Lifting up your car to change the oil or a component can be a tricky ordeal, but bottle jacks simplify things to an extent. They’re relatively compact, can hold a lot of weight, and space-friendly to fit with your other hand tools. They simply act as a lifting support for your axle stands when your car is lifted in the air. They’re designed to fit into smaller spaces, which helps when lifting a vehicle where you most desire.
They usually help keep a car propped up by using hydraulics and come with different vehicle weight ratings. It’s important you note the weight of your car or whichever vehicle you plan to lift up. More importantly, you must remember that a using a bottle jack on its own is dangerous and the vehicle is incredibly unstable this way. It must always be used by supporting axle stands, which are the more vital tools when lifting a vehicle.
Of course, in order to prop a car up, you can just get the car’s factory jack used when changing a spare wheel. However, there’s only so much stress that these things can hold when the vehicle is lifted. This is because they’re only designed for spare wheel changes, whereas bottle jacks along with axle stands are designed to hold a car up for longer, and more importantly, with a lot more stability. This allows you to perform longer, more strenuous tasks such as suspension or brake work, requiring the extensive use of your car tool kit.
The best bottle jacks at a glance:
Editor’s pick: Big Red Torin Double Ram Bottle Jack – buy from Amazon.
Best for weight capacity: Pro-Lift B-S20D Hydraulic Bottle Jack – buy from Amazon.
Most versatile bottle jack: Performance Tools W1643 Heavy Duty Bottle Jack – buy from Amazon.
However, like socket sets, the choice of bottle jacks can be overwhelming. And if you’re not too knowledgeable about them, we’ve made things a little easier by listing our favourites that suit every budget and weight limit.
The best bottle jacks
Editor's pick
It has a maximum load capacity of eight tonnes - which isn't as brilliant as other bottle jacks. But it makes up for the loss with a maximum lifting height of a hair under 17 inches from top to bottom.
Pros
- Can lift up to 17 inches
- Great quality item
- Great for most cars and pickups
Cons
- Will struggle on the heaviest vehicles
Best mid-range bottle jack
It's made from heavy-duty steel and is primarily designed for many uses at hand. It's suitable for cars, vans, and light trucks and it's also said to be great for light motorhomes in case any work needs to be carried out on those.
Pros
- Good value
- Can stretch up quite high
- Perfect for most cars
Cons
- Quality is not as on par as some others
Best budget bottle jack
Surprisingly however, it can lift and extend up to 385mm (around 15 inches) which is surprisingly high for the price point it's being offered at.
Pros
- Lifts up to 15 inches
- Very good value
- Lightweight at 3kg
Cons
- Quality isn't as brilliant as higher-end jacks
- Has a weight limit of three tonnes
Most versatile bottle jack
That's because it only weighs 3.6kg, which is up to 5kg less than some other bottle jacks. Performance Tools also offer various other versions of this bottle jack with different weight limits, but unfortunately, availability isn't brilliant on them.
Pros
- Lightweight and easy to move around
- Made from durable materials
- Good value
Cons
- Other variants not widely available
- Huge price difference for the 20-tonne version
Best for very heavy vehicles
It features heat treatment on the areas of critical stress, which ensures it lasts a long time throughout continuous work. It also has a steel lifting saddle which allows for the load to be held securely while lifted. It's great value for what it is and a perfect companion for lifted support on a wide variety of vehicles.
Pros
- 20-tonne weight limit
- Easily adjustable
- Great value
Cons
- Quality isn't as great as higher-end jacks
- Needs to be on a flat surface to work properly
Things to consider when shopping for bottle jacks
As mentioned before, make a note of the weight of your car and/or those you plan to lift up. There are a fair few bottle jacks that can easily handle up to 20 tonnes, but equally, there are some that can only cope with three tonnes maximum. Figure research is important, as it is with torque wrenches. But if you’re unsure, you should really be aiming for more lifting ability than you need.
Next is access. Before buying, ensure you have enough room so you can perform work, such as deploying your oil filter removal tool. You want to ensure this by placing the axle stands and bottle jack so you have enough access to get to the part you want to work on, and that all the tools are stable in their position. Furthermore, make sure that wherever you’re lifting your car, that it’s on a flat surface.
What does the maximum lifting height mean?
Lastly, it’s important to note that the maximum height advertised on bottle jacks isn’t how far up they can lift the vehicle. It’s how far the tools will extend in total from the bottom (the ground) to the very top with the hydraulic prop up. A bottle jack will only keep a vehicle stable as a helping hand to the axle stands, so it’s the height of the latter that is more important. A lot of tasks would probably only require those along with a small socket set, but replacing larger items like a subframe will require a proper ramp.
Aaron Hussain is a commercial content writer at Bauer Media writing for Parkers and CAR. He is obsessed with classic cars and anything with a fascinating story to tell.
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