Floor Jacks vs. Bottle Jacks

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andyf

andyf

Joined
Dec 31, 2005
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26
Location
San Jose, California
I bought a floor jack + 2 jack stands from Sears a couple weeks ago on sale. Today I was back and saw that I could've bought a bottle jack instead of the floor jack for the same price...

It looks to me like the bottle jack has the same or better lift capacity, and is a lot lighter to lug around...

What exactly are the pro's and con's of each? I'm tempted to return the floor jack and get the bottle jack instead.
 
Depends on usage. I use the floor jack on the car and van and the bottle jack is better for riding mower, flail tractor, between the downpipes on the motorcycle (supported with a block of wood of course).
 
a bottle jack scares me if you need to do anything where the vehicle might shake a little.. definitely doesnt look like the most stable jack.

Take removing a tire, for example... Am I really going to put the vehicle up on jackstands to secure it before taking wheels off? SOmetimes the wheels are stuck on pretty hard!

I guess if youre only interested in getting it up to put on jackstands, then the bottle jack is easier... but I find that anything that needs to be put up on jackstands and thuroughtly supported gives me a lot more to think about than which style of jack I plan to use...

IMO a floor jack gives you dual usability, and is the better option if you only want to own one jack.

JMH
 
A floor jack is much more stable to begin with, and especially as the load gets higher off the ground. Also the cradle or top plate tends to be larger and distribute load better on a floor jack, but that depends. An all-aluminum floor jack is nice and light, but I still don't suppose it's considered portable for most trunks.
 
On most vehicles the bottle jack won't fit under the front a-frame (especially if the tire is flat), but the floor jack will.

The floor jack has a two to three foot long handle, so it is automatically easier to position under the vehicle. If you are careful it can double as a pretty decent transmission jack also.
 
I was looking at the same thing the other day. I'd say keep the floor jack, that bottle looks like it would go over easily with any kind of side loading.

Frankly, I like the old school scissor jacks...too bad you can't use them to get the car on jackstands because they pimp the hardpoint (by each wheel) on you!
 
It's strange. Bottle jacks, floor jacks, even
bumper jacks each have best advantage.....

Was going to pull some fence posts last month....

What was needed was a bumper jack and a piece of
heavy chain to wrap around the posts, hook to the
fence posts, jack them up and out....

When I sold my '69 Montego MX this year, there
went my last bumper jack....

No problem, "I'll just go to a wrecking yard and
pick up another" I thought. ....

Five wrecking yards later....

"We haven't seen one of those jacks in years" was
a typical answer.....

"What happened to millions of bumper jacks I
asked ?" at one of the wrecking yards....

"They went into the crusher !" .....

Still looking for a bumper jack to this day !
 
quote:
Originally posted by JHZR2:
a bottle jack scares me if you need to do anything where the vehicle might shake a little.. definitely doesnt look like the most stable jack.

Take removing a tire, for example... Am I really going to put the vehicle up on jackstands to secure it before taking wheels off? SOmetimes the wheels are stuck on pretty hard!

I guess if youre only interested in getting it up to put on jackstands, then the bottle jack is easier... but I find that anything that needs to be put up on jackstands and thuroughtly supported gives me a lot more to think about than which style of jack I plan to use...

IMO a floor jack gives you dual usability, and is the better option if you only want to own one jack.

JMH
Click to expand...
cheers.gif
worshippy.gif
 
quote:
Still looking for a bumper jack to this day !
Click to expand...
Your wrecking yard is not very observant. =-) 1991 and older Ford Crown Victoria's and Mercury Grand Marquis still used a bumper jack and should be easy to locate in the yards.

Alex.
 
Both bottle jacks and floor jacks have different uses. It's rare that I would consider putting a bottle jack under a vehicle-I nearly always use a floor jack or put it on the lift. However I have several bottle jacks that I use-I took a couple over to a friends place a couple weeks ago to lift up a corner of a sagging building-a place where a floor jack just wouldn't fit.

I also keep a bottle jack with my trailer-a floor jack is too cumbersome but a bottle jack fits in the toolbox just fine.
 
Thanks for that EBay auction offering....

One of my sons just gave me a Fathers' Day gift....

Guess what ? ....

A bumper jack....

He was selling scrap copper...

Spotted one at the metals salvage yard...

Said he paid $.60 / pound....

Yeehaaa ! ....
 
A good alternative to the old style trunk jack (I let 3 of them go with the '71 Chrysler) is:

HI LIFT JACK
http://www.4wheelparts.com/4wp/prod...CC&man=HILI&prodline=HILI&catName=Accessories

Far stronger (safer) and more useful. Several lengths and accessories.

As to GP jacks, the 3-ton floor jack is the way to go. Just change the fluid yearly. I got over six years out of my last one (cheapo, with removable handle), cranking the 2700-lb front end of my 4,700-lb Chrysler countless times. Just get some nice steel wheel chocks and 3-ton jack stands
 
I wouldn't think of using a bottle jack anymore!! Good grief! You might as well play Russian Roulette.
 
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