clarke ali trolly jack failure......with me under the car!
Discussion
m8rky said:
A ligtweight jack (indeed any jack) is not designed for prolonged support of the car,that is what the axle stands are for,so while not defending this dangerous failure it is worth bearing in mind that you should only raise the vehicle with the jack then lower the weight on to the axle stands.
If a jack can't support weight it's designed to it's dangerous as well as useless. How long it should support for should never be a concern for user. Common sense is not a standard jacks are designed and manufactured to. Every potential user can't be expected to understand what others find obvious. Lack of knowledge, experience, or plain stupidity, a jack has to be more intelligent than any user. Slade Alive said:
If a jack can't support weight it's designed to it's dangerous as well as useless. How long it should support for should never be a concern for user. Common sense is not a standard jacks are designed and manufactured to. Every potential user can't be expected to understand what others find obvious. Lack of knowledge, experience, or plain stupidity, a jack has to be more intelligent than any user.
ALWAYS assume the jack will fail at some point and you won't go far wrong. They're only oil and a few seals, there's no failsafe mechanism built in.Jacking a car is dangerous if not done correctly!
I tend to go overboard when working under a car, having been working on the 500 when a pensioner turning round into our drive tapped it and I had a "Final Destination" moment, even a tiny Fiat will crush the life from you, so I use axle stands, the wheels, my ramps under the floorpan.
My jack is a Draper one and that loses pressure, annoying but forces me to not use it to support a car, just to lift it.
My jack is a Draper one and that loses pressure, annoying but forces me to not use it to support a car, just to lift it.
A lot of negative comments about Chinese tools here. Where do you think all the Snap On and Mac stuff comes from? Almost all automotive tools come from China (or Taiwan) with the exception of the really cheap and nasty stuff such usually comes from India. There is 1 factory in the UK making spanners now (King Dick in Birmingham) and everything else is imported.
The Clarke jacks (IIRC) are made by Tongrun. Their own brand is Big Red but they make more low and mid range jacks than anyone else for all the major tool brands. Shin Fu stuff is better but more expensive and harder to get hold of.
All the big chains like KwikFit, and almost all fast fit places use cheap jacks because they're a fraction of the price of the Weber jacks and just as reliable. If you've ever dealt with the H&S people at a company like RAC or KF there's no way sub-standard tools would even make it through the door.
The Clarke jacks (IIRC) are made by Tongrun. Their own brand is Big Red but they make more low and mid range jacks than anyone else for all the major tool brands. Shin Fu stuff is better but more expensive and harder to get hold of.
All the big chains like KwikFit, and almost all fast fit places use cheap jacks because they're a fraction of the price of the Weber jacks and just as reliable. If you've ever dealt with the H&S people at a company like RAC or KF there's no way sub-standard tools would even make it through the door.
BliarOut said:
ALWAYS assume the jack will fail at some point and you won't go far wrong. They're only oil and a few seals, there's no failsafe mechanism built in.
Jacking a car is dangerous if not done correctly!
The point is intelligent people who know nothing about vehicle maintenance may find the need of a jack at one time or another. They wouldn't necessarily understand the need to play safe with additional support. For this reason hydraulic jacking devices have to me more intelligent than the casual uninformed potential user. Cheap jack or not, all should be capable of sustained support otherwise they're life threatening.Jacking a car is dangerous if not done correctly!
THIS OF COURSE TAKES NOTHING AWAY FROM THE COMMON SENSE USE OF ADDITIONAL SUPPORT POINTED OUT BY MANY HERE.
That trolley jack is rated to 1.25 tonnes.... pushing it a bit to lift a Z4.. even an old mini to be honest.
that sort of thing is kit car territory. but yes, it looks like its poorly made.
personally I only ever use 3 Tonne rated garage jacks. My clarke one... well it leaks down a bit, but is 10 years old (used as a spare only now). The sealey... no problems......
that sort of thing is kit car territory. but yes, it looks like its poorly made.
personally I only ever use 3 Tonne rated garage jacks. My clarke one... well it leaks down a bit, but is 10 years old (used as a spare only now). The sealey... no problems......
DrDeAtH said:
That trolley jack is rated to 1.25 tonnes.... pushing it a bit to lift a Z4.. even an old mini to be honest.
that sort of thing is kit car territory. but yes, it looks like its poorly made.
personally I only ever use 3 Tonne rated garage jacks. My clarke one... well it leaks down a bit, but is 10 years old (used as a spare only now). The sealey... no problems......
You're not lifting the whole car though so it's unlikely to actually be supporting the full whack.that sort of thing is kit car territory. but yes, it looks like its poorly made.
personally I only ever use 3 Tonne rated garage jacks. My clarke one... well it leaks down a bit, but is 10 years old (used as a spare only now). The sealey... no problems......
DrDeAtH said:
That trolley jack is rated to 1.25 tonnes.... pushing it a bit to lift a Z4.. even an old mini to be honest.
that sort of thing is kit car territory. but yes, it looks like its poorly made.
personally I only ever use 3 Tonne rated garage jacks. My clarke one... well it leaks down a bit, but is 10 years old (used as a spare only now). The sealey... no problems......
im only jacking one end of the car??? im not trying to jack the whole thing, in this particular instance i was actually jacking the rear end, the front was on the floor??that sort of thing is kit car territory. but yes, it looks like its poorly made.
personally I only ever use 3 Tonne rated garage jacks. My clarke one... well it leaks down a bit, but is 10 years old (used as a spare only now). The sealey... no problems......
somebody asked how i had the car supported>>>>> i use a central jack point to lift the car the place two jack stands with side on the jack points on the sills or a strengthening beam, i then lower the car onto these stands, then i pump the jack slightly to support the middle.......
i noticed the axle stands creaking as they took the full weight, at which point the jack slowly lowered itself in a pool of hydraulic blood.
machine mart told me its common for these to leak oil but usually fail when lifting not once the lifting is done..... to be honest i dont care about getting a new one (dont want another one to be honest) i dont care about getting my money back, i just want people to be aware :-)
i will now invest in a jack i feel i can rely on!!
I'm fortunate enough to have two trolley jacks, the Clarke one mentioned here plus a 3.5 tonne low entry cast iron beast I found at Costco. But even with two jacks I ALWAYS USE AXLE STANDS, apart from the safety issue I prefer the better access I get when the trolley us out of the way.
Hope the OP gets a replacement or refund, it would be bad pr for a 10 use failure to be the last we hear about it on pistonheads.
Hope the OP gets a replacement or refund, it would be bad pr for a 10 use failure to be the last we hear about it on pistonheads.
cahami said:
Your kidding right?? Please tell us you are.
Nope. Nothing wrong with bricks, but these are used if the car is off its wheels, usually just one. If i was putting my full body under the car lying down, i couldnt just use bricks. If i've just got an arm under there or something, then i will.DickyC said:
You know to have a piece of wood across the top where the pile of bricks meets the car? Bricks crush with point loads and the wood spreads the load more evenly.
Yep, lots of wood, get it nice and tight with a hammer or lower the car onto it. Supported by a couple of standard jacks too on the jacking point.jamiebae said:
A lot of negative comments about Chinese tools here. Where do you think all the Snap On and Mac stuff comes from? Almost all automotive tools come from China (or Taiwan)
The spanners, sockets and Ratchets are still made in the USA.Most of the other stuff is produced under license in China/Italy afaik and that seems to be the stuff that breaks the most
Slade Alive said:
The point is intelligent people who know nothing about vehicle maintenance may find the need of a jack at one time or another. They wouldn't necessarily understand the need to play safe with additional support. For this reason hydraulic jacking devices have to me more intelligent than the casual uninformed potential user. Cheap jack or not, all should be capable of sustained support otherwise they're life threatening.
THIS OF COURSE TAKES NOTHING AWAY FROM THE COMMON SENSE USE OF ADDITIONAL SUPPORT POINTED OUT BY MANY HERE.
All well and good in theory, but you're putting your life in the ability of a seal to hold against the oil pressure. They all say to use stands in the instructions. They're a lifting device, not a holding device.THIS OF COURSE TAKES NOTHING AWAY FROM THE COMMON SENSE USE OF ADDITIONAL SUPPORT POINTED OUT BY MANY HERE.
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