Car jacks
 

While changing a tyre the other day, the jack that came with our car decided to do a good impression of jelly :thumbdown:. Looking in Walmart, Autozone, and Pepboys for a new jack, their equivalent scissor types are only rated at 1.5 tons. Our car is 4300lbs which I understand is over 2 tons. I can't believe that the jack that comes with the car is also 1.5 tons (and we've used it before) and there are no ratings on it, just a safety label. Googling suggests I can find 2.5 ton jacks - if I order 1000 pieces from China. Anybody know where else I can find one - I can't think of anywhere else that might carry them? I just want one as small as possible to carry in the car in case of blowouts. Thanks.

Re: Car jacks
 

Not a car/screw jack, but I got an adequate trolley jack from Sears. Worth a look.

Re: Car jacks
 

Land Rover sell them :) x

Re: Car jacks
 

A 6 ton bottle jack($23) from Sears is another possibility that is more compact, though depending on the vehicle it may not have enough travel.

Re: Car jacks
 

Harbor Freight have a good selection of jacks.

The jack is probably correctly rated as you're not lifting the entire car off the ground when you change a tyre.

Re: Car jacks
 

Amazon have lots to choose from. As sheepdip stated, you're not lifting the whole weight of the car. You can get 5,000 lbs scissor jacks on amazon if you want.

Bottle jacks, as drew.dean said, will likely have a problem with stroke length - they don't tend

Re: Car jacks
 

Harbor Freight stuff is usually junk, is what I hear from pro tool users. Though some tools may be sufficient for infrequent work.

SEARS is alright quality. I have a Craftsman bottle jack, think it is 4 or 6 ton.

Re: Car jacks
 

That's the bit I was missing I think! Makes sense now. Just bought one from Autozone and they agreed with your comment (when I went in before there was a long line so I didn't hang around).

Thanks all.

Re: Car jacks
 

So what's a bottle jack?

Our Saab came with a crap little jack that needed a screw driver to crank it...but when we got the car, the garage had a smashed up Saab that they were parting up and they gave us the one in that car, which has one of those hand cranks and was slightly larger.

It's still shit though as the base isn't that large, so a bit fiddly getting it set up when off the road in a pot holed bit of hard shoulder.

Re: Car jacks
 

If you think about it, 3 or 4 people can usually lift the corner of many cars off the ground but it may take 15-30 people to fully lift a car completely off the ground. In fact I think the strong man competition has competitors lifting the rear of a small car off the ground as many times as possible during several minutes.

Re: Car jacks
 

Well, yes it does sound sensible. But I didn't want to be on the wrong end of a jack that failed because I misunderstood the rating on it! Better to ask and be safe than not.

I've already found out the hard way that even with the emergency brake on, the car settling forward on the downgrade as you lift that wheel off the ground is enough to warp a cheap jack. (Lesson: chock the wheels if you can) Thankfully it was a busy freeway and no less than three cars stopped to help, one only to offer water but appreciated nonetheless. :thumbup: The first car actually went home to get their spare jack for us. :thumbup:

Re: Car jacks
 

It works on hydraulics, so you move a handle up and down rather than turn a crank round and round. As they work on the principles of fluid incompressibility they can lift a lot - as much as the internal chambers and seals can take.

They typically don't have the same reach as a mechanical type scissor jack, and they can lose seal over not very long, so should never be the only thing stopping your head from getting squashed (same rule as a basic scissor jack but for different reasons).

They are very effective at lifting a load. A trolley jack for a home garage works on the same principles.

Re: Car jacks
 

Cheers! I thought that might be it...but didn't realise you could get a small one for the back of the car...all the one's I've seen have been pretty hefty :)

Re: Car jacks
 

You changed a wheel on a freeway?!!:eek:
I can't speak for the rest of the country but there's no freaking way I would change a tire on the freeway here in Houston. It's just too dangerous. I saw a real nasty crash just today where a pickup wasn't paying attention and ploughed straight into the car in front of him that was stopped who in turn hit the car in front. Didn't look like there were any serious injuries fortunately.

I'm afraid I would call roadside assistance on the freeway. If I was somewhere quiet I'd do it myself.

Re: Car jacks
 

http://www.amazon.com/Powerbuilt-640...s=bottle+jacks

That is a much safer idea - the small ones aren't really much use for a car over here, they just don't have the lifting height. This one has a built in locking system. Apparently you can get them for $30 from tractor supply. It also weighs 23 lbs, so it's not exactly lightweight....