lidl £20 trolley jacks - worth it?

londonTiger

Just saw £20 trolley jacks at lidl. Wasn't able to have much of a look into it because LIDL staff were anal about me opening boxes last time I went there. Who boys DIY tools without having a good feel of the quality of the build anyway?

I've seen these jacks, they're more or less the same jacks sold by different brands and painted in their own colours, go on ebay and you'll find the exact same designs sold by myria dof different makes.

I suspect the lidl ones are similar to the ones sold by halfords and co. But dont know for sure.

phill99

Anything like that has to be CE marked it will be up to the standard laid down in the appropriate directive. Lidl just work to a much lower margin than other stores. I'm guessing you won't be using it for commercial applications. If they are like Aldi's, they come with a 2 year guarantee, so what have you got to loose?

forgotmyname

They are cheap and not to be trusted. If jacking up a little hatchback a couple of times a year and you also use axle stands then they are OK.
But the lift height is limited.

Small and narrow so need fairly flat ground to work safely. They can tip easily.

If your going to use it more than aa handful of times a year but a decent wide saddle one. This at a minimum... http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/ctj3000g-3-tonne-professional-garage-j?da=1&TC=SRC-jack

Strider590

The little narrow ones aren't much good for anything more than replacing the standard scissor jack. If you want something to keep in the garage and to use for extended periods of time, then you want something that's much sturdier.

Mankysteve

You should never trust a trolley jack by its self anyway hallways use Axel stands.

paddedjohn

Mankysteve wrote: »

You should never trust a trolley jack by its self anyway hallways use Axel stands.

Why would the hallway need axle stands? Is that to take the extra weight of the landing?

forgotmyname

Support the stairs maybe?

Although not recommended i have worked under cars with just a jack similar to the one i put the link to.

I wouldnt trust one of the small ones at all. As soon as it started to lift i would be putting stands and blocks under it. If the surface is not flat and smooth they can tip. You want something better.

Dont buy it because its cheap..

Chopper_Read

I bought a cheap one from Big W a few years ago. I think it was branded RAC and cost something like £20. After one go at jacking the car it was back in the box and back for a refund.

gilbert_and_sullivan

A trolley jack costs at least £100 and then its a rough and ready basic for the odd job, around £250 if you want a well made reliable machine with a properly controllable lowering mechanism.

A £20 jack is a toy.

londonTiger

im tempted to get it, beats beating using the scissor jack when taking the wheels off to do an all round inspection on tyre and to clean out the alloys. But I'll stick it out and invest in a proper one. I need a jack to be able to lift 50cm ideally. I'm buying a ramp that lifts the wheel up 30cm. the undebody is 20cm off the ground. So in order to do gearbox oil changes (needs to be flat off the ground) I'll need a jack that can lift up the tail end of the vehicle high enough.

gilbert_and_sullivan

londonTiger wrote: »

im tempted to get it, beats beating using the scissor jack when taking the wheels off to do an all round inspection on tyre and to clean out the alloys. But I'll stick it out and invest in a proper one. I need a jack to be able to lift 50cm ideally. I'm buying a ramp that lifts the wheel up 30cm. the undebody is 20cm off the ground. So in order to do gearbox oil changes (needs to be flat off the ground) I'll need a jack that can lift up the tail end of the vehicle high enough.

http://www.weberuk.com/shop/standard-trolley-jacks/wdk20/

You find these in tyre changing bays and professional garages, search around and you will find one of these for £245 incl VAT del and optional rubber saddle cushion (cheapest source when i bought was PTEonline), made in the EU not China.

A jack of this quality will last the regular user 30 years, thats how long my previous quality model lasted,