Trolley Jack Questions

hi,

Just wondered if i could ask for your opinions on trolley jacks. I am doing an OU degree and need to do some market research. Does anyone have any issues with them.

one thing i am interested to know is does anyone worry about a jack failing, hydraulics leaking and causing car to drop. especially the cheap ones you can get for 25 quid

I know you should use a stand etc but does anyone think this is an issue.

any comments would be greatly appreciated

No I don't worry about these things because I always use axle stands. Doesn't matter if your jack cost £10 or £1000 you'd be a muppet to work under a vehicle supported by a jack only.


Mine's a cheapie, had it for about 12 years no probs (although doesn't get a massive amount of use)

A car dropping if the jack fails shouldn't be an issue because there should be nothing underneath the car to get damaged if the jack is used properly.

A jack is (or should) only used to raise a load to place other supports underneath.

Unfortunately some people seem blissfully unaware of the danger they place themselves in by not observing even the most basic safety precautions, no matter how big the writing is, and how often it is written. That goes for just about any job, not just jacking up a car.

I agree with everyone above. I never worry about my jack failing because I always use an axel stand. I use a stand even if I am changing a wheel.

You would have to be a complete mentalist to get under a car with just a jack.

There are jobs which I have done were I have relied on the trolley jack although not for personnel safety. Changing the clutch on Massey Ferguson tractor being one. Correct method is to lay rails under the tractor and use special rig but normal was to chock axil so engine could not tilt and wheel back on trolley jack.
Removing some wagon gear boxes we had a rig to take box onto jack to be able to lower and wheel out from under wagon.
And of course moving cars where the wheels are for some reason not able to be used.
In all these cases it's not the jacking part that's important but the wheels and many of the commercial jacks had a wide wheel base and good quality wheels. But some of the cheap jacks don't seem to have good wheels.
Also because the lifting part of the jack alters its position in respect to the base the jack has to role even just going up and down.
Where all four wheels of a car need lifting I have found instead of the jack rolling the stands have started to tilt.
With other cases where hydraulics are used for example on a wagon tipping body or cab mechanical props are built in so there is no need for an independent safety system. And in same way as one has to go under an unsupported wagon body to position the prop one also needs to go under the unsupported car to position the stand. The stands provided in the kits do not have a provision to connect the trolley jack handle to position them without going under the car.
Yes I know we try to keep our body clear but it would not have taken much to have made them so the jack handle could be used to position them. Or to have a mechanical latch system on jack like used with car lifts.
Also a break to stop jack moving when used on slight slopes. Not that one would normally jack on a slope but away from a workshop with level floor likely there is always a slight slope.

thanks for all the feedback, it is very usefull. I plan on installing a ratchet mechanism to prevent the jack from dropping

There is a jack manufactured by a company called 'Majorlift', that incorporates a metal bar on the lifting part of the jack. When you've jacked up the vehicle to the required height, you swivel this down and it locks against a bar in the base of the jack, effectively turning the jack into an axle stand.

I still have a Bradbury jack that I bought in about 1965, cost a weeks wages then! It was much more substantial than the modern small ones but they are much lighter and easier to use and so far I have had no trouble with them although if you are lifting a heavy car they are much harder work. I would reitorate the warning against working under an unsupported vehicle.

never had a problem, my trolley jack is 20 y/o, was bought by my dad for his landy.

my axle stands are closer to 60 y/o, still perfectly safe.