Trolley jacks

Cassie63 · Senior Member

Trolley jacks

Joda · Senior Member

Had a similar problem recently, I carry a hydraulic bottle jack which fits under the (square) axel, but I also use my wind up concentina type car jack under the van chassis for safety, I use battery driver to wind this one up, driver also used to spin on wheel nuts, works well, trolley jacks on gravel or uneven surfaces are a pain in the you know where, John.

Are We Lost · Guru

If the jack is too tall, and you have a block of wood, or ramps, just put it down and drive that little bit forward onto it.

Cuppa · Guru

Does anyone have any experience with these type of air/hydraulic 'trolley' jacks.

Any feedback - good? bad? indifferent?

Thinking maybe getting one only for use in my workshop.

Getting up & down to use a bottle jack isn't as easy as it used to be. Vehicle GVM will be 7+ tonnes.

TimTim · Senior Member

I decided that I should know beforehand how my caravan jack should work. Discovered that it didnt jack it high enough to get the wheel off the ground so had to improvise by carrying a few blocks of wood.

Was recently on the Pacific Hwe heading south and stopped to help an elderly lady who had a flat tyre just on dusk. She had an MG, not the British made one . The car was so low to the ground with a flat it was unbelievable. Managed to just get the concertina jack under but then trying to wind it up was a pain until I was able to do a full turn of the winding mechanism.

Tim

Whenarewethere · Guru

Just happened to walking past an Audi with flat tyre in Chatswood - Sydney a few months ago.

His scissor jack snapped while trying to put on the biscuit. In a bit of a mess with front corner of the car on the ground. Very lucky no injuries.

Another one a few months before, car rolled off the jack. Park & handbrake for whatever reason didn't work. Found stones to prop all wheels. Car held up by one stud on wheel, also luckily no injuries.

We put on the spare which was flat, luckily I had a compressor.

Had actually tried to pump up the flat to see what where the leak was. 3 compressors were well ahead of the leak. But is was major out the side of the tyre.

But keeping the car up off the ground was quicker to wind up the jack.

erad · Guru

I had a small 2 t hydraulic trolley jack in a carry box. I used this instead of the OEM jack in my four-wheel-drive. One day I had a flat. The location where I had the flat tire was on the outside of a curve with negative Camber. The car was leaning heavily. When I went to put the jack under the jacking point on the rear suspension, I found the tire had spread so far that the trolley jack could not engage the rear suspension arm properly. The wheels of the trolley, jack interfered with the flat tire. I was well out of phone range and I have a severe disability, so I had to struggle with the jack at a very awkward and extremely unsafe angle.

This experience taught me a lesson. Check that the Jack will work under all conditions before you leave home. In my case, the wheels of the Jack were too wide to allow for the spread of the tire when it was flat. I ended up buying a 5 t 12 V electric hydraulic jack. I chose five tons because I had a 12 V electric scissor jack which was struggling to lift the rear wheels of my Pajero with the caravan still attached. The cost difference between a 2 t and a 5 t jack was negligible. A scissor Jack is not really safe because there is no sideways stability.. since I am now well prepared, I have not had a flat tyre.

Regarding jacking a caravan, I found that the standard jacking point on the body was way too high for the jack. I made up a bracket which fitted over the body jacking point and effectively lowered the height of the point so that the standard Jack could lift the van. The only other option was to Jack under the springs. This is a safer option, but most inconvenient. A 12 v extension lead which plugged into the cigarette lighter socket from eBay. I made sure that the cable was of 10amp capacity plug had a 2 amp fuse in it which blew the first time I tried to use it

Possum3 · Guru

I purchased a SCA trolly jack, fitted nicely in SCA tool box carried it for about 9 years - Have used it at home base to rotate tyres, used it on the road about a dozen times to assist other travellers. Don't carry it any more carry hydraulic jack supplied by Evernew which fits lifting points.

As an aside; How long is it since you've just lifted a modern 4WD wheel and tyre to change a wheel? They are bloody heavy and a garden spade is required to lever wheel up to stud height.

Never place a jack under axles - the van's weight will cause axles to bend which then requires a trip to a truck wheel alignment specialist

Craig1 · Guru

pry bar.jpg "As an aside; How long is it since you've just lifted a modern 4WD wheel and tyre to change a wheel? They are bloody heavy and a garden spade is required to lever wheel up to stud height.- Wrote Possum"

These are pretty good from Repco, if you are stuck in a corner without your bloody spade

Eaglemax · Guru

what about an air jack?
Tony

Whenarewethere · Guru

Craig1 wrote:
"As an aside; How long is it since you've just lifted a modern 4WD wheel and tyre to change a wheel? They are bloody heavy and a garden spade is required to lever wheel up to stud height.

30kg a piece on my Land Rover Freelander. Unless one is training with 100 pushups a day, not easy getting second spare on & off car roof in a controlled manner.

Can't believe cement bags were 25 to the tonne. In previous life moved enough of them. Can't thank the girls enough to fix that OH& S issue!

Craig1 · Guru

"Can't believe cement bags were 25 to the tonne."

I watched a proffessional concrete tank builder pick up three in one go, did it easy.

jegog · Senior Member

A few years ago I had a flat between Bramwell Roadhouse and the river and the floor jack was useless.

On a chip-seal road the wheels on the floor jack can't move and so the end of the floor jack lifts. Floor jacks do not lift vertical and rely on the floor jack moving. When it can't move it becomes unstable.

When I return from overseas in March I will be getting one of these
www.google.com/search

-- Edited by jegog on Saturday 6th of January 2024 11:07:45 AM

erad · Guru

This is the jack I have and it is really good. However, it has a limited lift stroke. Not enough to lift the Pajero body and replace a wheel. Youre need to lift under the suspension arm and the 5 T capacity jack doesnt even notice the load then.