Recommend me a trolley jack

kirkofski

I'm looking at buying a jack and had decided upon the following Clarke one but after reading that Clarke are not the best quality I'm not so sure now;


http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/clarke-ctj2qlp-2-tonne-quick-lift-low-profile


I've since heard good reviews about Costco jacks and found the following although it doesn't start from as low as I'd like;


http://www.costco.co.uk/view/product/uk_catalog/cos_8,cos_8.5,cos_8.6.1/139568


They also do a nice aluminium one but I did read that these are not as strong as the steel ones in general?


http://www.costco.co.uk/view/product/uk_catalog/cos_8,cos_8.5,cos_8.6.1/107255


I'm after something to jack up small/medium sized cars which has a protective rubber pad so I can jack on sill jacking points like all the tyre garages do. Ideally it would need to have a start height of sub 10cm as one of our cars is quite low.


Thanks

andygb

I have never had a problem with any Clarke tool in the past.
I have a trolley jack and axle stands from Lidl, and they are very well made.
As to the plastic pad (which is needed on many cars now to protect the sill), you may have to buy one specifically designed for your car - try Ebay, or ask on owner's forums.

greatgimpo

Have a look at Halfords jacks.

Rodney_Trotter

greatgimpo wrote: »

Have a look at Halfords jacks.

Then buy a decent one elsewhere.

Stooby2

We have that Clarke one where I work - it's a nice bit of kit and fits under modern cars really nicely and gives a good height of lift.

If I had "normal" cars and not 4x4's it would probably be the jack I'd go for.

BeenThroughItAll

Rodney_Trotter wrote: »

Then buy a decent one elsewhere.

Halfords Professional range of jacks are actually very decent. I have been using one daily for over five years now lifting everything from minis to motorhomes and it is as good as the day I bought it aside from the cosmetics.

petrolhead69

I have used the costco aluminium one for years jacking up transits, trafics, an xtrail, pathfinder, 740i and an x5, somerimes on uneven surfaces. Never any issues with its strength. It has the added bonus of being light enough to store vertically saving space in the garage.

AdrianC

Stooby2 wrote: »

If I had "normal" cars and not 4x4's it would probably be the jack I'd go for.

You don't need anything big for a 4x4. I've got a bog standard (and now ancient) trolley jack and a couple of similar bottle jacks - and they cope just fine with my 2-anna-bit ton LWB Shogun just fine. Sure, you need to think about where you put it - but you need to do that with any jack on any car.

benson1980

I've got the arcan aluminium jack in the last link, low height and I really like it. I went for this one after a fair bit of research- just be mindful of how much these things weigh, the aluminium one still weighs a fair bit, but manageable.

DKLS

Another recommendation for the Costco one, plus you can pick up a very tasty turkey and provolone sandwich at the same time.

Stooby2

AdrianC wrote: »

You don't need anything big for a 4x4. I've got a bog standard (and now ancient) trolley jack and a couple of similar bottle jacks - and they cope just fine with my 2-anna-bit ton LWB Shogun just fine. Sure, you need to think about where you put it - but you need to do that with any jack on any car.

Yes I know, having worked on them for about 30 years now. The Clarke jack illustrated above is low access jack and whilst ideal for, as I say "normal" cars, isn't what I would choose for 4x4's. I have one of these and I've had it several years now...

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/ctj2qlg-2-t-quick-lift-pro-trolley-jac