Floor Jack failed looking for a new one

[Philbert]

Working on the Wife's car. The control arm replacement turned in to a new boot for the CV joint, and a quick strut. And just as I was wrapping things up the darn floor jack won't lift the car, to pull out the jack stands. No complaints on the jack it did give me 16 years of service. Been thinking about the alumminum framed floor jacks I'm getting older and the weight difference will help.

What are your toughts on the Harbor Freight alumminum framed floor jack?

 

[DirtyJersey]

Nice little jack!
Only bad thing to say, is they don't lift quite as high. Find another spot to place jack or if needed put a block of wood on it.
I rarely have issues with the height restriction though, but I have used a 2x4 or two and slid stands under.

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[crguy]

Don't waste your money on HF ****.

 

[DirtyJersey]

What makes HF Jacks ****?

Other than lifting 2-3in shorter than my old steel jack, I've not had any issues and been quite happy with it.



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[John Timmins]

Snap on has a floor jack that is new. My friend is a salesman and he said that shops are tired of the Chinese stuff. I think it costs about $600 but it slips under a Corvette and raises things high. I believe it is made by Red Line ? I'm sure that is not in a lot of people's budgets, but the shops love them. He told me he sold 6 of them in one morning a few months ago. I wouldn't own a cheap jack.

 

[Coach James]

Harbor Freight, Torin, AC Delco, NAPA, even Craftsman would work fine for a home use jack.

There are thousands of Harbor Freight aluminum jacks sold every year. If they were a ticket to the grave yard, we would have seen a class action lawsuit long ago.

Coach

 

[Roberts210]

The aluminum jacks unfortunately have aluminum valve bodies. The steel balls or angled points that hold the weight up wear into the aluminum valve body over the years and eventually the jack fails and there's no way to rebuild it. If you get a nice old USA made jack from the '70's or even a Japanese (Craftsman green) jack from the '80's you can rebuild them and they will outlive you. I will NEVER trust my life, or my limbs to Chinese jacks or jack stands. I've seen Chinese metallurgy fail too many times.

 

[bigredmf]

Not sure about Snap On but the new Mac jacks are Chinese with a USA price.

I have a friend who had failures in the first two months with both new Mac jacks he purchased

Red


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[tymbo]

I have 2 of them. 4 years of oil changes and tire rotations on 2 cars- no issues.

 

[mechanical turk]

Snap on has a floor jack that is new. My friend is a salesman and he said that shops are tired of the Chinese stuff. I think it costs about $600 but it slips under a Corvette and raises things high. I believe it is made by Red Line ? I'm sure that is not in a lot of people's budgets, but the shops love them. He told me he sold 6 of them in one morning a few months ago. I wouldn't own a cheap jack.

I'd be curious to know more about that Snap On jack. My old Hein Werner WS is going strong but it doesn't reach as far, start as low, or lift as high as I'd like. I'd been looking at this one:

http://www.ac-hydraulic.dk/en/products/hydraulic-jacks/dk13hlq/

Which seems like a really nice euro-style jack. The only alternatives to what I want seem to be the Omega 29023/ATD7325 and the Harbor Freight 68050, which are Asian imports. The AC is made in Denmark.

The HF jack seems like the best combination of features and price but having just gotten rid of my HF transmission jack because I didn't like it I don't know how satisfied I'd be with the floor jack from them. The aluminum jacks are lighter but i don't ever really carry the thing around, just roll it.

What about those "hybrid" jacks like I've seen at Costco? Presumably they're lighter than a regular steel jack, I don't know what the hybrid part is but maybe they don't have the aluminum valve body issue the racing jacks seem to. Might be an option for Philbert.

 

[Backpack Hunter]

I have a low profile HF aluminum 2.5 ton jack. Works well for me. It doesn't see pro use, pretty much three vehicles, and an occasional fallen tree.

 

[CNGsaves]

Just like air compressors . . . . . floor jacks last very long time and best way to find QUALITY is buying used one on CL or at estate/garage sale. Actually, a MOVING Sale is great place to get quality floor jack since it's big and heavy and often sold before moving.

If you're lucky . . . . you may snag awesome BlackHawk for a good price !!

 

[1950mercury]

Costco has an aluminum jack that looks nice

 

[Ign]

OP asks about "the" HF Al jack but there are several weight ratings.

I've got 2 of the smallest (1.5T) and like them for quick stuff. Super maneuverable and lightweight.

Those who say they won't trust their life to a Chinese jack are thus suggesting they do trust their life to a domestic (or other COO) jack, which is foolish. Any jack can fail at any time when an o-ring that costs pennies lets go. Trust your life to NO jack - that's shop safety 101

 

[Formula]

Costco has an aluminum jack that looks nice

I bought another one last weekend. Very nice for $97

 

[Philbert]

Tanks for the replys. Definitely for home use. Snap-On is sweet. But out of my budget. I have some Snap-On stuff and it's amung my favorite tools to use.

 

[jloehlein]

I'm on my 4th 1.5 ton aluminum HF jack. Not that I like them that much, but I haven't seen any that are as small, and I carry mine with me to autocrosses and track days. The pistons on mine all seem to stick after a couple years' use. You can get them for $70 regularly when they have sales. One note though - the latest versions have steel arms and handles and are not as light as they used to be.

I also had a larger Jegs aluminum floor jack that was given to me. I think it cost just shy of $300 about 8 years ago. I broke it within a couple months. Would be great if there were some higher quality, small aluminum jacks.

If you're just keeping yours around the garage, I agree an old steel jack on CL would probably be the best option.

 

[sdotrivers15]

Snap-on's are made in china, assembled and tested in the US.

https://store.snapon.com/LIFTING-2-Ton-Floor-Jack-P823612.aspx

 

[WWShop]

I have the 3 ton low profile from HF and I really like it. It isn't aluminum but I never need to lift it. My jack is only used for home use.

 

[apdxyk]

AC Hydraulic is outstanding, it can lower your vehicle very smoothly and slow. But in todays world, for a home user it's an eccentricity accessory for folks with a mansion and a butler, who still prefer their own DIY oil changes. Considering the cost of one piece, I can have a lifetime of oil changes for a small fleet.

 

[ajchien]

Argh.

I think the chances are that you'll do fine with a HF Jack.

I've had 4 China made jacks (various store brand names) over the last decade that have all quit on me between 1 month and 2 years. Since I keep buying the bad ones, that means your chances of getting one that will last 20 years is much much much higher. :/

 

[mjoekingz28]

Does Rhino ramps make a plastic one yet?


Im being sarcastic since I dont like the idea of them using plastic for ramps and saying they will support tons.

 

[fanatic]

I've gotten good use from my 1.5ton aluminum HF jack, bought it over 5 years ago and used often.
I'm **** about only trusting jack stands so the jack is only used for raising and lowering, never holding weight for more than a few minutes, maybe that's why mine seems to be lasting longer than others.

 

[deter]

do you like your current jack? can you get a rebuild kit for it?

 

[Monte]

http://www.reverselogic.us/floor-jacks.html

 

[anndel]

I have a Hein Werner 2 ton jack and they're made in USA. Believe only the handle is made in Taiwan (from an earlier post and email response from Hein Werner). I did the front axle replacement on a Toyota corolla and used a 4x6 block of wood to lift the control arm a bit. I had it fro about 10 years with no issues and it just went through it's first oil hydraulic jack oil change a couple of months ago.

 

[48548]

AC Hydraulic is outstanding, it can lower your vehicle very smoothly and slow. But in todays world, for a home user it's an eccentricity accessory for folks with a mansion and a butler, who still prefer their own DIY oil changes. Considering the cost of one piece, I can have a lifetime of oil changes for a small fleet.

I like mine and want the other model with the longer lower reach, but they are expensive. I did get a free rebuild kit with mine.

 

[L.Cheapo]

I bought another one last weekend. Very nice for $97

My FIL has one...and while I personally wouldn't buy an import, it certainly was much nicer to use than I had anticipated. Cant speak to its longevity.

 

[Wamsutta]

What you need is the new OmegaLift Model 29033.

 

[16again]

Just got this one from Amazon. 3 Ton Aluminum $339.00

 

[zendriver]

Working on the Wife's car. The control arm replacement turned in to a new boot for the CV joint, and a quick strut. And just as I was wrapping things up the darn floor jack won't lift the car, to pull out the jack stands. No complaints on the jack it did give me 16 years of service. Been thinking about the alumminum framed floor jacks I'm getting older and the weight difference will help.

What are your toughts on the Harbor Freight alumminum framed floor jack?

I would.

I have the steel low profile and a 6 year old steel (iron?) 3k, that is heavy enough to beat an elephant to death. They seem to work perfect like a hydraulic floor jack. Not sure what i am missing. Apparently, inexpensive, always means "cheap" quality.

Maybe i'll put an AL model on my next list. See if it will give me something to complain about later.