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Floor Jacks

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Shoeboxdriver, Sep 1, 2013.

  1. Shoeboxdriver
    Joined: Dec 10, 2006
    Posts: 345

    Shoeboxdriver
    Member
    from Holmen, WI

    The beam axle on my roadster is about 5" off the floor and my trusty Sears floor jack does not compress that low, and I prefer not to jack in the middle of the spreader bar. Does anyone know of a low clearance floor jack that is maybe 4.5" fully lowered ??

    Shoebox
     
  2. your friendly harbor freight has them as low as 2 3/4".
     
  3. Probably a Q for the Garage Journal...... But- I use an Arcan=costco.
    =3.5 ton. 3.5 at rest. Local tire shop has 4 in service and use them all day without any failures as of yet.(years+). They are NOT light! Close to a hun lbs..... But, Works well. Look on you tube- some comparison's to a napa jack...... It's a personal preference,but if I didn't feel it was adiquate,I wouldn't use it.....Couldn't see spending twice + for a napa deal.
    Homework my friend-homework......
     
  4. Don's Hot Rods
    Joined: Oct 7, 2005
    Posts: 8,319

    Don's Hot Rods
    Member
    from florida

    I just bought one from HF, $134 and it is one heavy duty mother. It also goes very low and will fit under my dropped axle with room to spare. I have a Sears low profile aluminum racing jack ($300 ) and it has settled down since day one and Sears won't stand behind it.:mad: The thing is junk.

    I realize the HF ones are not top of the line, but for the money the one I got is a 4 ton and it picked up my Cadillac like it wasn't there.

    Don
     

  5. zjerry
    Joined: Feb 11, 2013
    Posts: 319

    zjerry
    Member

    I just put a 2x4 under the front tires an drive up on them then jack the front end up..
     
  6. 1967gt
    Joined: May 27, 2013
    Posts: 409

    1967gt
    Member
    from ohio

    Easy there zjerry.. that may be beyond technical levels for some...
     
  7. Atwater Mike
    Joined: May 31, 2002
    Posts: 11,625

    Atwater Mike
    Member

    LOL That's what I have to do with my '55 F100!

    (actually, a pair of 2" X 6", each 16" long and angle-cut on the ends. My wife did them for me on the table saw after she listened to me bitch about jacking up the chrome bumper (!!!), setting a car stand, then scissor-jacking one end of the axle!)

    I knew that trick, she just thought of it first. LOL
     
  8. zjerry
    Joined: Feb 11, 2013
    Posts: 319

    zjerry
    Member

    Sorry I just thought I would say what I did to jack up my car..
     
  9. Same here. I looked at a bunch of reviews first. Seemed to be a pretty decent jack. I really like mine.
     
  10. ems customer service
    Joined: Nov 15, 2006
    Posts: 2,634

    ems customer service
    Member

    and runs a table saw too!!! how is she on engine rebuilds??
     
  11. Shoeboxdriver
    Joined: Dec 10, 2006
    Posts: 345

    Shoeboxdriver
    Member
    from Holmen, WI

    Thanks guys for the input!!!
    I think that I'll try the Harbor Freight unit even though I usually avoid.

    Shoebox
     
  12. beaulieu
    Joined: Mar 24, 2007
    Posts: 362

    beaulieu
    Member
    from So Cal

    anyone know of a good website that shows how to fix the 3 HF floor jacks I have that do not work anymore !

    Or a good website on fixing hydralic cylinders ?
     
  13. PUMPKINHEAD
    Joined: Dec 16, 2007
    Posts: 438

    PUMPKINHEAD

    I have the HF 2.5 ton jack 2 3/4" at rest. Owned it for around a year, no problems. Think I paid around $80 with a coupon.

    Never been a big fan of HF, but after my Made In China Sears jack crapped out I gave them a chance. It's a hell of a lot better than the Sears one.
     
  14. toolz
    Joined: Dec 4, 2010
    Posts: 52

    toolz
    Member

    On the Garage Journal: This thread on - Hydraulic Jacks !!

    http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=197787
     
  15. dan31
    Joined: Jul 3, 2011
    Posts: 1,097

    dan31
    Member

    I don't know who is making sears jacks but they are junk!even the bottle jacks.I also went with h.f.
     
  16. A 2-ton jack such as sold in Wal-mart (Black Jack I think they're branded now) should compress that low.

    They're like $25 or so - cheap enough that when they break I junk them and buy another. The first one lasted a long time before the case finally broke; the second one needs some fluid added, it leaks down. I see the ones now have a swivel on the handle mount, too.
     

  17. This is funny and I mean really funny, piss your pants kind of funny


    This place amazes me sometimes.
    Building hotrods and can't see past the end of the nose.
     
  18. I have a scissors jack sourced from a junkyard...it's out of a 80's civic...that's how I get mine started, then up from there with my trusty unknown maker floor jack. Kinda like the 2x4 trick, but in jack from.
     
  19. i just bought a new one from harbor freight thursday. the profile is 2.5 inches with the lift plate down, but the problem is when you get the vehicle up, the handle also has to be almost verticle to get it to lock in the valve get the new jack to let it down. i had to use my air bottle jack to lift the truck and drag the jack out, then lift it at the rear bumper to get the bottle jack out. i took the handle backk off and found the stub on the end of the valve is very, very shrt. if you lower the handle, as in clearing the rear of the vehicle, it disengages from the handle.
     
  20. 99% of jacks that you can buy off the shelf retail are designed to work flawlessly thru 10 cycles. One cycle = up and down. One oil change is generally,,, up off ground and down on stands up off stands and down on ground or 2 cycles.
     
  21. arvonian
    Joined: Feb 28, 2013
    Posts: 35

    arvonian
    Member
    from Virginia

    I wasn't dumb enough to buy one, but 2 of the Craftsman Al. floor jacks... at the scrap yard now. I now use a HF jack, heavy as lead tho. I also use these ramps I made, raises my ultra low NHF '66 beetle high enough to get the jack under....
     

    Attached Files:

  22. djlifter
    Joined: May 16, 2009
    Posts: 123

    djlifter
    Member
    from oklahoma

    Here's what I use:
     

    Attached Files:

  23. Inexpensive durable plastic ramps go under the tires first then I plop my big Hein - Werner floor jack under my too low front end.
    Problem solved for very little cost.
     
  24. thunderplex
    Joined: Nov 27, 2007
    Posts: 1,182

    thunderplex
    Member

    Save some money. Run your car up on as many 2x6 pieces of wood as necessary, then use your floor jack.

    Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
     
  25. 40FordGuy
    Joined: Mar 24, 2008
    Posts: 2,907

    40FordGuy
    Member

    What Thunderplex said !!!!! "If it works," "DO it !"

    4TTRUK
     
  26. Pete1
    Joined: Aug 23, 2004
    Posts: 2,254

    Pete1
    Member
    from Wa.

    I have a friend that has a hydraulic repair shop. He says the internals of the cheap foreign made jacks are so poorly machined that they usually can't be fixed. He won't work on them.
     
  27. mink
    Joined: Oct 4, 2007
    Posts: 1,331

    mink
    Member
    from CT

    I had the hf unit blow a seal after a year
     
  28. hotrod40coupe
    Joined: Apr 8, 2007
    Posts: 2,561

    hotrod40coupe
    Member

    I had a POS from Sears, locked in the up position, Sears told me too bad. I bought one of the aluminum ones from HF and it has been in service for 5 years without incident.
     
  29. slowmotion
    Joined: Nov 21, 2011
    Posts: 3,330

    slowmotion
    Member

    My old Sears from the 70's has yet to fail me. Has been cycled mucho times. I've been waiting on it to croak so I can get one of those fancy racin' type jacks. I've always used a couple of pieces of 2X12 for the low stuff.
     
  30. spiderdeville
    Joined: Jun 30, 2007
    Posts: 1,134

    spiderdeville
    Member
    from BOGOTA,NJ

    When The HF jack caves in ...I hope it caves in slowly
    Hein Werner 93642 is a lot SAFER for a little over 300 bucks


    • Low Height: 3 3/4”, High Height: 20”
    when I jack up a lowered car , drive it up on 2X6 first
     

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