A Reddit Refugee. Zero ragrets.

Engineer, permanent pirate, lover of all things mechanical and on wheels

moved here from lemmy.one because there are no active admins on that instance.

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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: December 22nd, 2023

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  • Depends on the type of bottle jack. It’s a broad term that can mean both the hydraulic kind and the mechanical screw driven kind, which used to be more common in older american cars (lots of fords had them).
    Both do have the issue of getting under low cars, but they are safer and more stable than scissor jacks. Scissor jacks fold and crumple extremely easily if the load shifts perpendicular to the arm direction. Bottle jacks will tilt but not collapse until they fall over center.

    I agree a hydraulic jack should not be kept as the emergency spare. When they sit the seals dry out and if they tip over they can empty all their hydraulic oil out into your trunk. Plus they are not safe to be under a vehicle with as hydraulics can fail and drop the vehicle without warning.