Floor jacks

RatLabGuy said:
Wife gave me the green light so she could stop hearing me bitch about the weight.
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Hmm.... over a floor jack? :rolleyes:

I've personally broken and bent the frames on a couple of floor jacks. I think those came from Northern or something, so you won't see me rushing out to buy any that are made from aluminum. I had one of the orange HF jacks for a long time, threw it out when the seals gave up and wasted a lot of money on "better" jacks. Shoulda just bought another $75 HF one.
 
RatLabGuy said:
Are you saying the HF Fast Up model is the check valve style?
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For $80-150, does it really matter??? They're all throw aways unless you need something that'll be lifting 20 vehicles a day or want it to last 20-25 years. I figure if I get 3-5 years out of one, I got my money's worth. If/when it starts leaking, go buy another. You should be using jack stands anyway...so a leaking jack shouldn't really be a deterrent anyway...just an annoyance when it does, and chances are good it'll still lift what you need for a while.
 
Brunnhoelzl.


I'll probably buy one of the Jegs aluminum units at some point. They're supposed to be really good for $200 or whatever. I can't stand cheap shitty floor jacks.
 
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UTfball68 said:
You should be using jack stands anyway...so a leaking jack shouldn't really be a deterrent anyway...just an annoyance when it does, and chances are good it'll still lift what you need for a while.
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I *always* use a jack stand
But my current one has gotten to the point where sometimes it won't go over a certain height fully loaded.
And that certain height apparently it just about the height my front crossmember needs to be for the wheels to get fully off the ground (IFS).
I actually learned this the hard way when it was already on jackstands and I couldn't lift it any more to get it off. Doh.
 
RatLabGuy said:
I *always* use a jack stand
But my current one has gotten to the point where sometimes it won't go over a certain height fully loaded.
And that certain height apparently it just about the height my front crossmember needs to be for the wheels to get fully off the ground (IFS).
I actually learned this the hard way when it was already on jackstands and I couldn't lift it any more to get it off. Doh.
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Just throw a 2x4 on the cradle and you will have the extra 1.5” you need.
 
sgtbriangreen said:
Just throw a 2x4 on the cradle and you will have the extra 1.5” you need.
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yeah I solved it w/ a piece of 3" square tubing, but that's what got me thinking it was time to consider replacement. Just my luck it would shit the bed completely while the vehicle was on stands.
 
I used to work at harbor freight and I can say all the local tire shops ( true baby abuse there. Rough concrete parking lot that’s quickly turning to gravel) and about once every 6 months the shop owner would come in and swap out half of his jacks for new ones. It’s usuly broken wheels, bent jacks from lifting something too heavy, missing parts, I saw one that a car had fought on fire on and he didn’t trust it anymore so he traded it in anyway. The thing still worked. Out of his fleet of jacks he had about 7 aluminum out of 50 steel. Only saw 4 come back in 6 months. The other 3 were still working in that harsh environment gust fine. I saw one of the steen ones literally broken in 3 pices. They tried to jack up there semi to change a tire on it. I bet that scared the shite out of them.


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3 ton is $80 at Horrible Fright, this weekend only!
 
shawn said:
3 ton is $80 at Horrible Fright, this weekend only!
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But you gotta get it from the PARKING LOT SALE ENDING SOON!
 
jeepinmatt said:
But you gotta get it from the PARKING LOT SALE ENDING SOON!
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Every week it's the same thing - "Holy shit, we ordered way too many packs of shop rags. We've got to get rid of them. They're normally $35, but we'll sell them this weekend for $4."

I'm really surprised the store manager hasn't been fired yet. The guy is terrible at anticipating restocking needs.
 
Got one of these from a friend in Denver. 2 Ton Big Wheel Off Road Jack
He used them during KOH and loved it. Now do i need a $350 jack? No but i dropped a truck off a jack last year when using a couple 2x4s. Thought this will cheaper than any insurance deductible. This goes 26" w a 13" extension. Still in box so no report yet
 
shawn said:
Every week it's the same thing - "Holy shit, we ordered way too many packs of shop rags. We've got to get rid of them. They're normally $35, but we'll sell them this weekend for $4."

I'm really surprised the store manager hasn't been fired yet. The guy is terrible at anticipating restocking needs.
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I'm on the mailing list, and I've learned they have about 4 or 5 different sales sets, and just rotate through them, about every 2 weeks. Always the same things. By now I pretty much know what things go on sale and just have to wait for that thing to pop up.
Every now and again there's a rare 25% off coupon.
Hell maybe someday I'll start tracking them w/ a calendar and decode their pattern.

shawn said:
3 ton is $80 at Horrible Fright, this weekend only!
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Just Friday I got an email from HF w/ a coupon for the 1.5T AL one for only $60. Same day my new 3T Alcan showed up.

Haven't done anything more than jack up the front of the 4runner as a test, but I can at least say it rolls around soooo much better than the old one and is ever so slight faster. The release valve is pretty sensitive without much distance between closed and full-drop so that'll take some getting used to.
 
Oh no.... @RatLabGuy looks like you bought too soon:
Capture.PNG
 
RatLabGuy said:
I *always* use a jack stand
But my current one has gotten to the point where sometimes it won't go over a certain height fully loaded.
And that certain height apparently it just about the height my front crossmember needs to be for the wheels to get fully off the ground (IFS).
I actually learned this the hard way when it was already on jackstands and I couldn't lift it any more to get it off. Doh.
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My first jack I got when I was 16 developed that same problem. I would have to add fluid to it regularly. I put ATF, motor oil in, whatever. They all worked the same, LOL.

I've currently got a Craftsman 3 ton unit with the rapid lift feature that leaks down slowly. I've had it many years. It is mildly annoying, but the leak rate is slow enough that it doesn't really matter. I've got enough time to grab a jack stand and get it in position before it drops any noticeable amount.
 
shawn said:
I'm beginning to think you could use the exercise.
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Probably. But I'm getting enough already taking Scouts backpacking, dragging their asses all over West Point, walking a rambunctious-ass adolescent dog, carrying robot parts around a workshop, and hauling tree parts all over the place to get the yard clean. Oh yeah and moving 4runner tops on and off by myself :flipoff2:.
By the time I'm working on the car I'd rather save those calories for that bolt that's going to be way too much work to remove and require swinging a mallet.
 
Tried one. Couldn’t keep oil in the jack
 
My jack is leaking down worse now. I am thinking about buying a new one. I get really annoyed when it doesn't lift high enough, so I decided to research the different lift heights and specs. I decided to post this up to help others. I'm thinking about the one that goes over 24" high.

HF floor jacks.jpg
 
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