Spec me a.... low profile car jack

[shaank]

The choice of car jacks is crazy.... so would like to see what follow owners here would recommend. Tempted to spend some time taking wheels of the cars and deep cleaning.

It's for a lowered BMW M4, thus I was looking at 'low profile' jacks.


Suggestions?

 

[Doobedoo]

This is the one I have sorry I’m not sure what brand it is the sticker has long gone.

I reckon you can’t go wrong with these a little more expensive than you can find them but less chance of them being cheap Chinese made stuff.

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/c/trolley-jacks-bottle-jacks-transmission-jacks/

 

[dale1uk]

SGS do a good range of jacks.

This is the one I've been looking at:

https://www.sgs-engineering.com/tj2-5lp-low-profile-garage-trolley-jack

 

[Haze]

SGS

 

[Conscript]

Bought this a couple of months ago. Been ace the few times I've used it. Bear in mind, it weighs a ton though, so it's not something you can pick up...it has to be wheeled around. But it's very sturdy. Long handle too, which reduces the jacking effort.

https://www.halfords.com/tools/gara...-2-tonne-low-profile-trolley-jack-657305.html

 

[jpaul]

big earlier thread .. indeed thought sgs was the winner.

edit https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/wanna-buy-a-high-lift-jack.18844713/

 

[InvaderGIR]

A lot of it will be down to how low your car actually is and how far under you need the jack to reach. Lots of 'low profile' jacks don't actually have all that long a reach, ok for some jacking points but really not very useful for other further in ones.

SGS generally are very good, ime and I'd get one of theirs again if I needed a new one.

 

[Orionaut]

The do

This is the one I have sorry I’m not sure what brand it is the sticker has long gone.

I reckon you can’t go wrong with these a little more expensive than you can find them but less chance of them being cheap Chinese made stuff.

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/c/trolley-jacks-bottle-jacks-transmission-jacks/

The downside of the little ones is that they will only lift the car enough to get the wheels off. They are often useless for anything else like DIY repairs.

If however, wheel removal is all that you want they are fine. This is a limitation of the tool, not a fault.

You can get alloy jacks too which are much lighter, again, alloy ones are not typically as strong/capable for heavy general work. But for wheel removal they are great.

Get yourself a small (*) battery rattle gun and you can have those wheels off and on in no time.

(* You do not need a 500FtLb Milwaukee for wheel lugs, Nor should you use one either. But a power tool for spinning them off and on saves a load of time)

 

[grudas]

SGS here but even then I suggest getting some wood to drive on to lift the car up a little.. my s2k for e.g. wont go on the jack without.

my crown after the silly lows wont go on it either

 

[Doobedoo]

The do



The downside of the little ones is that they will only lift the car enough to get the wheels off. They are often useless for anything else like DIY repairs.

If however, wheel removal is all that you want they are fine. This is a limitation of the tool, not a fault.

You can get alloy jacks too which are much lighter, again, alloy ones are not typically as strong/capable for heavy general work. But for wheel removal they are great.

Get yourself a small (*) battery rattle gun and you can have those wheels off and on in no time.

(* You do not need a 500FtLb Milwaukee for wheel lugs, Nor should you use one either. But a power tool for spinning them off and on saves a load of time)

The one I have must be made of aluminium as I can lift it with one hand but it lifts just high enough for me to put axle stands under the rear wishbone mount on the subframe, so pretty much perfect for any jobs need doing.

I’m a garage equipment engineer by trade so am very familiar with all kinds of garage equipment, from jacks to vehicle lifts, brake testers etc.

I have access to pretty much anything I need and if I don’t have it I’m friendly with a few garage owners who will lend me what I need. So yeah I already have a rattle gun.

 

[InvaderGIR]

https://www.sgs-engineering.com/tj2-5lp-low-profile-garage-trolley-jack

That's the one I have and I can carry it easily myself, it's 33kg...you'd have to be really weedy to not be able to carry that, not that you should really need to carry a jack much to be honest.

 

[Doobedoo]

Just out of curiosity what makes the sgs jacks so good?

I must admit I can’t remember seeing any garages (at least the ones that I go to) that have them.

 

[InvaderGIR]

Decently priced and the quality is really very good, at least for home use they seem to be, I don't know about use within automotive industry. Clarke etc. are (or were, not looked lately) considerably more for the same sort of equipment.

 

[grudas]

Just out of curiosity what makes the sgs jacks so good?

I must admit I can’t remember seeing any garages (at least the ones that I go to) that have them.

just a decent company overall that makes a lot of tools for mechanics etc in UK. They're also easy to find due to their online shop/good stock.

I've had mine for 5 years now and no issues.

Higher end sealey/draper are also decent.

don't go for any low end halfords etc jacks they're RUBBISH.

 

[Doobedoo]

Ok. I’m quite surprised Majorlift don’t do a range as their jacking beams are some of the best and its all made in the uk.

 

[kurosagi01]

Bought this a couple of months ago. Been ace the few times I've used it. Bear in mind, it weighs a ton though, so it's not something you can pick up...it has to be wheeled around. But it's very sturdy. Long handle too, which reduces the jacking effort.

https://www.halfords.com/tools/gara...-2-tonne-low-profile-trolley-jack-657305.html

I got this one too and use it to jack up my older brother mk6 golf gti thats been lowered and my MPS which lift it high enough to point it could probably flip the MPS over.

 

[Conscript]

don't go for any low end halfords etc jacks they're RUBBISH.

Gonna have to disagree there. I've had the basic 2-ton normal Halfords trolley jack for almost 15 years and it's not once failed me. I only upgraded to the Advanced one because the basic one was a little too high to go under my car, but didn't jack quite high enough for my girlfriend's 4x4.
It's probably been one of the most used tools I have, and for the £40 quid or so that I spent on it, it's got to be one of the best value for money purchases I've ever made. Even though I now have it's bigger brother, I'm keeping it in the back of the garage just in case.

 

[grudas]

Gonna have to disagree there. I've had the basic 2-ton normal Halfords trolley jack for almost 15 years and it's not once failed me. I only upgraded to the Advanced one because the basic one was a little too high to go under my car, but didn't jack quite high enough for my girlfriend's 4x4.
It's probably been one of the most used tools I have, and for the £40 quid or so that I spent on it, it's got to be one of the best value for money purchases I've ever made. Even though I now have it's bigger brother, I'm keeping it in the back of the garage just in case.

maybe they've change them? I got mine not long before I got my SGS one.

paid around £40 for it and it was sketchy at best, extremely slow to pump up, the lift/arm it self was wobbling all over the place etc.

I literally left it outside our house in london and it got taken away.. did me a favor to say the least.

 

[InvaderGIR]

Halfords ones are ok but they certainly aren't as good as the likes of SGS, Sealey, Clarke, etc. I have one of the bigger Halfords ones which is actually twisted and buckled from use which is why, for safety I went and bought the SGS. I also required better access as the Halfords one I have isn't low profile. I've kept the Halfords but it's more due to not being bothered to chuck it out than anything, I think it also slow releases too which obviously isn't ideal.

 

[Conscript]

maybe they've change them? I got mine not long before I got my SGS one.

paid around £40 for it and it was sketchy at best, extremely slow to pump up, the lift/arm it self was wobbling all over the place etc.

I literally left it outside our house in london and it got taken away.. did me a favor to say the least.

Oh, I wont deny that it was slow, and the pumping arm had a bit of movement, but the actual lifting arm always seemed pretty solid. Despite that, for occasional use it was pretty damn good.