My brother took his Sears floorjack to his house so now I'm in need of one. His was old and beatup anyhow. It wouldn't release without a full on wrist breaker and then the car would slam down. I looked at Sears again and wasn't highly impressed. I looked at the taboo of all places, Harbor Freight, and actually saw a nice selection to choose from. I'd rather not buy this from them but will if it comes down to it. Basically I'm looking for a good jack, prefferably an aluminum one for about $100. I know I might be asking a bit much with that but I don't have $180 to spend right now. So, let me know what you got.
I bought the AL one from Sam's Club a couple years ago. I don't like it. It's a pain in the ass to jack up my impala from the rear, the dual pistons are crap when you don't have alot of up and down movement to get started. It looks cool, but in retrospect- I should have just got a non-aluminum one from Sears.
Why not a used but decent Lincoln or something? Look in the ads for a shop closing down, Craigslist, etc....... You cant beat a solid, rebuildable, American jack.
if you want a good jack look for a used walker. i am still using the one i bought in 1964. been rebuild twice and stiil works fine. only problem has been leaks. i doubt if you could buy this jack today it would have to be a used one.
The aluminum one from H. freight lasted me about 3 months in the shop... It wont release and is stuck in the up position... Jason...
there's one that Jegs sells for about $130 but I wouldn't doubt if it was made in China right next to the one from Harbor Freight.
I got a small 1/2 ton jack from sears about 30 years ago. Still works like a charm. However, I just got a new PowerBuilt 2 1/2 ton jack from Kragens because I needed a bigger jack. Been thinking about getting an aluminum one for road trips though as the other 2 weigh a lot.
I also noticed that the frame on it twisted a little when I used it once on a very slight incline.. I had to slam it with a big hammer to straighten it back out.. Jason.
Couple of options here. Why not visit your local "jack repair" shop. They usually have rebuilt/reconditioned ones for sale. They may not be pretty, but I have a Lincoln I bought a long time ago from a jack repair place and it still works great. Also, take a look at Auto Zone, Kragens. They are made OCS, but they are better than the ones Harbor Freight sells and actually come with a real warranty and people you can talk to if something happens. Craigs list, local paper under tools or even garage sales. Aluminum jacks are for NASCAR and the cheap ones are just that. Get a steel one and you'll feel much safer. IMHO
I wouldn't even begin to know where to find the local jack repair shop. Aluminum isn't a prerequesite but I find that they have a lower saddle height and that's a big plus when a car is as low as mine usually are.
Another option ---- I've looked at those used at smaller indepedent tire stores & asked if they were going to update & gave them my number. But I kept stopping by. I like the 3-1/2 ton jacks that are low & long reach to fit under low cars.
look at shops in your area.....I bought a Snap-on (Lincoln) from a guy I used to work with.......he had to buy a new low profile jack to use with modern cars, mostly imports. The jack I bought was just sitting around collecting dust.........Good jacks are expensive but worth it and may keep you from being a human tortilla. A bloody one at that.
I (still) have 6 leaking old Hein-werner(sp?) jacks that I used forever. They have the best loaded wheel movement. Hard to rebuild right though and always had slow leak. Finally won a local poker tournament and went to KRAGEN and bought 2 of the bigger Powerbuilt floor jacks, 2.5 ton. Its been 2 years on regular use and the most used 200 bucks i've spent. I like to roll the (light) cars around using jacks so its hard on em. TP (FOR SALE - 6 leaking Hein-Werner floorjacks cheap!)
I bought the small aluminum one from HF, I bought it when we were still into the Legends Cars (cause it had the lowest saddle). That was 7 years ago. I have only used it on light vehicles, and you never know with HF their QC leaves something to be desired. We have in the shop, the HF jack, 1 Sams aluminum jack (still works) and a steel jack we bought from one of the auto parts stores to jack up our heavier stuff (3.5 ton rated). If you can only have one, get the steel one, make sure it's 2+ ton rated (cause the new ones will barely lift their ratings, where the old ones would lift at least their ratings). Buy it from someone that is going to be around a while as they are less likely to sell a total POS.
I have had NO luck with chinese garage jacks! Last one I had leaked so I got it rebuilt & soon after it leaked again, aarrrgh! I went to the local jack rebuilder & bought a rebuilt Aussie made jack (rich made in Melbourne) It's a heavy sob but it works great. I do need another jack for the other end of the shop so I might try a powerbuilt jack made in NZ....Hemi35
If you have ever had a sorry floor jack than cost is of no concern. I hate a sorry floor jack and they also can KILL you. Save up some more money and get a good one.
I have a few from Sears, dig em. Id say for what you want, save a little more and pony up for the aluminum Sears one. I could not be happier with mine, and works out really well given the small amount of workspace I have.
Not to hijack, but anyone know of a good "quick lift" jack? You know, the kind that lifts in only a couple pumps. I've got a messed up rotator cuff in my shoulder and it's a bit painful to pump my old sears 20 times to get the car off the ground.
HF jack's suck, the front roller locked up after the first couple of uses, and when you release it the car comes down too fast as in slam. I bought a jack years ago from one of the chain stores and that bitch wont die I've used it to drag my old Monte all over the garage with never a problem except for that one hernia.
If it's that bad, you need a pneumatic jack (air over hydraulic). The quick lift jacks are just that, but fewer strokes means you have to push (or pull) that much harder on the handle. It's why the biggest guy on a NASCAR team is almost always the jack man (I've only seen the gas man be bigger than a jack man). A pneumatic jack is gonna cost though.
DO NOT BUY A CRAFTSMAN JACK (unless, of course, it's 20+ years old and still working). I'll buy ANY jack from HF before I buy another POS CRAFTSMAN. That said, buy something 'high dollar' American made (craigslist and 'repair shops' going out of business are the best)
I bought the "racing" one from Sam's. It works great, will lift a car in three pumps, and has a low profile. It's 2.5 ton and heavy so you won't be carrying it around. I also have 2 small Wal-mart models that have given me pretty good service. I don't really trust them though so jack stands always get placed before I do under a car.
My crapsman "SUV" jack just crapped on me trying to do an oil change, I had to use the emergency 'fits behind the truck seat' jack to get the car down. I had an ac delco brand I bought at O'reilly's long ago that lasted 6 years, should have put a new cylinder on it. They don't sell the good ones anymore, at O'reilly anyway.
The YELLOW pages ... Most decent size towns have a jack repair place. I have a Walker ... that is 30 plus years old. Had it rebuilt a few years back ... Love it ... only issue is my roadster sits so low in the front ... I have to drive up on a coupe 2X6's nailed together ... to get the Walker under the front axle.
I bought a new, US made Walker from Northern about 7 yrs ago. It was one of their super specials & I got it $150.00 shipped to NJ. I know your scracth is tight, but you get what you pay for with this stuff. Save up & get one that won't give you grief. $150 will seem like peanuts if you spend $100 & you either have a stuck jack or one that drops some valuable stuff onto the garage floor.
a american supplier for the semi truck market www.grayUSA.com 800-821-7320 but we have some older usa stuff but it hard buy usa mostly because of stupid salesman tried otc tool company but that had some dealer territory issue's and there dealer would not talk to use if we did not buy a dozen jacks at once. same with snap on did not want to come to the plant unless we gaurenteed a min sale bougth one from graingers imported but there brand westfield or somethin like that it works good have a bunch of harbour frieght jacks there ok but dont lift as much as they say. so we use 2 if it is a big lift, but they were on sale for $20
I bit the bullet on a new jack after exchanging three (3) craftsman SUV jacks on a single oil change on a little Saturn sedan. I ended up going with the Sunex 3.5 ton after reading this floor jack comparison http://www.vorshlag.com/tech_jacks1.php. Haven't had it too long so I can't say how it'll work long term, but I've been happy so far.
I got a steel 2 1/2 ton jack at Costco a few years ago for about $70. Don't try to pick it up (damn, it's heavy), but it has worked exactly as advertised so far.
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