Floor Jack shopping.

jeepmkcomin

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2007
Location
Raleigh NC
Well I'm in the market for a new floor jack. Looking for a 3 ton with some good lifting height. Any recommendations?

I am trying to find one that is serviceable so I can just replace some o-rings or such if it breaks and move on. Any that won't break the bank?
 
I found a nice Torin long frame at a yard sale for $10. I offered the guy $8 and he said ok. I know that isn't directly helpful, but more of a suggestion to look around at yard sales and junk. I would have never thought to do that, but my wife just had to go to the yard sale in our neighborhood.
 
I have a big 3-ton steel one. Not sure what the max height is - it's plenty to get my axles up good and high, but by the frame only in 1-2 magic spots, otherwise I need a helper block. It's the standard one they have at AutoZone.... my bro and bets friend gave it to me as a wedding present.
That thing is great BUT IMO - spend teh extra $$ and get an aluminum one. If you ever need to pick it up (which you will) it makes a HUGE difference, teh steel ones are very heavy.
My bet is the height is pretty similar on all of them.
 
RatLabGuy said:
I have a big 3-ton steel one. Not sure what the max height is - it's plenty to get my axles up good and high, but by the frame only in 1-2 magic spots, otherwise I need a helper block. It's the standard one they have at AutoZone.... my bro and bets friend gave it to me as a wedding present.
That thing is great BUT IMO - spend teh extra $$ and get an aluminum one. If you ever need to pick it up (which you will) it makes a HUGE difference, teh steel ones are very heavy.
My bet is the height is pretty similar on all of them.
Click to expand...

FYI, my experience with the commonly available aluminum jacks has been less than stellar. Most of them are underpowered, don't lift high, and fail frequently. Junk, usually.
 
I know their a little pricey but for 4 wheel drive work a forklift jack is really nice. If you've ever seen one you'll understand why. They kinda scissor and on one side of the scissor is a low profile jacking point and the other side is an inverted cylinder that starts at like 16". I've been looking for a cheap one to have around the shop for a while.
 
MarsFab said:
I know their a little pricey but for 4 wheel drive work a forklift jack is really nice.
Click to expand...
you mean like this one...
collin%20forklift%20car.jpg


lol. thats how i roll.
 
I've got a 3 ton Craftsman unit that has the quick lift pump feature. If you are not familiar with this, what it does is the jack will come up about 10 times faster than normal when there is no load on it so you don't have to pump it like 100 times before it makes contact with the axle etc. The down side to my jack is the lifting rate is sort of slow once it does make contact (ie little lift gain per pump), but it can easily lift the front end of my Dodge 2500 CTD off the ground, so it has great power. It is build well and fairly heavy. I have had it about 6-7 yrs and have been very happy with it. A set of jack stands came with it too.
 
Mine has that feature too, very convenient.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my hefty steel jack.
It just sucks dealin gw/ the hernia if you have to, say, lift it into the back of a truck.
 
sounds like I got the cheap tractor supply china version of the ^^^ 3-ton craftsman. After about a year or two, mine started to leak a little. If I use the quick lift lever, it leaks a lot more.
 
x3 on the steel craftsman. I have the 4.5 ton pro version. That beast is heavy though and if you're going to be doing anything in the dirt/rocks then you might as well start working out before you buy it. I usually lay out some plywood to roll it on, but sometimes you just gotta man handle it. They have a nice aluminum version as well that I've heard good things about. If you want strength and longevity go with the steel.

Oh and don't be lazy and use your high-lift jack whenever your 150 lb 4.5 ton jack is laying in the corner. You're liable to break your hand. :)
 
I've got the 4.5 ton Craftsman Pro as well and it works great, lifts a Jeep like its nothing, but I've had it about a year and its already leaking like crazy.

Had my wifes Camry up to do a oil change for about 30 minutes and had a 8" diameter puddle of oil under it. There's a secondary piston underneath the main one that is leaking, I've been meaning to call Sears and see what they'll do about it.
 
The problem with about all I have found is similar lift height. I have the craftsman with quick pump and enjoy it, but I really wish someone made one that goes up to 24"+. I've even looked into heavy duty jacks and they have about the same height.
 
The Blue Michelin one from Sam's...
 
RenegadeT said:
sounds like I got the cheap tractor supply china version of the ^^^ 3-ton craftsman. After about a year or two, mine started to leak a little. If I use the quick lift lever, it leaks a lot more.
Click to expand...

what a cheap POS that was. I finally monkeyed with it (add fluid, pump air out) enough where I could get it to lift itself, but wouldnt budge an XJ.

Nothern Tool mailed me a coupon for $20 off a purchase of $100 or more. I stopped by and grabbed a Torin Big Red SUV Floor Jack, 3 1/2-Ton, Model# T83014.

I havent lifted anything with it yet, but I noticed the quick pump mechanism is different than the Tractor Supply version. This one is purely mechanical where the lever uses some cam action or something to raise the jack until it hits. The POS TS version uses one hydraulic cylinder to quick raise, then adds a second cylinder to do the real lifting with the handle.

Hopefully this one will last.
 
i know this doesn't help but we have a little 2 1/2 ton big red and we've had that thing like 5 years, beat the crap out of it and its about at the end of its life. but i was looking at the aluminum ones and they just dont look like they are made good. i think i'm gonna get that craftsman yall are talking about
 
orange harbor freight piece for the win

use it 3-4 years and throw it away and replace...think its about $50 when on sale...
 
I think it's good to remember that the foot print on a floor jack is only so big and the higher it raises the less safe it is. I assume that's why they generally only go so high.

Lawsuits are expensive, even when dumb people are the opperators!
 
I'm another one for Craftsman...Didn't get the professional, but I did get the 3 ton. It handles my 250 and Bronco with ease and they're on 35's+, with even more room to lift. I bought mine about 4-5 years ago and separately bought the jack stands and creeper and that totaled around $210-220. Now they have them in a package with the exact same stuff for $149.
 
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