I wanted to inspect/tighten the subframe bolts on my 07 NFR, and was lifting it with the Quick Jack (purchased 2 years ago and used 6 times), when the right side (looking from the rear) started to drop rapidly. I pressed the "Down" button, but the left side didn't drop. The pump was spewing hydraulic fluid from the quick connect at the pump. When the right side dropped, it torqued the car off the lift so that the left front of the car was now supported by the bottom of the left front fender, about 2" from the wheel well, so now the car has a huge dent in it. Luckily the car didn't flip over. I was able to lift the right side bit by bit using a floor jack and jack stands. I tightened all the subframe bolts to spec plus 10%, then lowered the car. My butt dyno notices a better ride and crisper steering response. I e-mailed Quick Jack and told them what happened and asked the brand of the connectors so as to avoid them. They quickly let me know that the connectors are their own brand. That's all...no questions about me or the car, nothing. The female quick connect had pieces of what looked like O-Ring around the depressible post in the middle of it. I found a replacement female quick connect and attached it. I refilled the fluid in the pump, then tried to lift the Quick Jack (no load on it) and now it started leaking again at the same connector and wouldn't lift the right side. I ordered a male attachment which has yet to arrive. I went to a dent shop but the tech said he couldn't pull the dent, so my next stop is a body shop. As for Quick Jack, buyer beware. I'd post pictures, but don't know how to on this forum.

 

Good gawd, this was so hard to read.

 

So it sounds like this happened while still lifting? Cause I thought once lifted the QJ had safety locks on it. But it sucks to hear this!

 

Man that sucks and was probably pretty scary. Did you have the safety bars down when the car was up or did this happen as you were lifting the car? Have you added air to the cylinders on the lifts in that 2 years? I do know they have updated the connectors as some of the older models had leaks. My 3500lb model had some leaking issues and quickjack sent me new connectors and it solved it. My 5000lb model hasn't had any leaking at all.

 

As for posting pictures you can either upload them to the forum just click the little picture button or host them on another site like imgur and post the forum link in your post.

 

No, I didn't check the air in the cylinders. Maybe the whole thing was my fault, but would not airing up a cylinder cause a fitting to let go?

 

The left side locked, but the right side never raised enough to lock. The left side may have locked early when the car shifted.

 

No it wouldn't cause a fitting to let go but the air in those cylinders helps when lowering the car. It sounds like the leak cause the one side to lose pressure but the fact you couldn't lower it makes me wonder if there is more wrong. If one side did have the safety bar lock that would also explain not being able to lower it. I can't see if locking early due to the car shifting but if one side was already struggling its possible that side locked before the other side did. There is 2 places where the safety bars lock however so did the one side go completely down or just to the first locking spot?

 

My 5000lb model they sell at Costco had a similar failure however my arms didn't lock and it just dropped the Tacoma back on the ground harshly.

They did send me out new connections and I disassembled it and put it back together. 3 years and it's the first issue I have had.
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Sorry to hear about the damage. Thankfully you are okay though. While it's not recommend by them I still use my race ramps to lift up my cars that are lower before I do lift them in the air. It seems to make it easier on the hydraulic. They are just the autocrosser ramps so it's simple to kick out the way too.
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Not to be a jerk (I cringed when I read your story and can't really imagine how I would feel in your situation), but is it possible that you might have made similar decisions when assembling your QuickJack that could have caused the connectors to fail? I personally can't recall the details of assembly and what was called for when carrying out this specific portion of the assembly process.