Trolley jack: Recommendations - 2T+ / alloy?
Discussion
My current 2.5T trolley jack has given up, I've tried fresh oil, new seals but I'm now fed up and looking to buy a new one. I did debate going down the pretty standard issue "SGS" route for a new one but have been sidetracked by the thought of an alloy / lightweight on.
The brief is it'd mostly be used in the garage but I do occasionally move it around and my current one, whilst a solid thing... weighs a ton. However equally, I'm not a fan of the generic Halfords esque cheapy ones as they never feel that solid when in use.
eBay has a few offerings but always slightly nervous with jacks from the far East, en though I'd always use stands etc so on that note, any recommendations or particular things to look for it indeed, avoid. Budget wise I was thinking around £100 but may go more for something that'll last for years.
And yes I could and should get mine repaired and I may still do that but it's a massive, unwieldy thing so gets to be a bit of a chore at times.
The brief is it'd mostly be used in the garage but I do occasionally move it around and my current one, whilst a solid thing... weighs a ton. However equally, I'm not a fan of the generic Halfords esque cheapy ones as they never feel that solid when in use.
eBay has a few offerings but always slightly nervous with jacks from the far East, en though I'd always use stands etc so on that note, any recommendations or particular things to look for it indeed, avoid. Budget wise I was thinking around £100 but may go more for something that'll last for years.
And yes I could and should get mine repaired and I may still do that but it's a massive, unwieldy thing so gets to be a bit of a chore at times.
Weber.
https://www.weberuk.com/shop/trolley-jacks/standar...
Had this one a number of years now, its steel but not too heavy for lifting into the back of your car if needed, very stable in use..
Why i prefer this type, and worth checking an potential has this, is the lowering system, with the Weber you twist the handle and have infinitely control over the rate of decent.
So many of the cheaper jacks have a poor release mechanism which you struggle to control in the same way.
https://www.weberuk.com/shop/trolley-jacks/standar...
Had this one a number of years now, its steel but not too heavy for lifting into the back of your car if needed, very stable in use..
Why i prefer this type, and worth checking an potential has this, is the lowering system, with the Weber you twist the handle and have infinitely control over the rate of decent.
So many of the cheaper jacks have a poor release mechanism which you struggle to control in the same way.
Just comparing a couple of offerings from SGS just as a matter of interest... but their "basic" 3 ton jack comes in at £83.00 and weighs 29kg... their equivalent alloy jack comes in at £149 and weighs 26kg. It's the saving of 3kg that surprises me, I honestly thought alloy jacks were significantly lighter.
I'm actually leaning towards said basic 3 ton jack... low saddle height isn't an issue but a good maximum lifting height would be good for getting under the car to work, plus they seem to have pretty strong reviews and it's free postage plus 2yr warranty. Seems ok, more so as I'm now less drawn to an alloy bodied jack as the weight savings don't seem that marked.
I'm actually leaning towards said basic 3 ton jack... low saddle height isn't an issue but a good maximum lifting height would be good for getting under the car to work, plus they seem to have pretty strong reviews and it's free postage plus 2yr warranty. Seems ok, more so as I'm now less drawn to an alloy bodied jack as the weight savings don't seem that marked.
From what I've heard, avoid SGS. They only buy in the cheap 'far-east' gear in bulk and re-brand it as their own. I know a few friends who have bought their 'premium' range of toolboxes and found them to be pretty crap. An ally jack is much lighter than a steel one if you get a proper 'racing' jack, I suspect the SGS one you saw at 26kgs is a mix of ally and steel. Also consider if you actually need 2 tonnes of lifting capacity, you will only be lifting a corner/back or front of the car at a time so a 1.5/1.25t would do the job for your average sports car, hatchback or saloon. I bought the Clarke 1.25t ally jack and it's excellent, and properly light at only 11kgs. I'm sure they do a larger 1.8Tonne version if you need the extra capacity but it'll be closer to 20kgs.
gj124 said:
From what I've heard, avoid SGS. They only buy in the cheap 'far-east' gear in bulk and re-brand it as their own. I know a few friends who have bought their 'premium' range of toolboxes and found them to be pretty crap. An ally jack is much lighter than a steel one if you get a proper 'racing' jack, I suspect the SGS one you saw at 26kgs is a mix of ally and steel. Also consider if you actually need 2 tonnes of lifting capacity, you will only be lifting a corner/back or front of the car at a time so a 1.5/1.25t would do the job for your average sports car, hatchback or saloon. I bought the Clarke 1.25t ally jack and it's excellent, and properly light at only 11kgs. I'm sure they do a larger 1.8Tonne version if you need the extra capacity but it'll be closer to 20kgs.
I had an SGS jack fail. Bought a Sealey which is much better quality.Wouldn’t go anywhere near SGS stuff again.
85Carrera said:
gj124 said:
From what I've heard, avoid SGS. They only buy in the cheap 'far-east' gear in bulk and re-brand it as their own. I know a few friends who have bought their 'premium' range of toolboxes and found them to be pretty crap. An ally jack is much lighter than a steel one if you get a proper 'racing' jack, I suspect the SGS one you saw at 26kgs is a mix of ally and steel. Also consider if you actually need 2 tonnes of lifting capacity, you will only be lifting a corner/back or front of the car at a time so a 1.5/1.25t would do the job for your average sports car, hatchback or saloon. I bought the Clarke 1.25t ally jack and it's excellent, and properly light at only 11kgs. I'm sure they do a larger 1.8Tonne version if you need the extra capacity but it'll be closer to 20kgs.
I had an SGS jack fail. Bought a Sealey which is much better quality.Wouldn’t go anywhere near SGS stuff again.
Thanks, food for thought.
It's not so much the weight capacity I need, but the lifting height would be handy as I've an old relic to work in over winter so getting as high as possible is important plus I've got an XC70 and a basic Halford esque trolley jack almost maxes out before the tyre leaves the ground... and it's a heavy thing and a entry level jack never feels that secure, hence was leaning towards something a bit more manly.
It's not so much the weight capacity I need, but the lifting height would be handy as I've an old relic to work in over winter so getting as high as possible is important plus I've got an XC70 and a basic Halford esque trolley jack almost maxes out before the tyre leaves the ground... and it's a heavy thing and a entry level jack never feels that secure, hence was leaning towards something a bit more manly.
I picked up one of these Koveg jacks last month, really good for the money and seems to be indestructible.
Used it on my dads RX450h at the weekend and had no issues getting a good height for jack stands etc.
https://koveg.com
Used it on my dads RX450h at the weekend and had no issues getting a good height for jack stands etc.
https://koveg.com
That Koveg one looks like a candidate... though on the rebranded far Eastern front, does that not apply to a huge variety of jacks? Quite a few look pretty much identical... then again, how wildly different can jack's be I suppose. I guess it comes down to quality of the welds and the moving components. Find myself more inclined to buy locally, more so for ease of return if it did go wrong. Returning 30kg of jack 18 months down the line could be a faff!
On that note:
https://www.halfords.com/tools/garage-workshop/axl...
£130 with a 3yr warranty or £160 for a 3 ton.
Probably get trade discount too.
Thoughts?
https://www.halfords.com/tools/garage-workshop/axl...
£130 with a 3yr warranty or £160 for a 3 ton.
Probably get trade discount too.
Thoughts?
Just came across this! Koveg is my company (perhaps I need to rethink my branding if you're getting Eastern European vibes!)
They are actually rated to 4 tonnes, and are absolutely bomb proof. I've had one this design that I've used for the last 3 years.
I've sold a fair few to garages, who really rate them.
Also if anything goes wrong with it I'll replace it no questions, but I very much doubt you'll have any issues. You'd be helping out a fellow PHer buying from me
If you use the discount code "PH" then you'll get 15% off. Postage actually costs me £30, but happy for you to have the discount and maybe free postage if you let me know whereabout's in Scotland you are, and I'll drop it off to you.
They are actually rated to 4 tonnes, and are absolutely bomb proof. I've had one this design that I've used for the last 3 years.
I've sold a fair few to garages, who really rate them.
Also if anything goes wrong with it I'll replace it no questions, but I very much doubt you'll have any issues. You'd be helping out a fellow PHer buying from me
If you use the discount code "PH" then you'll get 15% off. Postage actually costs me £30, but happy for you to have the discount and maybe free postage if you let me know whereabout's in Scotland you are, and I'll drop it off to you.
85Carrera said:
gj124 said:
From what I've heard, avoid SGS. They only buy in the cheap 'far-east' gear in bulk and re-brand it as their own. I know a few friends who have bought their 'premium' range of toolboxes and found them to be pretty crap. An ally jack is much lighter than a steel one if you get a proper 'racing' jack, I suspect the SGS one you saw at 26kgs is a mix of ally and steel. Also consider if you actually need 2 tonnes of lifting capacity, you will only be lifting a corner/back or front of the car at a time so a 1.5/1.25t would do the job for your average sports car, hatchback or saloon. I bought the Clarke 1.25t ally jack and it's excellent, and properly light at only 11kgs. I'm sure they do a larger 1.8Tonne version if you need the extra capacity but it'll be closer to 20kgs.
I had an SGS jack fail. Bought a Sealey which is much better quality.I think their expensive ones are probably the same design as the others (e.g. Sealey), but I can't recommend them as a company.
I had a Costco Arcan one which was brilliant, but it gave up this year.
I replaced with a Sealey RJAS2500 because it was a very similar design and Sealey sell spares for it - and in the end I managed to repair the Arcan with Sealey bits anyway.
I do prefer the Arcan one, though, as it seems to be quicker to lift and drop.
Davie said:
Just comparing a couple of offerings from SGS just as a matter of interest... but their "basic" 3 ton jack comes in at £83.00 and weighs 29kg... their equivalent alloy jack comes in at £149 and weighs 26kg. It's the saving of 3kg that surprises me, I honestly thought alloy jacks were significantly lighter.
I don't think it's a straight comparison - my old Halfords jack was waaaay lighter than my aluminium one, but it was also clearly much weaker in every way.Looking at the two SGS ones you mentioned, the aluminium one looks much stronger.
When I was looking for mine I found several good looking non-aluminium ones, but they were 40KG - 26KG isn't light by comparison, but it's light enough to be able to be awkwardly carried from a shed.
Scrump said:
Arcan low entry alloy Jack from Costco.
They only sell. The steel one nowAnd it's by no means light at 35kg
https://www.costco.co.uk/Tyres-Automotive/Garage/T...
Will_S said:
Just came across this! Koveg is my company (perhaps I need to rethink my branding if you're getting Eastern European vibes!)
They are actually rated to 4 tonnes, and are absolutely bomb proof. I've had one this design that I've used for the last 3 years.
I've sold a fair few to garages, who really rate them.
Also if anything goes wrong with it I'll replace it no questions, but I very much doubt you'll have any issues. You'd be helping out a fellow PHer buying from me
If you use the discount code "PH" then you'll get 15% off. Postage actually costs me £30, but happy for you to have the discount and maybe free postage if you let me know whereabout's in Scotland you are, and I'll drop it off to you.
McKoveg. Fixed it for you. They are actually rated to 4 tonnes, and are absolutely bomb proof. I've had one this design that I've used for the last 3 years.
I've sold a fair few to garages, who really rate them.
Also if anything goes wrong with it I'll replace it no questions, but I very much doubt you'll have any issues. You'd be helping out a fellow PHer buying from me
If you use the discount code "PH" then you'll get 15% off. Postage actually costs me £30, but happy for you to have the discount and maybe free postage if you let me know whereabout's in Scotland you are, and I'll drop it off to you.
Damn that black jack looks good. Thank you for the discount code.
I bought one of these Halfords 3 tonne ones when I had an XC90, no complaints and under £50 with trade card.
https://www.halfords.com/tools/garage-workshop/axl...
https://www.halfords.com/tools/garage-workshop/axl...
Chris32345 said:
Scrump said:
Arcan low entry alloy Jack from Costco.
They only sell. The steel one nowAnd it's by no means light at 35kg
https://www.costco.co.uk/Tyres-Automotive/Garage/T...
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