Comments on Ranger / BendPak floor jacks

[MI_Roger]

I need a new floor jack, my cheap jack of unknown origins is showing signs of side frame failure. I am astounded by the prices on US made jacks! An entire US made automobile costs $15K, but a simple garage jack costs ~$1K!

Anyway, I found Ranger brand jacks that may or may not be made in the US and cost under $200 versus $39.95 for China made junk. Any knowledge of these?

 

[GeorgiaHybrid]

Have you looked into the USA made Hein Werner floor jacks? They are made the same as the old Lincoln/Walker jacks (and even have the same model number). You can get a 2 ton model for less than $300 from several online vendors.

Here is one example:

http://www.jackxchange.com/products/HW93642.cfm

 

[oilboy123]

The first real jack I bought, and still have is a Sears Jack. I bought it in 1985, and it was made in Japan. That being said the Lincoln jack I bought is a fair abount beefier than the Sears one is. I have used them both, and you can tell a substantial difference between the two. They are both rated 2 tons.

 

[MI_Roger]

First the good news. I tore into my "failed" jack tonight and discovered the problem was a broken 16mm lock washer. One piece of the broken washer was creeping out from behind the nut on the lift arm cross-shaft, making it appear the cross-shaft was eating its way downward thru a slot it was cutting in the jack frame side panel. One new lock washer and everything will be OK again.

Now for the interesting part. My old jack is a Pro-Lift brand, made by Shinn Fu, the same company that makes the Hein-Warner holy grail jacks. Shinn Fu also makes Omega jacks. Of course the Pro-Lifts are made in China whereas the Hein-Warners are made in the US.

Shinn Fu America

US Jacks assembles a small frame casual use jack in the US from foreign sourced components. The Ranger jacks are probably made in the same fashion as they have manufacturing plants in the US and around the globe.

It appears there is no such thing as a small frame casual use jack manufactured exclusively in the US.

 

[GeorgiaHybrid]

If you want an American owned, American designed, American build from American parts jack, you will need to lay out some coin to buy a Milwaukee model 20 (2 ton) or model 40 (4 ton). You are looking at $600 to $1000 as noted though.

Your best bet is to find an older American made Lincoln, Walker, Blackhawk, etc. that you can either rebuild or buy rebuilt. They will last for 20 years or so and can be bought for $100 to $300 (depending on condition) in most areas around the country.

Edit: Here is one of the places to look for:

http://www.phjjacks.com/merchant/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=PHJ&Category_Code=FL