What to look for when buying a jack
Jack selection is complicated by the large assortment on the market
When buying, it is recommended to pay attention to the following parameters:
- Payload - many experts consider this parameter to be the key when choosing. In order not to be mistaken, you need to look at the weight of the car in the technical passport, only then engage in the selection of the tool. From above, 300 kg must be added to the indicated mass. As a result, you get the ideal weight parameter. If the maximum permissible weight of the jack is lower than the vehicle weighs, the tool will quickly fail. It can also cause damage to the vehicle if it falls.
- The second criterion by which you need to make a purchase is the maximum lifting height. To change a wheel, the vehicle must be raised 50 centimeters from the surface. Only a rack and pinion tool can lift higher.
- Drive type - it is selected depending on the car and the purpose of use. For example, pneumatic models are purchased for service stations.
- Pickup height - this parameter is very important when it comes to passenger cars with low lift.
Based on these points, you can easily determine which jack is best for a car. It is recommended to look at the price last, since the reliability of the tool and its characteristics are much more important. The selection of a jack according to the parameters will help you to purchase a tool that will serve for a long time reliably and safely.
Peculiarities
Jacks are also called hydraulic devices, which provide a high level carrying capacity and safety. The design is quite simple, so it can be easily assembled with your own hands. Due to its characteristics and importance, the jack is an indispensable tool in every driver's car. The main feature is that it is not located on top, like all similar mechanisms, but below. In addition, the jacks are easy to transport and will help you do without any aids.
Sorokin is one of the five best manufacturers of car jacks and has an extensive network of stores in the CIS. They mainly specialize in wholesale and are popular among service station owners. This company has existed on the Russian market since 1996 and is engaged in the sale of tools and equipment for car services, and also produces completely new models that have no analogues.
The main advantage of the products of this manufacturer is the carrying capacity of up to 3 tons, as well as the distance from which this device can easily lift your car - from 5 cm. The kit contains all the tools necessary for lifting and is very mobile.
Resource test
To carry out the resource test, we chose a VAZ-2108 car on 175/65 R14 tires, of which more than one hundred thousand are rolling in the vastness of Russia. Each jack had to raise and lower the car at the front lift point 20 times - the average number of lifts over two years with a seasonal wheel change, plus an allowance for two annual punctures.
During the tests, there were some surprises. At first, it turned out that jacks with a lift height less than the actual 330 mm did not allow us to make a wheel breakout for the car we had chosen. Even the installation of a special rubber washer, which is sold in stores in order to prevent damage to the threshold, did not help.When looking for improvised means, it turned out that a cube from a wooden pallet would serve as a good alternative to a rubber washer - with it, even a jack with the lowest lifting height tore off a wheel with a margin.
Then, the MegaPower trolley jack, on the sixth rise, at the moment when the wheel of the car broke off, issued a "p-s-s-s" and poured oil on the floor. Upon examination, it turned out that a leak occurred at the place of the stem seal. All other jacks have passed our small life test.
The final step was to check the maximum lifting force that the rolling jack can develop. To do this, all the subjects, except for the MegaPower who had come down from the distance, were installed on a special stand with a tensile dynamometer.
The results are quite interesting - they are shown in Table 4.
Table 4.
The most powerful was the Sorokin jack. Its bypass valve worked when the force reached 2450 kgf. The SkyBear and Skyway jacks could not develop an effort of more than 1300 kgf - for the announced 2000 this is very little. Most likely, after assembly, no one adjusted the bypass valve, and it is strictly forbidden to do this ourselves.
Also, the RockForce trolley jack did not match in terms of effort - the lifting force does not reach the declared one by as much as 250 kg. An interesting result was obtained with FIT - when approaching the maximum effort without an amplifier in the form of a pipe put on a handle, the jack simply cannot be pumped. As a result, the handle broke. In fact, the great effort of the FIT brand rolling jack is easily explainable: in the test it is the fastest in terms of inflation (it pumps the largest volume of oil in one stroke), which gives and gives a loss in strength. After the tests, under the FIT jack, there was already a dried puddle of oil, and the leakage continued along the thread of the bypass valve.
Review overview
After reviewing reviews of all types of jacks, you can evaluate their advantages and disadvantages. Comparing mechanical and hydraulic tools, one can come to the conclusion that devices with work with the help of liquids will have an undeniable superiority. This is due to the fact that such devices involve the use of more powerful efforts - the difference in these indicators is quite high. Moreover, units allow you to use less of your diligence than mechanical models.
But still, the advantage of mechanics over hydraulic jacks is that they are more stationary, since they have heavy dimensions, they are difficult to transport. Therefore, they are more suitable for use in the workshop. Thus, jacks are the very necessary devices that will come in handy if you travel long distances.
You can see a view of the electrohydraulic jack TD "Sorokin" below.
Test procedure
Our proprietary testing methodology has been developed based on consumer preference. Actually, there can be no revelations here: the most important thing for car owners in a rolling jack is reliability, durability and compliance with the declared characteristics.
First, we checked the compliance of the parameters with those declared by the manufacturer:
- the height of pick-up and rise was measured using a height-gauge;
- the weight lifted was checked on a special stand;
- the mass of the jack was found out on conventional electronic scales.
Then the parameters that are important for the consumer were checked:
- how many movements of the handle up and down the jack will lift to the maximum declared lifting height;
- resource test;
- test for performance in the cold.
The results of checking the actual heights of lifting and picking up are shown in table 1.
Table 1.
According to the results of the first measurements, discrepancies between the declared and actual parameters immediately emerged: for example, the lifting height of the Airline, RockForce, SkyBear, Skyway jacks turned out to be lower than the declared one, which is not so critical. But the discrepancy in the lifting height to the lower side between Airline, FIT and the lowering MegaPower, we consider a manufacturer's flaw.Of course, the instructions for each jack say that if the lifting height is insufficient, oil must be topped up, but we bought all the products new and compare them under the same conditions. Lift reserves from the stated +5 mm at Alca and Skyway are an additional pleasant bonus.
The next checked parameter was the weighing of the jacks, measuring the length of the handle and the clearance (the results are presented in table 2).
Table 2.
According to the results of the inspection, it was found that the jacks were divided into three weight categories: from 6 to 7 kg, about 8 kg and the heaviest Alca - about 12 kg.
The biggest difference in weight is for the Sorokin jack - more than a kilogram of iron is missing, and the “lowest” one is Skybear, with a ground clearance of 13 mm.
One of the important parameters of rolling jacks, which almost no one takes into account, but can greatly strain during operation, is the number of rolls for which the jack is able to raise the car to the maximum lifting height.
The FIT rolling jack proved to be the fastest - it provided lifting in 27 up and down handle movements in full amplitude, and the RockForce in 54 strokes. The results of pumping all jacks in table 3.
Table 3.
The next step was to check the performance of the jacks after freezing to –30 ºС and holding at this temperature for 24 hours. Only the jack of the FIT brand, after being removed from the freezer, moved and was able to lift the car. The rest did not even make an attempt to move the stock and thrust bearing.
For the sake of sports interest, we lower the temperature to -40 for the only one that passed the frost test and leave it overnight in the freezer. The next morning, the jack slowly moved the thrust bearing, but the car could no longer be lifted. It turns out that practically all rolling jacks in cold weather turn into an ordinary weighting piece of iron in the trunk, which itself needs an ordinary mechanical "colleague" for safety reasons.
