I just finished some exhaust work on the 240. I was going to use jackstands, but when the car was raised, the rear wheel got in the way, so I did it with the car on the ground.

The Volvo jack was perfect for propping up the front muffler to align it with the cat pipe and hook up the donut hangers. Easy to make small adjustments to the height turning the screw by hand.

That's about the only thing I'd use it for, but it's nice to know that it's not entirely useless.

Being a 30 yr 240 guy with unlimited space for parts cars in the back forty i probably have 20 or so jacks kicking around so i have used them for many purposes.I have never damaged one using it for its original purpose.But
lately my most common use is for lifting my e46 BMWs an inch or so so i can get my floor jack under at the proper lifting spot.
--
Rene

I here you on the only thing to use a factery jack on. When I first used the VOLVO jack it twisted and the car fell. Now I use a floor jack.
--
Kevin * HONDA spanking,1985 240DL * VOLVO ON!!!!

I don't know why you guys are putting down the scissor jacks. I like them. They're not as good as a couple others that I've used, but I would feel a lot safer with a scissor jack rather than a pole jack.

I had a bad experience with a pole jack on a bumper of a Ford van... I was jacking it up, something didn't feel right, so I stepped back away to assess the situation and make observations. The van was tilting slightly and it looked like the bumper/pole jack was not holding it's ground. I was about to aproach the van to lower it when the jack suddenly gave way with a huge crash. The van dropped to the ground and the jack came flying off the bumper in a forwards/upwards direction. It flew past me about 2.5 feet off my left side at some horiffic speed. A few feet to my left and I would have been impaled in the chest.

I've also had a racheting horizontal scissor jack slip a few teeth when jacking up my Pontiac 6000. About all that I trust confidently these days are the scissor jacks with a worm screw and a hook of some sort that goes above and below the lift point. My floor jack does nicely, but the wheels on it cause undesired movement if I'm working on my slightly inclined driveway.

God bless, and chock your wheels before you lift your car.
Fitz Fitzgerald.
--
'87 Blue 245, NA 225K

Wow - glad you are OK. Just inspecting my Volvo scissor jack and seeing the bent weak points, tells me not to use it/them again. I won't even touch the other style car denter jack. I remain firm, both are garbage.

For under $20 (less that $15) I can get a new, much better quality scissor jack from Northern Hyd. That: a) fits the jack points better than stock and b) fits in the trunk better than an 8 ton floor jack :)
--
Paul's Lubricants and Volvo Page

Where do you get these jacks? I'm not familiar with Northern Hyd. Could you provide any contact info or any other names they're marketed under?

For any job at home, my hydraulic floor jack is used. I wouldn't mind finding a better emergency jack to keep with me in the car for tire changes, etc.

Thanks and God bless,
Fitz Fitzgerald.
--
'87 Blue 245, NA 225K

www.northerntool.com
--
Paul's Amsoil and other lubricants

The last few houses I've owned have at least one Volvo jack entombed in a concrete pad....what will the archeaologists think in 10,000 years?
--
Paul's Lubricants and Volvo Page

Awww, c'mon....they're not THAT bad. Case in point, you're piloting a 21' Chapparal bow-rider and you realize that you left your trolling anchor back home in the garage......`nuff said?

Ha Ha Ha..... I think what Volvo thinks is that no Volvo owner in the USA is ever going to use the jack..... Volvo probably thinks the owner of a flat is gonna call someone... So the jack will never be used in the first place..

My real pet peeve is the 245 wagon B21 ft tire well seems to be too small for a proper spare (5 spoke wheel 15" and tire) I do not care 1 bit for that mini spare.... Mac

I cannot understand why Volvo turfed the older style cantilevered jack - except that maybe they can buy these cheapies from some generic manufacturer....for pennies each.

The older style jacks are much superior......

yep, scissors jack. absolutely perfect for lifting any load ten pounds or less.

I have never had occasion to use the scissor jack. Bad eh? I was never to fond of that pole jack either..... Never used it, but it appeared to be that if it slipped the door was gonna take a wack...

Well I can't say I never used it, but I never used as intended, and welded it to the front bumper of a 122 to raise a snow plow I made for that rig..

I have a floor (shop type) jack and with that have been lucky to never have a flat on the road....

I do have the scissor jack as back up in my car, but what might be better/best for a road service jack in case?? Mac

I've been rather jack-poor, having relied mainly on a spare Volvo wind-up pole jack for all work. I know they will go, just like the jack-nut on my 20 year old made in China vise did a year ago, no matter how well you keep it greased. One went a couple months back, sort of in the fashion Fitz describes, although I think he's describing a bumper jack. It made a whoomph as the nut stripped its threads out and slid down the screw. No damage, the car is always on tires until the jack stands are in place, as I am working on gravel on a not-too-level spot.

So I used the later scissors jack for a couple days until browsing the Wally-Mart auto section. For $18 they sell a "Mack" brand (pics of Mack Trucks all over it) hydraulic scissors jack complete with blow-molded carrying case. It has the standard cup for pinchwelds, but you can turn it to an angle to fit the jack receptacle bar on the car quite nicely. It is described for tire changing only, coming with a safety stop pin. I use it just like I used the other emergency jacks - lifts the car to put the stands under it. I have another little bottle jack to lift the front muffler in order to hook up the donuts. The only thing that might detract from using the "Mack" as a trunk accessory is its cast-iron content. I'd guess it weighs about 12-15 lbs.
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

My apologies if iam replying to this thread in the wrong manner.....

I was curious about my new to me 240 jack, as I always make sure my spare is aired up and jack operational for the inevitable flat tire. But after examining it (I have the pole crank jack) and fitting it to the car's jack points, I can't seem to figure out how it's supposed to lift the car without dragging the metal body of the jack all over the fender and ruining the car as its jacking arm lifts the car...am I just missing something obvious here? Like a missing piece? Even if I had a section of plywood between the fender and jack, the car's weight is leveraged against the top of the jack which is pushing all of its might into the side of the car. I've tried to jostle the jack around at different angles and such but to no avail...once the weight is loaded , I can foresee the damage that will ensue. I feel pretty ridiculous to ask this, but perhaps I am just unable to see the simplicity of this design, or maybe it really is as useless as I percieve it to be? Thank you.

I think you are using a wrong jack. What you describe is like a farmers or farm jack or like older American bumper jacks.

You should have a scissor type jack. The top fits or hooks the bar bracket at the proper lift points.
There should be a sticker or label on the underside of the trunk lid demonstrating this.


The chances of you finding a owners manual booklet for that car are slim to none.
Try scrounging the junk yards or try the web.

Like Art said. You will see that the whole jack fits underneath the car with a crank with a fork to turn the screw.

Phil

My only other guess is that somehow the information I've seen is actually false and the jack I have was made for an older volvo, perhaps even another model. It does have all the factory stickers on the jack, but like I said, I am just not seeing it. I did upload a photo to the brick pix section for reference.

I've seen three jacks around your 240 era.
- A scissor jack that usually came with wagons, and then all models in the 80s(?) or later.
- A round pillar cast steel jack with the 1-arm bandit that hooks over the chassis list point and under the rocker arm rail.
- A square pillar jack, like the round one here, made with heavy stamped steel, it seemed. Like the round one, the gear box was at the top.

It may be possible the jack in your 1982 Volvo 240 is an after market model?




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Astroboy!

It doesn't matter which style of Volvo jack you have--they'll all work on 140/240 bodies. The pole jack will not damage the body if placed properly. I use one on track days to change from street to race tires. Placed at the rear jacking point it will lift the entire side of the car if raised high enough. Break the lug nuts loose while still on the ground. I carry a piece of wood to place under the jack should the need to lift on a soft surface arise. -- Dave

I have the vovlo factory pole jack. From what I've read they didn't switch to scissor Jacks until a few years after mine. (1982) forgot To mention I don't have an owners manual and looking for the manual or instructions online proved fruitless.
I have actually used the "next generation" of this style jack where the body of the jack is designed to sit at an angle away from the vehicle while the foot stays horizontally planted on the ground with no pivoting. The arm then swings up at another angle and meets the car and takes it straight up.
But with this jack, I am failing to see how it is supposed to bring the car up without the jack resting against the body of the car, thereby damaging it once a load is applied.

Volvo Owners Manuals

pull down menu year and Model for yours 1982 and Dl,GL,GTL


http://www.volvocars.com/us/top/yourvolvo/volvo-vehicle-information-library/Pages/om.aspx

Good source, thanks.

I've got a '92 wagon and up to now have used a floor jack. Was given a couple of Volvo scissor jacks that looked as new but both were badly bent around the upper mount so not very substantial IMO. Be careful on rough ground. Unfortunately when you get a puncture you often have to make do.

Come to think about it again, I went out and looked over all my cars!
My '86 and '91 have the scissors.
So you are right, its was '85 that they changed.

Interesting that my '84 label in the trunk shows both styles on it. As Sherlock Holmes might have said, "there was a transition ah-foot," literary speaking of course. (:-)

Goes to show you, I have not used my jacks. In all my years, I have had one flat and two nice younger men stopped and changed that out for me. I gave them ten bucks each, of which they tried hard to refuse!
The green smell got to them! (:-)

My '78 and '84 have a flip out arm that goes under the car and hooks onto the same bracket used on all the cars.
There is a crank mounted on the side of the top. It turns bevel gears which rotates a screw that raises the arm nut upwards.
The screw base assembly is shoved towards the ground supporting the car.

The top gear box should clear the body of the car due to its length and as I remember the bottom kinda leaned under the car a wee bit!

Is this the type you have?

I think I like the scissors idea better. I had to do something many years ago and because of that lean it bothered me to invested is a floor jack and way later on, my car lift.

The Car lift was a lie! My near vision got worse and I could not get my head far enough away from the bottom of the car to see!
The lie continues! It was also my legs and back getting older!
I used them all to convince my wife I needed the lift! (:-) Yes!

I have seen floor jacks for about a $100 or less nowadays. Of course, not American made and I can imagine, hard to find replacements parts.

Throw-a-cars and accessories!
Figures

Phil

Yeah I hate working on a card board sheet on gravel... I broke down and bought treated plywood for a 12'x20' floor... Works ok even if it is temporary. I have had floor jacks (shop type) for years and would simply refuse to use lesser. Can you say spoiled?

With the wooden floor on scrap 2"x4", I get to roll on a creeper and run over my pony tail, which is a riot to watch, so says my wife.... I can't say I am so very pleased.. Feeling lucky at 51 and 11 months to have any hair, you see?

Wee side note I got the car registered TODAY!!!!!!! Little snaffu with the poly tics, and had to place the reg in my wife's name only or pay 2 years for the next 13 months... Poly Tics are pretty greedy round these parts...

In NH it is almost $100.00 a year for a 85 Wagon, as they value cars on what they cost new...

Anyway bring on WINTER!!!! Mac

You mention being spoiled. When I went to pick up my future (and current) wife for our first date more than 30 years ago, I pulled into her driveway, and what should I see, but a double pole, swing arm hydraulic lift. Her father installed them for a living, and brought home a used one, along with the compressor that went with it. He also had a Coates 1010 tire changer. For the next fifteen years, I worked in style. I should have yanked it all when they sold the house.

I was gonna tell ya I hate you, but since you abandoned this stuff ... Yer right you shoulda yanked it all... LOL Mac