anyone know if bottle jacks are just as safe as trolley jacks? Im referring to the trolley jacks having a wider diameter circle to lift the car with as a bottle jack does not. Are they equally safe for not rolling off?

 

bump bump bump it up

 

Quick answer: Never go under a car if it's not on jackstands. Jacks arent to be trusted on their own. Ever.

With that out of the way.. I just dont trust bottle jacks. No idea if they really are as safe or not (has more to do with your parking brake than anything else, I gather), but their small footprint doesnt inspire any confidence.

 

exactly, my trolley jack that i do feel quite safe under can only lift maybe 14 inches. Bottle jacks can lift up to 19 that ive seen for a reasonable price, under 40$. A trolley jack with an equivalent lifting range exceeds 300 canadian dollars. I do have jackstands so i guess if i can lift and use jackstands i should be ok.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Mavrick &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">exactly, my trolley jack that i do feel quite safe under...</TD></TR></TABLE>

Dude, don't ever go under a car with a jack. I don't want to read about you in the newspaper this way if something bad happens.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Mavrick &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">exactly, my trolley jack that i do feel quite safe under can only lift maybe 14 inches. Bottle jacks can lift up to 19 that ive seen for a reasonable price, under 40$. A trolley jack with an equivalent lifting range exceeds 300 canadian dollars. I do have jackstands so i guess if i can lift and use jackstands i should be ok.</TD></TR></TABLE>

lift the car to the jack's maximum height, set the jack stands, lower the car onto them, put the jack on top of a couple of cinder blocks securely, raise car again to get an extra 8 or so inches. don't forget to set your jack stands again.

 

I too had the same question when i started seeking maintenance equipment for my civic...

I would say No to bottle jacks. Like numist said, they don't look anywhere as stable as trolley jacks, and would hate for one to fail or fall over.. and drop my car... i'd be urked.

I wanted a high lift trolley jack too, like the big shop ones, because mine i got didn't lift high enough alone to do some things. BUt the costed too much for me.

As far as getting a jack... look for a combo kit if you're not getting a larger high-lift jack. I got mine in a kit with 2-jack stands, 2-wheel chocks, and one of those things you lay on to roll underneath the car...

Also, think about wheel ramps if you aren't doing any work on the wheels specifically. Small investment saves time with that.

 

dont ramps slip out from under the tires when you try to drive over them

 

well alot of us are too low to use the ramps...

 

Use common sense, and a high school's education worth of physics. Will what will happen when 2500-3000lbs of pressure is applied over 1 square inch of anything... i hope the wheels are on the car, otherwise it's good-bye brakes. : P Bottle jacks are not car jacks.

 

if your looking for more lift, you could try something like this...
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr...T#tab
I bought this for working on my girls Jimmy, but my low profile jack started a small leak so I used that one for my last oil change and switching to my winter tires. I had to drive up onto a 2x6 under the front tires so the jack would go under but it worked great. It's not expensive either. So if your looking for more lift at a decent price, it's an option.

Also, like everyone else said, never go under a car without jack stands. They are inexpensive and are worth every penny. I always use jack stands and give the car a nudge before going under it or taking the tires off to make sure it's sitting on the jack stands securely.