Smaller Trolley Jack Opinions?

[Grand Master of Awesome]

You tell me this after I've been using a SCA trolley jack for the last 5 years?!? :P

 

I can't say I've ever had a problem with it besides the SCA stickers falling off 2 days after I bought it. :lol:

 

If your car's too low for your jack (like my Twin Cam is), just drive/roll the end you want to jack up onto a few pieces of thick timber (saved me buying a pricey ultra-low jack). If you want to get enthusiastic, you could even cut an angle off one end of the wood so it's a ramp. :D

 

My supercheap one is still good after 3 years, cost me $50

 

I bought an ultra low jack and i still can't get it under my car :(

[rian]

My brother bought a cheapo one from Autobarn I think and it never functioned properly. It would always slowly lose pressure, no matter how hard you locked off the valve thingy. And that was when it was brand new.

 

I've been using my dad's humungous trolley jack which he got from his dad, the thing weighs a tonne. It's probably 40 years old and still going, though it has had new seals put in it.

[ke70dave]

yeah i bought one from repco as well. i think it must be around 400mm lift, gets the car high enough to get a few holes up on my supercheap stands. plenty high enough for anythign i have done so far.

 

I think it was only 80bucks or so. been going a few yrs. most important thing is to keep them out of the weather, 1 night in the rain and they are destroyed.

 

not the lowest, but yeah a scisor jack on the sill with a few turns is enough to get it under low cars, or a few blocks of wood to drive onto gets it just high enough if required. no problems with the subi though.

 

but yeah, woudlnt trust it, gotta be careful whenever you are using it. and always go the stands asap. but that goes for any hydraulic jack, i still woudlnt get under a car supported by a ~$1000 "race car" jack.

[altezzaclub]

The problem I find with my dirt-cheap one is that the castor wheels are crap and have too much negative camber! They don't swing in the right direction when jacking , I think they were too cheap with the bearing ring that they sit on.

 

Start off cheap and if it craps out in a few years go up one price bracket... The lift is the thing to look for, they will all jack up one end of a Corolla easily enough, but sometimes not high enough.

[19914afc]

I bought a good one from repco too was $250 down to about $150 I think, goes low enough to get my car up with the crossmember about 70mm off the ground, goes up high enough to use the highest setting on my jack stands, I started off with a cheap one from supercheap then got sick of it so bought that one. And as above I wouldn't get under a car supported by any jack without stands under.

[B.L.Z.BUB]

Remember that thread where the guy used a cut spring to support his car?

[Hiro Protagonist]

Remember that thread where the guy used a cut spring to support his car?

 

Don't forget the battery and the besser block....

[B.L.Z.BUB]

 

 

Don't forget the battery and the besser block....

 

Ahhh, yeah that's right. I went looking for it a while back but I think it may have been deleted.

[TE278U]

seriously check out the ARCAN jack.

 

it is all aluminium, light as ʞ©$ɟ, lifts high, cheap, and low saddle height.

 

waste of money buying a crap jack now, only to upgrade later.

 

(edit) can't find one on ebay now except for in canberra. they want stupid money for them.

 

I'm happy to buy one on your behalf next time i go to costco if you can wait a couple weeks.

 

-dave

[19914afc]

haha, had some wheels stolen from a lexus out the back of work, they broke into the car and used the scissor jack and a battery, a tire, some old broken bits of cement and something else haha.

[rxsammy]

Thanks for all the tips guys, I actually bought a jack today from Repco. Just one of their pro-lift 2000Kg fullsize jacks. Was only $139 with free axle stands.

Seems pretty good, it's a little smaller than some which is good and super quick, only 2-3 pumps all the way to the top.

 

Did some work on the car today and realized why I stopped working on cars! Frustrating day! I'll get there tho.

 

Thanks again.