It is well known that lifting a vehicle with the traditional bottle jack can be hard work and risky if used incorrectly. Unstable contact points, inadequate lift height and uneven ground are just a few of the issues commonly encountered. The common but incredibly dangerous solution is using blocks of wood to lift the jack to a higher point or provide better footing in soft soil or sand. This is both unreliable and highly susceptible to slipping. The traditional alternatives are unfortunately no better. Scissor jacks have always felt flimsy and one only has to search YouTube to see the horrors of using a heavy high-lift jack incorrectly. Pro Quip International has now brought the SafeJack bottle jack accessories to Australia to provide the best solution to each of these problems.
The US made SafeJack range consists of extension pieces, lift adaptors and attaching stability base plates to drastically increase the useability of a bottle jack. The extension pieces are solid steel cylinders with industrial grade welded tubes on the end to fit over the jack saddle and ram. They come in 3 inch, 6 inch and 8-12 inch adjustable heights. Each of these pieces are stackable and along with the lift adaptor pieces, rated to a capacity of 6 Ton.
There are numerous versions of lift adaptors available which are designed to greatly improve the point of contact between the jack and vehicle. Most notable is the axle lift adaptor which is ‘U’ shaped steel, allowing a cradled contact with up to 3.5 inches of rounded or 3 inches of flat surface under the vehicle. A larger reinforced version is now also available which handles larger axle areas up to 5 inches in diameter.
Using the extensions and adaptors is as simple as slipping them over the top of the saddle and ram of the jack, then it is business as usual. The only requisite is that the jack ram and saddle are 32mm in diameter. A collar is also available for jack rams less than this diameter (down to 28mm minimum) which can be fitted to the section under the saddle when it is unscrewed to widen the fitting area.
Finally the two bottle jack base plates provide stability and a greatly increased footprint for use in all manner of terrain. This is particularly important when using height extension pieces as the taller the setup, the more unstable it can become. Further to this, and most importantly, the small insert plate physically attaches to the bottom of the bottle jack with four adjustable steel tabs. There are twenty four locations on the plate for these tabs to be positioned so no matter the shape of your jack, it can always be attached.  Â
Enquiries and sales are handled directly through Pro Quip International in Melbourne who can be reached on (03) 9761 1110 or at sales@proquip.com.au . Delivery costs can vary throughout the country and are calculated on a case by case basis. Further information can be found at www.proquip.com.au .