Automotive floor jacks - bottle or floor jack

At least they fit their vehicles well. :)

I'm no expert, but I don't think OE jacks are that crappy, at least compared to no-name Chinese scissor jacks. The OE ones I saw were made in the US, Canada, or Japan, one was rated for 2.25 tons (a ton more than its car), compared to 1.5 tons for most aftermarket scissor jacks, the OE metal was thicker, and the screw rods had smooth 90-deg. threads instead of rough 45-deg. threads (it seemed that the Chinese jacks used ordinary threaded rod). It wouldn't surprise me if car makers test the jacks they buy from suppliers more thoroughly than Chinese jack makers test their own products.

I once tested some Chinese hydraulic floor jacks by raising one corner of my fairly light car overnight. They all sank 0.5" - 2" overnight. I tried the same test with my father's ancient Sears compact floor jack, made in Taiwan, and it didn't sink at all.

Reply to
larry moe 'n curly
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The scissors jacks are more trustworthy then a hydraulic jack and probably more stable then a bottle jack would be. They also start out LOW and have a large amount of lift. Sometimes when you get a flat you don't even have room to get a bottle or hydraulic jack under the car.

Reply to
Ashton Crusher

I have a $20 bottle jack that I've had for 6 years without a problem. The way the axle and differential are put together on my Jeep Cherokee mandates some sort of jack with a small lift point. No signs of leakage, but it gets used maybe every 6 months, at most.

Reply to
professorpaul

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