New Aldi trolley jack and cast iron wheels.

[Dave West]

Aldi is currently advertising (available 7 feb) a trolley jack, that lifts 2
tonnes for �19.99.

Is it likely to be any good at this price? They also say it has cast iron
wheels. I always thought that cast iron was a brittle material and so would
this be an unusual choice for heavy load bearing wheels ?

[Duncan Wood]

On Fri, 01 Feb 2013 21:51:34 -0000, Dave West <simple...@mail.invalid>
wrote:

Halfords will be a lot easier to return it to if it leaks & they're only
£1 more.

[Tim+]

Why should Aldi be hard to return things to? Never had a problem myself.

Tim

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article <op.wruk1...@duncan-tosh.home>, Duncan Wood

Lidl and I think Aldi offer a three year money back warranty on this sort
of thing - provided you have the receipt. Dunno this particular item, but
in general their tools are *way* better value than Halfords.

--
*On the other hand, you have different fingers*

Dave Plowman da...@davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article <kehdcl$ih6$1...@dont-email.me>,

The descriptions of this sort of thing from both Aldi and Lidl are usually
poor. So they might just be trying to say the wheels ain't plastic. But my
experience of both is their tools are generally excellent value for money.
But do make sure you keep the receipt safe just in case you do have a
problem.

--
*I'm really easy to get along with once people learn to worship me

[Rob]

Malleable cast iron is most likely what there made of, but then again if
made in china could be anything. (has a better structure)


From wiki.

Malleable iron is cast as White iron, the structure being a metastable
carbide in a pearlitic matrix. Through an annealing heat treatment, the
brittle structure as first cast, is transformed into the malleable form.
Carbon agglomerates into small roughly spherical aggregates of graphite
leaving a matrix of ferrite or pearlite according to the exact heat
treat used. Three basic types of malleable iron are recognized within
the casting industry: Blackheart malleable iron, Whiteheart malleable
iron and Pearlitic malleable iron.[1]

[Rob]

Just looked at the Aldi site with this jack.

My suggestion - don't waste your money and look for something better,
bigger, these things are toys not something that's safe to lift a car,
stability wise.

Looking at the picture you may not even get enough hight to place stands
under the car.

[Bob Dodds]

Bought similar trolley jack from Screwfix sale about 5 years ago for
£7.49
Didn't expect much but thought it was worth a try at that price.
Still using it and no problems, it's been very usefull.
Wheels look identical, if I didn't have one I'd buy it.

Bob

[Rob]

That's about all there worth.

[Mrcheerful]

cast wheels are fine. if you only want to lift a corner at a time of an
ordinary car on a good flat surface then this would do, and it is small
enough to live in the boot.
Personally I would spend more and get low head capability, longer reach,
wider track and more lift, but that would involve 100 quid or more.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article <1kxnn1u.q38hp2te3crdN%itali...@gmail.com>,
SteveH <itali...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Duncan Wood <nnt...@dmx512.co.uk> wrote:

> > Halfords will be a lot easier to return it to if it leaks & they're
> > only �1 more.

> Wrong.

> Halfords will argue and try to get out of giving a refund or
> replacement.

> Lidl and Aldi have 3 year 'no questions' guarantees.

You *will* need the receipt, though. Halfords *may* wave this if other
proof of age.

--
*Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder *

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article <510c...@dnews.tpgi.com.au>,

Rob <mesa...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Just looked at the Aldi site with this jack.

> My suggestion - don't waste your money and look for something better,
> bigger, these things are toys not something that's safe to lift a car,
> stability wise.

'Bigger and better' may well mean it's near impossible to transport due to
size and weight. Fine if you are only using it in a garage - but plenty
don't have one and may have to take the jack to the car from a storage
area.

And are you saying it's less stable than other DIY jacks - including the
car one? Most unlikely.

But no trolley jack should be used as the only means of support - they
should be supplemented by an axle stand.

Then there's a question of cost. A pro trolley jack will be several times
the price.

> Looking at the picture you may not even get enough hight to place stands
> under the car.

--
*Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy *

[Duncan Wood]

Because Halfords always stock trolley jacks

[Mrcheerful]

SteveH wrote:

> Most home tinkerers just need a trolley jack for brake pad changes,
> swapping wheels or maybe slipping on new sections of exhaust. So long
> as you don't have a particularly low car, and have a couple of axle
> stands, that looks ideal.
>
> I prefer ramps for jobs where the wheels don't need to come off - but
> they come with their own difficulties, mostly stopping the feckers
> moving when driving onto them.

a piece of carpet fixed around the first rung helps, that way you drive onto
the carpet first, which stops the ramp running away. If you still have
problems then make the carpet slightly longer than the wheel base
(especially useful for rear wheel drive cars)

[Chris Bartram]

On 01/02/13 23:45, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
> In article <op.wruk1...@duncan-tosh.home>, Duncan Wood
> <nnt...@dmx512.co.uk> wrote:
>> On Fri, 01 Feb 2013 21:51:34 -0000, Dave West
>> <simple...@mail.invalid> wrote:
>
>>> Aldi is currently advertising (available 7 feb) a trolley jack, that
>>> lifts 2

>>> tonnes for ￜ19.99.

>>>
>>> Is it likely to be any good at this price? They also say it has cast
>>> iron
>>> wheels. I always thought that cast iron was a brittle material and so
>>> would
>>> this be an unusual choice for heavy load bearing wheels ?
>>>
>>>
>
>> Halfords will be a lot easier to return it to if it leaks & they're only

>> ￜ1 more.

>
> Lidl and I think Aldi offer a three year money back warranty on this sort
> of thing - provided you have the receipt. Dunno this particular item, but
> in general their tools are *way* better value than Halfords.
>

I find in general, Aldi/Lidl tools are excellent, always worth looking
out for.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article <kejbib$klt$1...@dont-email.me>,

Chris Bartram <ne...@delete-me.piglet-net.net> wrote:
> > Lidl and I think Aldi offer a three year money back warranty on this
> > sort of thing - provided you have the receipt. Dunno this particular
> > item, but in general their tools are *way* better value than Halfords.
> >
> I find in general, Aldi/Lidl tools are excellent, always worth looking
> out for.

Lidl have a multi-tool (mains) this week - Thursday - for IIRC 30 quid.
Well worth buying one if you do much in the way of DIY. It's one of those
things you don't know how you managed without. ;-)

--
*Can vegetarians eat animal crackers?

[Gordon H]

In message <kejbib$klt$1...@dont-email.me>, Chris Bartram
<ne...@delete-me.piglet-net.net> writes

>
>I find in general, Aldi/Lidl tools are excellent, always worth looking
>out for.

If only they had been around when I/We were setting up a home, 50 years
ago, not to mention working on my own cars. :-(
--
Gordon H
Remove "invalid" to reply

[JB]

"Mrcheerful" <g.odon...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:dM6Ps.6$vz...@fx25.fr7...

What a bloody good idea! Every day's a school day and all that....
Cheers MrC.

JB
>
>

[newshound]

Agreed, but even grey cast iron would be fine provided the design and
manufacture were good. See, for example, the iron bridge at, er, Ironbridge.

[newshound]

On 02/02/2013 18:31, JB wrote:
> "Mrcheerful" <g.odon...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message

>>

>> a piece of carpet fixed around the first rung helps, that way you drive
>> onto the carpet first, which stops the ramp running away. If you still
>> have problems then make the carpet slightly longer than the wheel base
>> (especially useful for rear wheel drive cars)
>
> What a bloody good idea! Every day's a school day and all that....
> Cheers MrC.
>
> JB

+1

(alternatively a bit of carpet *under* the ramp).

[mathewja...@googlemail.com]

On Saturday, February 2, 2013 10:07:32 AM UTC, SteveH wrote:

> I prefer ramps for jobs where the wheels don't need to come off - but
> they come with their own difficulties, mostly stopping the feckers
> moving when driving onto them.

Easy way around that is to fold a length of carpet around the front rung and lay it in front of the stand. Once the wheels are on the carpet it stops the ramp being pushed forwards as you proceed on to them.

Mathew

[mathewja...@googlemail.com]

On Saturday, February 2, 2013 10:58:07 PM UTC, mathewja...@googlemail.com wrote:

>> I prefer ramps for jobs where the wheels don't need to come off - but
>> they come with their own difficulties, mostly stopping the feckers
>> moving when driving onto them.
>

> <snip duplicate advice>

Oops.. should've read the rest of the thread and I would've seen my carpet advice had already been given!

Not sure why it didn't work for you though? I've found it foolproof.

Mathew

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article <kejm1d$aij$1...@dont-email.me>,

JB <j...@nospam.net> wrote:
> > a piece of carpet fixed around the first rung helps, that way you
> > drive onto the carpet first, which stops the ramp running away. If
> > you still have problems then make the carpet slightly longer than the
> > wheel base (especially useful for rear wheel drive cars)

> What a bloody good idea! Every day's a school day and all that....
> Cheers MrC.

I simply glued some rubber matting to the base of mine. Only snag with
that is they no longer stack on top of one another.

--
*Happiness is seeing your mother-in-law on a milk carton

[Fred]

On Fri, 01 Feb 2013 22:07:01 -0000, "Duncan Wood"
<nnt...@dmx512.co.uk> wrote:

>Halfords will be a lot easier to return it to if it leaks

Presumably when it starts to leak you have to throw it away and buy a
new one?

Do they all leak eventually or only the cheap ones? What causes this?
Does a seal fail with age?

I bought a trolley jack about ten years ago I should think. It had
metal wheels but I've not had any problems with them. Like the OP I
was surprised by this, not having had a trolley jack before, but I
guess metal wheels last longer in this use?

The one I bought was a Hilka model from Argos (IIRC). It only gets
used to change brake pads and to move new tyres to the back when the
garage doesn't ;)

The trolley jack is too heavy and too bulky to live in the boot, so I
keep it at home. I don't like the scissor jacks that come with cars,
so I did wonder about a compromise and getting a bottle jack to keep
in the car but the ones I looked at (not many) were taller than the
car was, so no use to me!

TIA

[Fred]

On Sat, 02 Feb 2013 10:41:16 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
<da...@davenoise.co.uk> wrote:

>But no trolley jack should be used as the only means of support - they
>should be supplemented by an axle stand.

I would think that is true of all jacks; not just the trolley type?

The problem I have is that the jacking points are clearly marked, so I
know where to put the jack but I'm never too confident where to put
the stand. The picture in the handbook is many shades of grey, so not
very helpful.

[Fred]

On Sat, 2 Feb 2013 14:58:07 -0800 (PST),
mathewja...@googlemail.com wrote:

>Easy way around that is to fold a length of carpet around the front rung and lay it in front of the stand. Once the wheels are on the carpet it stops the ramp being pushed forwards as you proceed on to them.

I never had that problem. I bought my (only) pair of ramps from
machine mart, only they look something like these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Heavy-duty-car-van-vehicle-ramps-/170983743742?pt=UK_Lifting_Moving_Equipment&hash=item27cf6ce0fe

They have rungs but these are covered by a sheet of metal on the top,
so I wouldn't be able to tuck any carpet in if I needed to.

I've just looked on the MM web site and that type is not sold any
more; they now sell the ones with discrete rungs, like everyone else
does. I guess these use less metal so are cheaper to make and lighter
to transport. Is there any advantage to have the rungs "covered" or is
it just cosmetic?

The auction url is not my ramps. I was concerned that my ramps have
some bubbling of paint but seeing these, I'm reassured that mine are
nowhere near as rusty!

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article <5ed7h8lmdk0j6lfu0...@4ax.com>,

Fred <fr...@no-email.here.invalid> wrote:
> The trolley jack is too heavy and too bulky to live in the boot, so I
> keep it at home. I don't like the scissor jacks that come with cars,
> so I did wonder about a compromise and getting a bottle jack to keep
> in the car but the ones I looked at (not many) were taller than the
> car was, so no use to me!

Bottle jacks are in general fairly useless for wheel changing etc as they
don't have enough travel for a modern car. Fine when you could actually
jack up the axle.

--
*Certain frogs can be frozen solid, then thawed, and survive *

[Adrian]

On Thu, 07 Feb 2013 14:35:16 +0000, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

> Bottle jacks are in general fairly useless for wheel changing etc as
> they don't have enough travel for a modern car. Fine when you could
> actually jack up the axle.

I've never yet found a vehicle where you can't position a bottle jack
under a suspension component, so jack it up without having to use up the
entire suspension travel.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article <kf0fss$i62$1...@speranza.aioe.org>,

Securely? I'd say it's more rare to find one you can. I'd far rather use
the maker's jack designed for the purpose. For wheel changing 'in the
field' obviously. At home, I'd use my trolley jack - but used the lifting
points designed for this.

--
*People want trepanners like they want a hole in the head*

[Adrian]

On Thu, 07 Feb 2013 15:24:30 +0000, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

>> > Bottle jacks are in general fairly useless for wheel changing etc as
>> > they don't have enough travel for a modern car. Fine when you could
>> > actually jack up the axle.

>> I've never yet found a vehicle where you can't position a bottle jack
>> under a suspension component, so jack it up without having to use up
>> the entire suspension travel.

> Securely?

Sure.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article <kf0htq$omh$1...@speranza.aioe.org>,

Not on either of my cars - or most others I can remember. Except under a
beam axle. Perhaps I'm more scared than you. ;-)

--
*It's o.k. to laugh during sex�.�.just don't point!