunch of height settings built into it, so essentially however high your floor jack can lift - the jack rod will be able to lock in at a height extremely close to that - and you don’t have to raise and lower the jack to get it to lock in, all you have to do is slot the Jack Rod in and lower the jack and the Jack rod will automatically click into place. This is so much better than a jack stand, where you have to constantly fiddle with not only the height of the stand, but also you have to raise and lower the jack until you finally get it into a suitable spot for a jack stand to slot into a suitable spot under the car. So the result is you save a lot of time on lifting your car, meaning you can do whatever it is you need to do much faster.
4) Width:
The Jack Rod has a width of ~4.9 cm at its shaft, ~6.3 cm at its saddle, ~2.4 cm depth at its center shaft, and ~8.4 cm at its widest point including the cross pin. While a typical 3 ton jack stand has a max width of 180 mm (18 cm) so the Jack Rod is at least ~10 cm narrower than the Jack stand.
5) Saddle length:
The Jack Rod has a saddle length of ~6.4 cm (keep this in mind when measuring your jack for fitment on the axle and saddle supporting rod), while the 3 ton jack stand typically has a saddle width of 85 mm (8.5 cm) so the jack stand has a wider saddle. This shouldn’t matter at all because the true saddle width for the jack rod is whatever your floor jack has.
So in summary: the jack rod is lighter, shorter, and narrower than a typical 3 ton jack stand - and by significant margins. This all means that it will be so much easier to store the jack rod: in a cabinet, in your car’s trunk (or even under the trunk liner near the battery) or glove box or in a door pocket - which is extremely important for track day guys who also carry tires and tools in addition to a jack and likely will not have room for a bulky jack stand, and even on the jack handle itself via the jack rod mount (you can buy it here: https://agm-products.com/collections/jacks/products/jack-rod-stand )
Applications and Benefits:
Now that we know what a Jack Rod is and the 2 different models, let's talk about some applications and benefits for this incredible product!
1) Jack stand replacement: Modern day BMW’s like the M2 don’t have many spots for jack stands - especially at the front of the car.
If you look at the underbody of the m2 besides the 4 jacking points there really aren’t many good spots for jack stands. There are no exposed frame rails so you don’t have easy access to those areas for jack stands, and putting a jack stand on the covered underbody is a major no go as you risk puncturing the sheet metal floor. Putting a jack stand on the suspension components is also a bad idea because you risk damaging the bushings in these components (as they are not meant to take the weight of the car, as the majority of the car’s weight is on the strut towers) or throwing off suspension alignment. You can’t put a jack stand on the differential of M cars since they have fins for cooling. The only spots you have left are the rear subframe and the front center jack point (which is impossible to reach without crawling under the car and is a small flat circular object that is not suitable for standard saddle jack stands). This means once you have a jack under one of the 4 jack points, your selection of spots for a jack stand is extremely limited and this makes it difficult to find a spot for your Jack Stand.
With the Jack Rod this is not an issue because any jacking point is not only the spot for lifting with a jack, but also the spot for your Jack Rod to act as a jack stand.
2) Ultra portable jack stand for the track: The jack rod is incredibly portable as discussed in the aforementioned section, this makes it perfect for track day guys who have limited room in their cars due to the tools and tires they are carrying. So no longer do you have to decide whether or not you should leave something behind to bring a jack stand or not. This means track guys no longer have to risk their safety by changing tires using a jack alone - it also makes jacking up an entire side of a car a lot safer:
3) Non-intrusive: The jack rod slots right into your floor jack, this means it doesn’t take up any additional room under your car while you’re working - vs. a jack + jack stand combo which will take up additional space. For example if you place a jack stand under the rear subframe on these BMW’s access to the rear differential for fluid flushes becomes extremely hampered. If you somehow got a jack stand on the front jack point (maybe with a flat top jack stand), then oil changes become extremely hampered and you might not be able to put a drain pan there.
Hydraulic Jack:
Before I show the Jack Rod in action I would like to quickly go over my 4 wheel hydraulic floor jack so you know what I am using. This section will also come in handy later on when I analyze the front axle’s carrying capacity and the safety of the Jack Rod.
So I have a basic 2 ton power fist (princess auto’s in house brand) low profile hydraulic Jack.
This is a really generic Chinese made floor jack that I am sure is relabeled for all sorts of other vendors, for example a near identical one is sold under the moto master moncre for Canadian tire:
I have also seen this exact same frame being used on various lifting capacity jacks from 2 ton to 3 ton (the moto master one, and previous power fist ones I saw in store) to 4 ton (big read has an identical frame: https://www.amazon.ca/AT84007R-Hydra.../dp/B0897XRCPM). So I am fairly certain these jacks all have the exact same frame (also because it is fairly uncommon for a 2 ton jack to have this kind of frame, they are normally the super small compact ones or a 3 wheel version) but just different hydraulics to allow for them to lift more weight - again this will come into play soon when I analyze the safety of the Jack Rod.
Furthermore my jack has a front axle length (between the frame mounts where the Jack Rod would slot in) of 13 cm, and a saddle support rod length of 7.5 cm. So this is more than ample for the Jack Rod.
And this is what my jack looks like with the Jack Rod in place:
Actual Usage:
Now on to some images of the Jack Rod actually being used, here are 2 images of the Jack Rod on my SUV - the reason why it is on my suv instead of my m2 is because the ground clearance allowed me to more easily take images.
Strength concerns:
Now the final section of my review, and the major concerns with the Jack Rod - and this is how strong is the front axle of your floor Jack and can it handle these kinds of loads? Because if it can’t, then the jack rod isn’t safe
To answer these questions I did a lot of mini “pseudo science” experiments - in that I did not have any controls, I did not have any test samples, etc. All I did was a small test to see on my own jack so I could see if the concerns out there were pressing or not.
First here is a video showing the construction of the Jack Rod, and the quality of design and manufacturing the goes into this product to ensure that it is high quality and safe:
Now onto the analysis of the Jack’s axle strength. The first bit of evidence I saw in regards to testing these jacks was from AGM themselves (1:00 min mark of this video):
The result was that the axle didn't even start to bend until 4 tons was applied to the jack, which was double the jack’s load rating. So this is a really good sign that these axles are strong enough to handle the entire weight rating of the jack and then some - and technically the front axle isn’t supposed to be bearing the weight of the entire load by itself, the rear wheels are supposed to take some weight as well.
Next my own testing - I will be using electronic calipers and an electronic hand scale, all measurements were taken multiple times and the measurement I saw the most or a median measurement was taken.
Now some more measurements:
The axle on my jack is 18.42 mm, knowing this - I wanted to see what the diameter of the rod supporting the saddle was. Because if it is similar in size or smaller then it should in principle be able to support aleast the same amount of weight - meaning if the axle is safe then the saddle rod is safe too.
The saddle has 2 rods to support it, a front and back one and the saddle can pivot and slide around freely on these two rods so they can both experience similar amounts of weight as the load shifts around.
Here is the rod where the Jack Rod sits:
This rod has a diameter of 14.65 mm, so it is actually smaller than the front axle.
Here is the rear rod:
This rod is approximately 12.57 mm so a bit smaller than the front rod.
This means the axle is going to be stronger than the saddle rod, but since the saddle rod is shorter it is less likely to bend, and if the front of the saddle is pushed up the rear of the saddle will go down putting load on the rear saddle rod so some load will be transferred there too. So factoring in the shorter length of the saddle rod and there being some weight transfer, imo the saddle rod is likely not the weak point - it will be the front axle.
Now onto the testing, in my test I will be putting a weight on the jack in its highest lifting state (to push the weight as far backwards as possible). This will show the minimum amount of weight transfer the front axle see’s, and from there we can calculate the percentage of weight the front axle see’s. This will let us calculate a safe percentage of weight the front axle can hold via multiplying the percentage of weight the front axle sees from the jack’s weight rating.
Ok now some more measurements:
The weight I used was 1.74 kg
The weight of the front end of my jack lifted so the wheels are just off the ground is 4.90 kg.
The weight of the front end of my jack lifted so the wheels are just off the ground with the 1.74 kg weight on the saddle in the highest position is 6.05 kg
This means that of the 1.74 kg weight, the front axle sees 1.15 kg (loaded weight - unloaded weight). This is 66.09% of the 1.74 kg weight being transferred to the front axle - which I thought was weird since I thought the large majority of the weight should be on the rear of the jack. But after multiple measurements this was the approximate results that I got, and I attribute this to be the cambered design of the jack frame putting more load on the front. Now note, this number should increase even more if the saddle wasn’t lifted as high so this percentage should only be a minimum safety measurement. So a 2 ton jack can hold 4,000 lbs, and 66.09% of 4,000 lbs is 2,643.68 lbs, and this is more than any corner weight of a BMW ever could be (especially the m2). So imo (if my calculations are correct) it is safe to say that this Jack Rod on my 2 ton jack, can be used safely on any BMW. It can also hold half the weight of almost every BMW and still be within its “safety range” if we take my calculations seriously.
Overall my personal conclusion based on this highly unscientific experiment is that the jack rod is safe to use - when calculated based on percent weight transfer of the front axle multiplied by the jack’s weight rating. But based on actual testing by AGM the front axle and the saddle rod is much stronger - to the extent where a 2 ton jack’s front axle and saddle rod can hold double its rated weight. This leads me to believe that the hydraulics is what limits the floor jack - not its frame. So again I would personally believe that Jack Rod is safe to use, and am currently using it to install my mud flaps and change the oil on the SUV without fear.
Summary:
Overall the Jack Rod is a small, portable replacement for the jack stand - and is a great tool to have in your collection! Thank you once again to the AGM team for sponsoring me in this review, I absolutely love your gaming changing product!
(original post - https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?p=30317586&fbclid=IwAR1gizAzib_2p1bwYvrO48rzF92JeQ-G0fDagw0TkmUdISA9fDivODhm3Ko#post30317586)
