Trolley jack recommendations

[Iain T]

As some 'orrible person stole my trolley jack I'm looking to replace it. I need a low profile jack and see Halfords Advance 2t on sale for £128. I believe the advance products are pretty good but I'm open to suggestions without having to pay more than £150ish.

Iain

PS I see they do an Advance aluminium for £160 which seems good value.?

Edited September 26 by Iain T

[dannyb]

Have a look at

Clarke CTJ1250AC 1.25 Tonne Aluminium Trolley Jack

Machine mart.

I've had one of these for about 5 years, very pleased with it.

Danny

[Iain T]

Cheers Danny, it's quite a short chassis is it stable?

Iain

[Mjit]

I used to have one of those and no stability issues - and not as small as the pictures on the site map it seem.

Sadly the store in the Highway in Wapping closed a couple of years ago but there's one down Sidcup way and that's usualy something they keep in stock in all the stores.

[Iain T]

At only 12kg it's quite light which is a big bonus.

Iain

[JohnD]

+1 for Dannyb's suggestion.    I have one and it's excellent.    Only drawback is that the rubber pad in the lift eventually wears away, but Halfords (who sell the same product for more) also sell replacement pads, so buy some of those as well.

John

[Iain T]

Looks like the Clarke wins the day! I can't see me wanting to lift anymore than 1.25t

Iain 

[mpbarrett]

I have one of the light weight Clarks one, very good took the ali handles off then you can use it to jack up the front of a herald under the trunnion... with the handles on they get in the way of the tyre.
JohnD good call re pad because might has fallen to bits!

 

[Iain T]

The only drawback I can see is the relatively low jacking height. Around 500mm would be better.

Iain

[dannyb]

4 hours ago, JohnD said:

rubber pad in the lift eventually wears away, but Halfords (who sell the same product for more) also sell replacement pads, so buy some of those as well.

John

Yes mine have worn away. Thanks I'll order some.

Danny

[Pete Lewis]

we use a couple of hockey pucks 

pete

[JohnD]

ICE hockey pucks.

Gotta be hen's teeth here.  Canada?

[Pete Lewis]

no idea   they   were given by a player    must have been in the uk  somewhere around Hitchin

but tough and resilient  lasting well so far 

you can get them from Amazon uk

Pete

[Eric Smith]

I don’t know what other people might say or think, but having my tools and equipment stolen would be gut wrenching and add to my blood pressure - all of my stuff is in a barn and I dread the thought of people getting in and profiting from my stuff - so if I was in your shoes and being a “half empty” person I would see if I could find and buy ratty old tools and tool boxes as camouflage and an old but working trolly jack which works rather than face having nice new kit ending up being stolen again.

Eric

 

Edited September 26 by Eric Smith

[dougbgt6]

I have the Halfords 2ton low profile jack currently £55, works fine on my GT6. It's quite heavy, but then I'm quite old. Presumably the £128 aluminium one is lighter? Were I buying one now lighter might be tempting.

Doug

[Iain T]

1 hour ago, Eric Smith said:

I don’t know what other people might say or think, but having my tools and equipment stolen would be gut wrenching and add to my blood pressure - all of my stuff is in a barn and I dread the thought of people getting in and profiting from my stuff - so if I was in your shoes and being a “half empty” person I would see if I could find and buy ratty old tools and tool boxes as camouflage and an old but working trolly jack which works rather than face having nice new kit ending up being stolen again

That's why the light weight Clarke is interesting as I'll keep it locked in the boot. I stupidly kept the trolley jack only hidden behind my garden chest and easy to steal. Once bitten, I'm going to probably galv sheet clad the flimsy plastic chest from which other items were stolen and pop rivet everything together. That way I can simplify construction with no base and make in various parts.

Iain

 

[Andrew]

Machine mart jacks get my vote bought two about seven years ago 

[Peter Truman]

4 hours ago, JohnD said:

ICE hockey pucks.

Gotta be hen's teeth here.  Canada?

My son plays Ice Hockey here in Melbourne as a Goalie (They won B grade last week) he has may pucks BUT there all collectable & worth a bit I believe, must get him to purloin a couple of common one's at the end of a game!

My current trolley jack is a Chinese low profile job with about 20in height & single piston, but it always went down very slowly, so I decided to pull it apart to replace the seal, bad move the main seal is non serviceable semi rigid plastic L shaped in cross section and not realising it was the primary seal I prised it off giving it a kink, I tried "O" rings to replace it that was OK but I was always worried about a total failure if it dislodged, so I put the original seal back with an O ring under it works OK but still goes down very slowly, solution jack it up and get the stands under immediately! I have thought about modifying the piston and using a brake type seal, but its such a faff stripping the jack down.

My daughter (Spit Mk2) has my original non low profile T jack 35 years old now works a dream never goes down and virtually no maintenance, another Chinese cheapie, I should pinch it back? 

Edited September 26 by Peter Truman

[JohnD]

Security - my garage is linked to the house's burglar alarm, for what it's worth.   But after having my tools stolen years ago, my tool chests and roller cabinet are in a brick-built alcove, with a steel bar padlocked across it.  Other tool chests are padlocked to eye bolts in the wall.    Sure, a bolt cutter could free them all, but your standard yoof doesn't go around with one of those.

[68vitesse]

Bought a pad of eBay so I could use a trolley jack on the sill jacking point on the modern, turned out to be an ice hockey puck with a groove cut across it.

Plenty of pucks on eBay.

Regards.

Paul.

[Stratton Jimmer]

Machine Mart advert in November's Practical Classics shows the price for the aluminium racing jacks as being £125.99 for the 1.5 Tonne (CTJ1500QL) and £155.98 for the 1.25 Tonne (CTJ1250AC). Think I would go for the 1.5 Tonne!

[Paul H]

20 minutes ago, Stratton Jimmer said:

Machine Mart advert in November's Practical Classics shows the price for the aluminium racing jacks as being £125.99 for the 1.5 Tonne (CTJ1500QL) and £155.98 for the 1.25 Tonne (CTJ1250AC). Think I would go for the 1.5 Tonne!

https://www.lawson-his.co.uk/clarke-ctj1500qlb-1-5-tonne-low-profile-quick-lift-aluminium-garage-jack-7612633?srsltid=AfmBOorQ-57zR0yELXKCEy2fma5_zaICBqErepjh7j6SCTxre4h-7EdJeVg
 

Paul

[Pete Lewis]

I have one like that and a 2ton heavy  unit which is more bullet proof ,

the low height alloy is reasonably manoeuvrable  and with a Puck works well 

when pressed into work mode  Ha !

Pete 

[mpbarrett]

6 hours ago, JohnD said:

Security - my garage is linked to the house's burglar alarm, for what it's worth.   But after having my tools stolen years ago, my tool chests and roller cabinet are in a brick-built alcove, with a steel bar padlocked across it.  Other tool chests are padlocked to eye bolts in the wall.    Sure, a bolt cutter could free them all, but your standard yoof doesn't go around with one of those.

They do in Cambridge, and  battery powered grinders, but only use them to nick peoples bikes even with the best locks on them....  
 

[JohnD]

Without a good excuse, that's "going equipped".

But yes, security isn't prevention, it's deterrence.  And if they're determined, they'll get in.   A neighbour's daughter visits in a Rolls Cullinan, must be the biggest SUV on Earth.  It was broken into at night, no alarm sounded on such a costly motor, because the yoofs used a decoder that neutralises them.   According to the Police, such devices are in sale on Amazon!

John