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 ?
Halfords will be a lot easier to return it to if it leaks & they're only= =
=A31 more.
Why should Aldi be hard to return things to? Never had a problem myself.
Tim
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.
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.
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]
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.
Bought similar trolley jack from Screwfix sale about 5 years ago for =A37.49 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
That's about all there worth.
Wrong.
Halfords will argue and try to get out of giving a refund or replacement.
Lidl and Aldi have 3 year 'no questions' guarantees.
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.
Looks perfect for home use - better than the bog standard Halfords trolley jack, anyway.
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.
You *will* need the receipt, though. Halfords *may* wave this if other proof of age.
'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.
Because Halfords always stock trolley jacks
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)
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. ;-)
In message , Chris Bartram writes
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. :-(
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