Floor jack advice

[Roadking]

Hi all,
I’m in the process of buying a new floor jack for doing oil changes, tire rotations and general maintenance. I’m torn between the lightweight aluminum and the (really) heavy steel models. I’m looking for some opinions of what you guys use and like (or dislike). I’m thinking the heavier steel models are fine if you leave them on the floor and just roll them around from spot to spot. I like the portability of the aluminum (not sure if I’d ever tote it around), but what about the longevity, does it hold up? If anyone has some thoughts, insight, advice, complaints, I’d like to hear them.
Thanks!

 

[The_Jeff]

I have a 3 ton craftsman service jack. Yeah it's a heavy bugger, 80 lbs or so. But I like the long handle, the fact that you don't have to pull the handle and twist a seperate little thing to lower, and that it's just a few strokes of that long handle to get to height.

I have a lip on my concrete garage floor where it meets the driveway, and I chipped the concrete smashing this jack's little wheels into it. Oops.

 

[sciphi]

I have a fairly hefty at 70 lbs Harbor Freight steel low profile jack. It works well, and fits under the cars I need it to fit under.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
I have a 3 ton craftsman service jack. Yeah it's a heavy bugger, 80 lbs or so. But I like the long handle, the fact that you don't have to pull the handle and twist a seperate little thing to lower, and that it's just a few strokes of that long handle to get to height.

I have a lip on my concrete garage floor where it meets the driveway, and I chipped the concrete smashing this jack's little wheels into it. Oops.

I have an older 3 ton Craftsman floor jack for well over 20 years now. Works as good as the day I got it, it's heavy but reliable. I chipped concrete more than once with it. OP buy a good strong floor jack, you won't be sorry.

 

[robertcope]

I love my Harbor Freight jacks. Cheap and effective. I use a smaller aluminum jack for most things, but have a big jack for, well, bigger things. I treat them like garbage, leave them out in the rain, etc, and they still keep working.

robert

 

[larryinnewyork]

Good morning,

Growing up, my father had an old 'mechanical' floor jack.
No hydraulics to worry about.
Must of weighed 150-200 lbs.
4 ft. wheel base. 4 ft. handle.
As old as it was, it had all the modern features you'd want in a floor jack.
* Adjustable handle (to get way under vehicle)
* Rapid up feed (star wheel you'd rotate by foot)

All gear constructed.
Crank it up, step on 'directional' lever, crank it down.

I inherited it. But because of all the welded repairs, gave it away.

I now use a Norco 2 1/2 Ton floor jack.
Made in Japan.
20 years old and no problems yet.

Larry

 

[scurvy]

Get the biggest jack you can find. The 3.5 ton Arcan jack from Costco is a very well built, nicely controllable brute.

I got a small Craftsman floor jack about 5 years ago in the cheesy plastic case. Yes, it's "portable" in the sense that one person can move its 15 kg bulk without undue strain, but it is otherwise fairly useless. It flexes enough to not inspire confidence even picking up my Golf, it barely has enough range to put my jackstands under the subframe & simply terrible control when lowering a car with it.

 

[Rand]

I have a cheapie 20$ model thats retired except for tire rotations. And a HF low profile floor jack that weighs 82# and works great. For 50$ might as well get that as get a china one at sears for 100$

I never work under the car with just the jack.. but I appreciate how stable it is.

example. Rim rusted to brake drum. Little jack = car might fall off jack when you beating on it.

Big Jack = confidence it will do no such thing.

also on my subaru there is no good jack points so I usually end up using the rear skid plate and the front jacking point which lifts the entire end of the car not just one side.

its too far under the car for a little jack.

 

[drtyler]

First, you don't want to work under the car with only the jack supporting the car. This wasn't clear in your post. Find some good, quality jack stands in addition to your floor jack.

As for the floor jack question, I've got a Milwaukee Model 20. It is the heavier steel variety of floor jack, but that's ok. It has wheels to roll around, and its not like you pick them up very often. It cost a little more than the Harbor Freight or Craftsman jacks, but I think its worth it. It is also made in the USA.

 

[Donald]

I think a 1 1/2 ton floor jack is all you need. At most you lift 50% of the vehicle weight.

 

[ag_ghost]

Hein Werner HW93642 is on my list always growing list of things I want to buy. It'll replace the "cheap and cheerful" jack I bought at O'Reillys (nee Kragens) years ago. It's OK not great.

 

[Roadking]

Take away from this thread…"even if you don’t know jack"…"use jack stands". Never trust just the jack!

After shopping around a few places, I ended up buying an Arcan XL325R from Costco. Looks pretty heavy duty, weighs a lot (about 100lbs.), but it rolls around really easy (even on my pitted garage floor), big wide wheels in the front, sturdy casters on the back. The only issue was the sign at Costco said 3.5 ton and I didn't really read the box too closely, after I unpacked it, I noticed the both the box and the jack say 3.25 tons. No big issue...but what the heck!

Thanks again!

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: Roadking
Take away from this thread…"even if you don’t know jack"…"use jack stands". Never trust just the jack!

After shopping around a few places, I ended up buying an Arcan XL325R from Costco. Looks pretty heavy duty, weighs a lot (about 100lbs.), but it rolls around really easy (even on my pitted garage floor), big wide wheels in the front, sturdy casters on the back. The only issue was the sign at Costco said 3.5 ton and I didn't really read the box too closely, after I unpacked it, I noticed the both the box and the jack say 3.25 tons. No big issue...but what the heck!

Thanks again!


What are you going to lift? Even 3 tons is a lot unless you are into trucks.

But once you need above 1 1/2 tons, minds well go to 3. The 2 or 2 1/2 ton jacks are not much cheaper than a 3 ton.

I need to lift my Bobcat to change a tire and its probably between 6500 to 7000 lbs. One assumes you are going to lift 50% of the weight.

I was ready to buy the 3 1/2 ton jack at Sams for $69 and they bumped the price by $20, which seems like a lot.

Now its a toss up between Sams and HF.

 

[dgee]

Make sure the maximum lift height works with the vehicle(s) that you have!
Love my OTC 2ton aluminum jack but it barely lifts my Jeeps off the ground.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: dgee
Make sure the maximum lift height works with the vehicle(s) that you have!
Love my OTC 2ton aluminum jack but it barely lifts my Jeeps off the ground.

I put a couple 2x4 on top of my OTC 2-ton floor jack, it raises the max height by 4", from 13" to 17".

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Originally Posted By: dgee
Make sure the maximum lift height works with the vehicle(s) that you have!
Love my OTC 2ton aluminum jack but it barely lifts my Jeeps off the ground.

I put a couple 2x4 on top of my OTC 2-ton floor jack, it raises the max height by 4", from 13" to 17".

That is not safe!

 

[JHZR2]

Yeah, I can see putting some substantially sized wood underneath the jackstands.

I have used a very thin piece of wood in the jackstand notch to better spread the force and prevent gouging of the undercoating... But it needs to be thin enough to let it crack and gently land into the notch on the stand... You dont want the frame rails above the "U" in the jackstand.

 

[Touring5]

In 2005 I bought a Sears Craftsman 3.5 Ton floor jack to replace an old 1.5 Ton unit I bought years ago at Corvairs auto parts (that tells you it's been quite a while). I used the Craftsman when it was new and then a couple of times after that. Recently I pulled it out and the the thing leaks oil like a sieve. I checked the owners book and it only had a 3-month warranty - probably cheaper to buy an equivalent at Harbor Freight than to fix it. Looks like another example of the decline in quality of the Craftsman brand....