as some of you may know, i suffer from back pain, thus spending time hunched over, is not conducive to my health. so in my car i always have 1 of my heavy duty impact wrenches & an appropriate lugnut socket. i have a Milwaukee 2654-20(with the 3/8 friction ring). this tool removes and applies nuts & bolts up to 167 foot pounds of torque. So when used on lugnuts, this tool removes lugnuts faster than you can imagine. It makes roadside flat tires, a joke. (i also use this tool for many other major auto work, but thats a story for another day).
amazon link to the impact i have(without battery): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BYF ... WVCORKJOCN
you dont need to use this impact, as it is pricy. you can easily go buy a cheaper alternative none-battery powered, 12v cigarette plug-in impact tool, and have similar results.
So back to our OEM jack, looks like something like this:
notice that hole in the round, flat, circle used to turn the jack ? its where you put those silly rods and spend 5 minutes turning, while hunched over on the side of the road
i went and found, THIS jack:
notice the part that is used to turn, is a 19mm nut? well this allows me to use an impact to turn the jack at break-neck speeds!
the jack you will need, has to be UNIBODY compatible. take a look at the two pics i posted, and you will see there is a slit, where the jack meets the car. the unibody pinch fold goes into that, and the flat portions meet the vehicle body, and the jack lifts the car. (see image below, of the unibody fold going into the slit, into the jack head)
there are many styles of jack, and you need something like this!
also you need a jack that will raise itself at least 15"(measured from floor, to the bottom of that slit in the upper most portion.) THE JACK THAT WORKS BEST IS ONE FROM A SATURN VUE suv. IT IS THE ONLY JACK THAT DOESNT NEED ANY MODIFICATIONS. IT JUST WORKS FOR OUR CAR PERFECTLY.
this week i went through about 20-30 different vehicle jacks, and none has those exact characteristics - other than the saturn VUE suv jack. it has the 19mm 6 head bolt, a unibody lift, and it raises up past 16".
if you find a jack that works, but is not tall enough - you can easily take a piece of flat, wide (non osb) solid wood and add an inch or two. or you can bolt it to the bottom plate of the jack. (just counter sink the holes for the nuts; so the wood wont rock back & forth when on the ground - see image below.)
conclusion:
there is a reason why police officers take so much precaution when sitting on the side of the road, during a traffic stop. its an extremely dangerous pot to be in. you dont want to drag it out, and more than you need too. the faster you can make a tire change, the safer you will be. so at the very least, have all your tools and jack supplies available , at the ready, and know how to use them. it can safe your life. you're welcome lol