I bought one of these a few years ago, and it has worked OK, but now 'runs out of puff' once presented with a solid load, say more than 300kg. It doesn't appear to have leaked, but is it worth replacing the oil and, if so, with what? Or should I just bin it and buy another, in which case, are any better than any others?
Thanks in advance, as ever.
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Wind the lowering screw right out and try and dislodge the foriegn body that's stopping it sealing.
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Could be worth stripping it down and looking at the seals as it sounds like one has given out.
Oil change, unless specified on the unit, standard hydraulic oil.
Then again, with prices like these: www.screwfix.com/search.do?fh_search=trolley%20jac...y is it worth all that hassle?!
Edited by Tron on 01/04/2008 at 13:23
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Best deal on a trolley jack right now is an aluminium one in Costco for £70 + VAT. It is a superb piece of kit. (just bought one). Low entry, with good lift, and so much lighter than the quivalent steel trolley jack. The jacks at Screwfix (apart from their 3 ton one at £60 - which I have, along with the crossbar adaptor) have very small platforms,.
Go for something bigger.
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Halfords and other car shops all sell hydraulic jack oil!
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but is it worth replacing the oil and, if so, with what?
When I asked the local motorist centre this question, they presented me with a plastic bottle that had 'jack oil' written on the side of it (seriously)
Occasionally my trolley jack throws a wobbly and won't lift up very far. The instructions say to open the lowering valve and pump the handle up and down a few times. Presumably this bleeds out any air in the system?
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Got given one as a present - Halfords 2 tonne jack.
Not used any other trolley jacks before, but impression with this one is that it is only a very slight twist of the rod to alter the lowering speed from slow to very quick. Which means car can come down with a jolt if not careful - but maybe they are all like that.
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My Halfords jack is like that: one turn and it drops quickly. But as mine has lasted 14 years so far and maintenance = nil.. and it cost under £20 new...:-)
IIRC I filled a Halfords bottle jack with ATF fluid after a seals rebuild..
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working under a vehicle only supported by a trolly jack is asking for trouble , i wouldnt dream of doing it without first propping the car up with some bits of 4x2 and securing the wheels with chocks
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Axle stands: wood is dangerous.
Axle stands are cheap.
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I don't see any on their website but I'm sure Aldi had cheap trolley jacks and axle stands recently - they must be safe enough to use but probably not for 'everyday use'
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I don't see any on their website but I'm sure Aldi had cheap trolley jacks and axle stands recently - they must be safe enough to use but probably not for 'everyday use'
I think they had them for £9.99 a couple of weeks ago. Haven't been in since.
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Axle stands are dangerous on an uneven floor or soft ground. I use sections of railway sleeper in a stack, and then lower the jack just until the wood is squeezed.
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Quite CP. Wood is OK if you use decent chunks with flat ends, slices of foot-thick oak or pine trees are fine. It has the advantage too that it doesn't damage the car or burr bolt-heads etc if you place it say under the bottom ball joint of front suspension.
Ordinary axle stands are quite nasty things except when used carefully on a flat hard surface, and so are jacks. A car slipping off a jack is no joke even if you aren't under it at the time.
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But always put the spare wheel under the car as well.
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hah! thought it was only me that put the wheel under too!
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Only do this with an inflated standard sized & steel rimmed spare.
A space saver wheel will not have sufficient depth to protect you should the supports fail.
Your expensive alloy rims will mark and scuff up as you drag them from under the vehicle if you are not careful with them.
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I use axle stands with wooden plates to avoid damage.
Car wheels and tyres are ideal in scrap yards for suspending cars for access to underneath.
I only use jacks and axle stands on flat concrete floors...
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I second the recommendation of a Costco jack. I bought one after someone on this board recommended them and am very glad I did. The low start level is a key feature.
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Hi. Would someone be good enough to post the spec on the Costco jack: lifting capacity, min & max saddle height? Does it look anything like: tinyurl.com/ypu5u4 ?
R
Edited by Rhubarb on 01/04/2008 at 19:56
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I've just found this if anyone else is interested: tinyurl.com/22fod7
It has a greater lift than the Clarke jack linked in my post above. The Clarke jack is also available from Argos.
R
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Hi. Would someone be good enough to post the spec on the Costco jack: lifting capacity min & max saddle height? Does it look anything like: tinyurl.com/ypu5u4 ? R
Search eBay for the Arcan Aluminium trolley jack (2 Ton). That's the jack Costco are selling. I suspect these jacks are being purchased from Costco, and the eBay resellers are just taking a bit of profit on each one.
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Axle stands: wood is dangerous.
It at least gives signes of impending failure, though.
Axle stands are cheap.
Cheap nasty things, dangerous IMO. Ramps are much better. Timber blocks are fine. So are a couple of wheels with tyres and a block on top!
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Thank you all. I'll have a play with it, but it seems to have been getting harder work for some time, which suggests a seal going. I'm sure it could never have lifted the 2 tonnes it says on the label (the design has a mechanical disadvantage of about 3:1 to get the necessary lift, so the jack element has to work pretty hard).
I'll see what's available locally (we don't have an Aldi, unfortunately).
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I was searching for jack oil to top up my bike lift that leaks (yeah, seals changed but bores scored and quoted more than the lift is worth to have new tubes made up). Halfords price for "jack oil" was crazy - a trip to a local hydraulic engineers got a gallon milk jug filled with hydraulic fluid for a couple of quid from a 45 gallon drum.
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Costco jack details From eBay:
"ARCAN Professional Aluminium Service Jack
* Heavy Duty 2 Ton Capacity
* Side Mounted Handles - makes it easier to position jack
* Quick Lift Design - 5 Pumps to Top (No Load)
* Wide Track Wheels & Casters for easy manoeuvrability
* Rubber Saddle Pad & Foam Bumper Pad Protects Vehicle
* Dual Return Springs
* Low Lift Height - 89mm
* High Lift Height - 489mm"
I have heard people expressing safety doubts about the version of this jack that has a single roller rather than two wheels at one end.
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Thanks to Roger Jones and drivewell for your responses.
Regarding the stability the single roller version, I was thinking along those lines yesterday, I'll certainly go for the 4 wheeled Arcan version which also has 125mm more lift than the Clarke jack.
I've been meaning to join and walk around Costco for a while now, I'll pay a visit in the next few days.
Thanks again.
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it probably goes without saying im sure everyone here has enough commonsense anyway but never rely purely on a jack to support anything always pack the item before working on it it doesnt matter how good or cheap a jack is a seal can blow anytime a jack is purely only designed to lift an item after that the jack is not to be trusted to hold.
ok enough of the health and safety back to the dicussion
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www.machinemart.co.uk
Worth having a look.
Edited by jc2 on 02/04/2008 at 13:57
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>>I have heard people expressing safety doubts about the version of this jack that has a single roller rather than two wheels at one end.
I would tend to support that view Roger. Changing from a pair of wheels to a roller can only decrease stability - the two designs are only equal in stability on a perfectly flat and smooth surface. As soon as you use the jack on a real surface, the design with a pair of wheels will always be more stable.
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As soon as you use the jack on a real surface, the design with a pair of wheels will always be more stable.
But will it? Three wheels will always have all wheels on the ground, no matter how uneven. Four wheels could have one sat in the air on an uneven surface.
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>>But will it?
The case of a four wheeled trolley jack on such an uneven surface that one wheel is off the floor reduces to the three wheel case, albeit, with the third wheel at an extreme position. That you have one wheel in the air is obvious to spot, and should raise doubts about the suitability of jacking there at all.
The thing you don't know about the roller is where it will contact the ground - it may be a nice case where the roller contacts mid span, or it might be an extreme.
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Roller sounds a better bet to me. The little castors at the rear don't work well on my drive and have a very small contact patch. Having said that, most of the load (~80%) is on the front wheels anyway...
(edit - have just discovered that roller is at the front, so not so good, perhaps! - I'll stop babbling now...)
Edited by J Bonington Jagworth on 02/04/2008 at 16:00
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Ended up with a 2-tonne Draper one from a local ironmongers, for £20. I'm pretty certain it couldn't lift 2 tonnes (perhaps they mean the corner of a 2t car) but it does the job required.
I am tempted to take it to work, where we have a test machine that goes to 1500t, but I guess 2t wouldn't even register...
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Aldi do a two tonne one for £9.85 iirc.
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They have some now... I got one a couple of years ago, it's been OK so far - I've used it a dozen or so times, I sould think.
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I have a Lidl trolley jack, used frequently, though on nothing bigger than a Honda Jazz. Works fine after, I would guess, 4-5 years. Guess I'm lucky that I don't need to lift any big motors these days.
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"Aldi do a two tonne one for £9.85"
Don't rub it in! The nearest we've got is a Lidl, who will doubtless start doing them next week...
Still, the new one has enabled me to do some maintenance that would undoubtedly have taken a lot more than half an hour of garage time, so it really hasn't cost me anything (I keep telling myself).
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