Harbor Freight 2 Ton Jack

[heathy]

Anyone have anything bad to say about this jack?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=92782

My Craftsman bit the dust.

 

[ATTappman]

I examined one in HF about a month ago. Seemed pretty solid - bigger and beefier in real life than it looks on the web site. I didn't buy it because 1) I didn't have a coupon at that time, 2) it had a bad squeak when I pumped the handle. At HF you just buy the thing off the floor - they don't have one in the back in a box, as far as I can tell.

The HF aluminum jacks appear to be identical to the OTC Stinger jacks, for less money. My guess is it will last as long or longer than a Craftsman jack.

 

[heathy]

I have a similar Craftsman. Only lasted 3 years which is retarded since I only work on my cars maybe once a month or two.

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

At HF you just buy the thing off the floor - they don't have one in the back in a box, as far as I can tell.

That's not the case. I bought the regular orange 3 ton jack last summer. Told the person working on the floor, and they brought it up to the register in its own box.

As for the jack, I'm pretty happy with it so far. I don't use it all that much, but it seems to work just fine. Cost around $55 after using a coupon on it, and it being on sale.

btw, I've noticed the regular and sale prices on stuff at HF have been going up. They used to have the six ton jack stands on sale for $20...now, every time I see them on sale, they're about $28. Seen this on a lot of other things too.

The HF I go to, they get their truck in on Friday afternoon, so that's a good time to go if you're trying to get a sale item that keeps selling out.

 

[J.A.F.E.]

I examined one in HF about a month ago. Seemed pretty solid - bigger and beefier in real life than it looks on the web site. I didn't buy it because 1) I didn't have a coupon at that time, 2) it had a bad squeak when I pumped the handle. At HF you just buy the thing off the floor - they don't have one in the back in a box, as far as I can tell.

The HF aluminum jacks appear to be identical to the OTC Stinger jacks, for less money. My guess is it will last as long or longer than a Craftsman jack.

Every HF I've ever been in has new, boxed merchandise in the back. I've not seen them sell off then floor.

 

[35mastr]

Every HF I've ever been in has new, boxed merchandise in the back. I've not seen them sell off then floor.[/QUOTE

^^^^^^^^ What he said.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Yup, HF prices have on the rise for the last few years for sure.

 

[sammerdog]

Hey heathy - I've been looking at the HF jacks too - over the months, this board seems to indicate that it's a hit or miss quality wise with HF jacks.

Half the guys will grab one and no problem for years, the next guy will buy the exact same unit and have leaks right out of the gate. Sounds like HF will swap a bad one out if you get a leaker, but dang it, do you want another jack out of the exact same lot?

 

[duke5572]

I have the 2 1/4 ton jack. I can't find it on their website anymore, so I'm assuming they're no longer stocking it.

In 2 years of light-to-medium use (lifting a Camry, mostly), I've had great luck with it. It's heavy, but only because it's built out of fairly thick steel. That's the reason I bought it. It never leaves the floor of the garage, so weight isn't an issue.

I give it a big thumbs up. I can't speak for the aluminum jacks---seems like a great idea but I just have a weird feeling about them---personal preference, obviously.

I'd buy another HF floor jack with confidence.

 

[Jim Stabe]

Got mine in 1979 and still going strong.

 

[brockstar]

I use one in the shop and its pretty good. The only downside is that its tricky to learn how to lower something smoothly. Finding that spot where it "releases" takes some doing esp if you need to lower it a fraction of an inch. Otherwise, its a good buy.

+1 on the prices increases..But it seems like Sears goes up at the same rate or more...

 

[slowtwitch]

I give it a big thumbs up. I can't speak for the aluminum jacks---seems like a great idea but I just have a weird feeling about them---personal preference, obviously.

I'd buy another HF floor jack with confidence.

I've had the aluminum jack for a few years and it has never let me down. I also have the ATV jack, which i bought as an experiment (removing air cooled engines out of VW's),

I used it a couple of times(worked great), but, left it in a leaky storage shed. After about a year in the shed, rained on, rusty, dirty, I pulled it out to see if it still worked. It still worked great

 

[ironroad 9c1]

I bought a sears aluminum jack about the time they came out, ehh 2003 or so, and right from the start it had a leak from one of the pressure valve screws, i backed it off, and tightened it back up and it stopped, since then only problem has been loose hardware and air in the system, but here lately after a few years that has even finally stopped. now the lifting cradle drags the floor when its lowered all the way so you have to raise it slightly if your gonna push it anywhere.

 

[fomocoforrester]

The only problem using a so called "race jack" for every day use is that they are designed to lift further for the same handle movement as a regular jack. This is what you want in a race situation, but the downside is that it requires more effort on the handle, and they are less sensitive to fine adjustments.

They may also have bigger valves to make operation quicker, which again makes it more difficult to make fine adjustments.