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Recommend me a trolley jack
907 - 3/8/14 at 07:37 PM

Hi All.


I intend to replace my Hilka 2 tonne jack that lifts from 130mm to 380mm.
It still works fine but lower access and higher lift would be a bonus.
Light weight would be another plus so maybe of aluminium construction.


Anyone recommend a make & model ?


Cheers,
Paul G


rusty nuts - 3/8/14 at 07:46 PM

If you want one that will last see if you can find an old Bradbury Jackette, brought mine new in 1976 , it's still going strong . Most of the modern ones I've used don't last long at all. Mel


turnipfarmer - 3/8/14 at 07:47 PM

I have one of these...

http://www.sgs-engineering.com/tj2-professional-low-profile-service-trolley-jack

Excellent but not lightweight.

Don't know where their price comes from, but I paid about £40 for mine a year or so ago. And yes - it was new!


cliftyhanger - 3/8/14 at 08:16 PM

Just bought a weber low entry jack. Real quality, not lightweight and not locost. They supply the MoD so not going to be junk. Last one I had for about 15 years, and I paid £50secondhand for that. Left outside or under a carport for its life, and unsurprisingly it developed a big leak. I should have had it rebuilt, but chucked it (no idea what it actually cost at that point) and bought a sealey 2500LE. Not a bad jack, but not as good as the weber. By a margin. And the sealey is good compared to many others....


britishtrident - 3/8/14 at 08:25 PM

Forget about aluminium jacks, just buy good quality 3 ton garage workshop quality jack with a decent lift height, a good one will last a life time

If consdering low profile jacks just remember they don't have as much lift as normal jacks.

SGS do a good 3 ton jack with a high enough lift to get decently high stands under and a wide enough track to be stable and secure at high lifts even with a heavy tintop on it.
link
You will find exactly the same jack sold under different brand names including Seeley and Halfords.
I have had a Halfords branded one for 17, years


Proby - 4/8/14 at 08:08 AM

There is lots of crap about.after much searching and trawling the net, I purchased a Halfords branded jack. For the bit of extra money its much better quality than my mates ebay chinese crap job. Weber are very good, they also supply ATS centres as I examine them as part of my visit in my daily job.


Trollyjack - 4/8/14 at 08:47 AM

I got this set Linky
Very Pleased low profile Ideal for low kitcars and it lift quiite high.
Highly recomended


907 - 4/8/14 at 01:31 PM

Firstly thanks for all the replies. Much appreciated.


Mel. Hi mate. Must catch up some time. Did a Google on the Bradbury and found a forum thread saying there one needed a replacement O ring @ £45. Eeeeeeeeek Sorry, but wanted a newer one.


TF. That design is low, but very high further back. No good for low kit cars I'm afraid. I often jack mine under the dif cage so need to get the whole jack under the car. This is where my Hilka lets me down as it's minimum height is 130mm and the car sits at 110mm.


CH & Proby. The Weber depot is 15 mins away from me so may well give them a look. Perhaps the WTE2 with its 75 t0 460 lift could be the one if not too heavy.



BT. Sorry, but too big & heavy with much too high a minimum start point for a sports or kit car. I'm a bit puzzled why not to consider any aluminium jack.


TJ. What can I say with a name like that? Shame your link is for a lower rated jack with a slightly lower max lift than my old Hilka.
Go on. Find a bigger one. Your reputation now depends on it.



Cheers everyone.
Paul G


907 - 4/8/14 at 01:52 PM

So what do we think of eBay Item

Arcan 1.8 tonne 89 to 508mm lift and 22kg


or


SGS 2.5 tonne eBay Item




Anyone owned or used either of them?

Paul G


jeffw - 4/8/14 at 01:57 PM

The Arcan ones are pretty good


britishtrident - 4/8/14 at 02:24 PM

A few years back. at work I had to redesign light alloy jacks/pullers for lifting manhole covers so I know the draw backs of using light alloys for this type of application.
For serious longterm use steel is the only way to go.


turnipfarmer - 4/8/14 at 02:28 PM

Hear what you're saying. It's the same with me, so...

I start my lift on (say a chassis rail) with the low profile one, & then switch to the big brute once the car's high enough.

Only takes a few seconds.


Slimy38 - 4/8/14 at 03:01 PM

I know that I might get criticised for this, but you could always modify an existing one to give you the height or distance you need? I've seen several plans online for bike lifts that use standard bottle jacks or scissor jacks so lifting a car shouldn't be that much of a stretch?

As long as you do a few calculations and make sure the rating of the ram can cope with the extra travel and leverage created by the arms, then you should be able to put something together. Twice as long but half as powerful should be plenty to get to a diff and get it off the ground?

Obviously you wouldn't work underneath it, but to be honest you wouldn't really want to work under a standard jack either.


bowood14 - 4/8/14 at 06:20 PM

Just got one of these £31.99 using my trade card seems pretty good for the money
http://www.halfords.com/motoring/garage-equipment/trolley-jacks-axle-stands/halfords-2-tonne-trolley-jack-low-profile


Trollyjack - 4/8/14 at 09:53 PM

TJ. What can I say with a name like that? Shame your link is for a lower rated jack with a slightly lower max lift than my old Hilka.
Go on. Find a bigger one. Your reputation now depends on it.



Cheers everyone.
Paul G




here you go link


907 - 5/8/14 at 05:03 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Trollyjack
TJ. What can I say with a name like that? Shame your link is for a lower rated jack with a slightly lower max lift than my old Hilka.
Go on. Find a bigger one. Your reputation now depends on it.



Cheers everyone.
Paul G


here you go link




Superb mate.

If I were to upgrade from my Lotus 907 to a Pinto it will be my first choice.

Paul G


907 - 5/8/14 at 06:36 AM

Hi, and many thanks to all of you for your contributions to this thread.


Rightly or wrongly (time will tell) I'm hot off the SGS website and have ordered the 2.5 t aluminium jobbie. ( to avoid paypal )


Please don't be offended if I didn't get the one that you recommended and I even considered Slimy38"s idea of mods to the one I've got.
Can't claim that against tax though.


A big CHEERS to everyone.

Paul G


Trollyjack - 5/8/14 at 02:42 PM

If you have ordered by 14:00
You will get it tomorrow, got mine the next day


907 - 6/8/14 at 03:30 PM

It's arrived, it's big, it's heavy, it's boofle.

And it goes under the dif without hitting the back panel….. just.


jps - 12/9/14 at 12:15 PM

quote:
Originally posted by bowood14
Just got one of these £31.99 using my trade card seems pretty good for the money
http://www.halfords.com/motoring/garage-equipment/trolley-jacks-axle-stands/halfords-2-tonne-trolley-jack-low-profile


Just browsing this thread- this jack is now down to £25 so I am just about to order one myself...!