Larin Aluminum Jack at Costco

[AZmike]

Has any one tried it out? It looks pretty well made for $99. Of course it’s from China.

Some specs:
2-ton capacity
Weighs about 50 lbs
4” to 20” iirc
1 year warranty
Twin pistons
Unladen lift to full height in 4-5 strokes

I‘ve have bad luck with the jacks that I’ve bought at Sear’s and don’t really need something as nice as those made by AC—or at least I can’t justify paying that much given that I’ll only be working on three cars.

[rdnkjeeper]

I have had bad luck with all my jacks except my AC, picked up a 3 ton at Sams for $85 (if I remember right).

[kartracer55]

Id look for something like 2 1/2-3 tons, but Thats just me. Anyway, That looks like a pretty good buy for 99$ whats more important than the jack is the jack stands, because those are what can kill you. Id invest in good jack stands, probably something made in taiwan or japan, def. not china.

[dink]

I have a craftsmen 3 ton and its extreme overkill for my Scion.....I will probably end up downgrading to a 2 ton because that 3 ton is so freakin heavy

I also want an aluminum floor jacket...the quick rise

[kartracer55]

Yeah, whats that scion weigh like 1500lbs?

Jim

[dink]

Yeah, whats that scion weigh like 1500lbs?

Jim


2395 lbs minus driver


Heck even when I had my Eclipse that 3 ton was over kill

[kartracer55]

what the hells that thing made of at 2385 lbs???? titanium?

Jim

[dink]

Yea well Toyota knows what they are doing with these cars what can I say

[ranger_dood]

Except for the whole "driving a box" thing.... They could use some work on that :p

[vjquan]

I also saw this Larin jack at Costco. Instead of the roller front wheel you see on most aluminum racing jacks, it's two individual wheels like the steel ones. When it comes to aluminum vs. steel, steel will win hands down in terms of strength. When aluminum fails, it fails catastrophically. For this reason, you won't find aluminum jacks rated over 2 tons. For garage use, I have the Costco Arcan 3.5 ton jack. It's big and heavy, so unless you need the portability of an aluminum jack, get a traditional jack. As far as where it's made, well unless you want to spend hundreds of dollars on a jack made in the US, they're all made overseas nowadays. I have a 2.5 ton jack made in Taiwan that has a manufacture date of 1983. Never had a problem with it and still works to this day.

Regarding jack stands - besides the obvious "use them" speech, I have in the past seen aluminum jack stands. Don't know if they still market these, but I think that's downright silly. Would you rather trust you life under a car held up with aluminum or steel?!? I sure hope they're no longer being sold.

[eschoendorff]

2395 lbs minus driver


Heck even when I had my Eclipse that 3 ton was over kill


Sweet!!! Let's stuff an LS2 small block in it, throw on some Hoosier Vitoracers and see what happens....

PS... I got the aluminum "racing" jack from HF. It's rated at 1.5 tons... I've even used it to lift up the front of my full size Chevy pickup. It works pretty well, so the Costco one should probably be just fine.

[kartracer55]

Sweet!!! Let's stuff an LS2 small block in it, throw on some Hoosier Vitoracers and see what happens....

PS... I got the aluminum "racing" jack from HF. It's rated at 1.5 tons... I've even used it to lift up the front of my full size Chevy pickup. It works pretty well, so the Costco one should probably be just fine.


Hell... lets start with a 350 chevy and stroke it to 383, and we can run a big Kenne Bell blowzilla and a 100shot :rocker:

Jim

[AZmike]

My heaviest vehicle is about 2700 lb so the load rating isn't really an issue. I'm looking for something that would perform well in the garage most of the time, but wouldn't be too much of a pita to haul to autocross occasionally. I would be ok steel one, but speding more on a steel jack usually just makes it bigger and heavier, not any better made--until you get to the really expesnive profession grade stuff. I don't mind things made overseas--it's just that all the cheaper Chinese made jacks that I've bought broke less than a year. I'd be more confident in it if it was made in Taiwan, Malasia, Japan, Germany, etc. Hopefully this one turns out to be better. I'll probably try calling around to see if I can get a good price on a reasonably sized commercial grade jack first though.

[kartracer55]

Maybe check out ebay for a used hein werner, snap on, AC hydraulic etc.

Jim

[red caddy]

I bought the $79 alum. race jack from HF. I use it in my racecar hualer to lift my dragster off the transport stands.(1580 Lbs. wet) I use Projacks for pit service, but they are too tall for transport. I replaced the cup with a 3 in. dia X 8 in. piece of UHMW that just clears the Diff drain plug when the car is on the tires, and 3 strokes lifts it high enough to clear the transport stands.with no fore and aft movement. I replaced the cheezy little casters with 2 in. dia alum. stock so I don't punch holes in the floor.
I had been using my 3 ton shop jack (82 Lbs) but it was a RPITA. This race jack is a "one hander" to use and stow, at 23 Lbs. but I sure wouldn't want to use it to change a trailer tire. Use the right tool for the job,
Great for a honda civic, not worth a damn for a full size pickup. I think that 2 ton rating is closer to fantasy than reality, but thats just an engineer's opinion.
Minimalist engineering is driven by bean counters and marketing dolts that don't have to put thier ass on the line, sound engineering, good shop practice and correct material selection are the first casualities of "how cheap and how fast can we make this" style thinking. I believe in "go big or stay home" RED