I finally bought a floorjack

[jd_1138]

I had loaned my floorjack to my cousin 2 years ago and he never returned it and said he couldn't find it. Today I went to change the oil in my Focus, and as I was cranking the tiny handle on the factory scissor jack I got a little pissed.

So I lowered the jack and put it back in the trunk and went and rage bought a trolley jack at the local HF. There's a coupon for $20 that I pulled up on my phone so I didn't have to pay the $30 everyday price. I think Wally World has an identical jack (different color) in their cheap brand -- Hyper Tough, for $20 everyday price.

Sure made it much easier. I pumped the car in the air and put a frame stand under it, and then on the other side too. I am going to carry it around in the trunk, I think. I need to get a better one to keep in the garage. What's a good value brand for a decent jack?

 

[ChevyEFI]

My Norco lasted 15 years. I got a yellow steel HF one last year. Works well, for the short term.

 

[JUNK-MAN]

Harbor freight 3 ton, on sale all the time for like $80. I have one and its great. That or a quality used one witch can be had anyware from $30-$100 depending on brand and condition.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[WWheeler]

Heavy duty (rebuildable)
US Jack D-51223 4 ton ~$1500
Milwaukee Model 40 (4 ton) ~$1100 or Model 20 (2 ton) ~$600
AC Hydraulic DK20Q 2.2 Ton ~$400
Hein-Werner 3 ton HW93652 ~$500 or 2 ton HW93642 ~$350

Mid-grade (disposable)
Harbor Freight Daytona 3 ton (yellow) ~$180 (3yr warranty)

Consumer level (disposable)
Arcan pick-your-flavor ~$100 - $225 (1yr warranty - or get it at Costco and use their extra guarantee)
Harbor Freight Pittsburgh jack pick-your-flavor~$50-$120 (90 day warranty or buy extended ~$?)

Or pick up a used Milwaukee, Walker, Weaver, Snap-on, etc from your local markets (craigslist, offerup, whatever)

 

[BDT/NWMN]

The Arcan and HF jacks WWheeler mentioned would be fair contestants in their price ranges.

 

[Wamsutta]

Heavy duty (rebuildable)
US Jack D-51223 4 ton ~$1500
Milwaukee Model 40 (4 ton) ~$1100 or Model 20 (2 ton) ~$600
AC Hydraulic DK20Q 2.2 Ton ~$400
Hein-Werner 3 ton HW93652 ~$500 or 2 ton HW93642 ~$350

Mid-grade (disposable)
Harbor Freight Daytona 3 ton (yellow) ~$180 (3yr warranty)

Consumer level (disposable)
Arcan pick-your-flavor ~$100 - $225 (1yr warranty - or get it at Costco and use their extra guarantee)
Harbor Freight Pittsburgh jack pick-your-flavor~$50-$120 (90 day warranty or buy extended ~$?)

Or pick up a used Milwaukee, Walker, Weaver, Snap-on, etc from your local markets (craigslist, offerup, whatever)

Wait a minute! You calling my Yellow Daytona a mid-grade disposable?

 

[artbuc]

OP, not really relevant, but how do you lose a floorjack?

 

[zendriver]

I had loaned my floorjack to my cousin 2 years ago and he never returned it and said he couldn't find it. Today I went to change the oil in my Focus, and as I was cranking the tiny handle on the factory scissor jack I got a little pissed.

So I lowered the jack and put it back in the trunk and went and rage bought a trolley jack at the local HF. There's a coupon for $20 that I pulled up on my phone so I didn't have to pay the $30 everyday price. I think Wally World has an identical jack (different color) in their cheap brand -- Hyper Tough, for $20 everyday price.

Sure made it much easier. I pumped the car in the air and put a frame stand under it, and then on the other side too. I am going to carry it around in the trunk, I think. I need to get a better one to keep in the garage. What's a good value brand for a decent jack?

You have 12,000 posts and your are asking about floor jacks?

They must know you well, at the garage and electrical forums.

 

[WWheeler]

Wait a minute! You calling my Yellow Daytona a mid-grade disposable?

If there aren't parts / rebuild kits sold for them, like there are for the US Jacks, Milwaukee, Hein-Werner, etc, then aren't they disposable? Horror Fright isn't going to offer any support for them outside of the 3 yr warranty. FWIW I have a yellow Daytona too. It's a great jack so far, but when the day comes that it quits working I'll be buying another jack to replace it.

Edit: Anywho, the main point of the list I made was to highlight there is a pretty large range of prices for "a decent jack". For the most part it's too subjective to say this jack is better than that one, etc, but they do sort of fall into different groups you can lump together. The Heavy-Duty ones I listed might well work for you for decades, and then there are all the +/-$100 range jacks of all brands from HF's flavors to Craftsman, Torin, Arcan, etc that all use o-rings on ram and pistons where the reliability is generally pretty fair but sometimes not, and when they give up the ghost you just buy another. I just tried to list a few different of each in the different ranges of expectations.

The Yellow Daytona sort of stands out in between them a bit. It's been compared to a new Snap-on 3-ton for ~$700 to the point of a now-settled lawsuit. IIRC judge said close but no cigar, but I digress. The Daytona is a beefy jack and it does have u-cups instead of orings on the pistons but not on the ram so ? It also has 'magnet filtration', all of which HF's banking on will give the jack an avg life beyond the range of the 3yr warranty they put on it.

 

[bpjr]

The $80 HF jack will be fine for the home garage.

 

[Wamsutta]

If there aren't parts / rebuild kits sold for them, like there are for the US Jacks, Milwaukee, Hein-Werner, etc, then aren't they disposable? Horror Fright isn't going to offer any support for them outside of the 3 yr warranty. FWIW I have a yellow Daytona too. It's a great jack so far, but when the day comes that it quits working I'll be buying another jack to replace it.

Edit: Anywho, the main point of the list I made was to highlight there is a pretty large range of prices for "a decent jack". For the most part it's too subjective to say this jack is better than that one, etc, but they do sort of fall into different groups you can lump together. The Heavy-Duty ones I listed might well work for you for decades, and then there are all the +/-$100 range jacks of all brands from HF's flavors to Craftsman, Torin, Arcan, etc that all use o-rings on ram and pistons where the reliability is generally pretty fair but sometimes not, and when they give up the ghost you just buy another. I just tried to list a few different of each in the different ranges of expectations.

The Yellow Daytona sort of stands out in between them a bit. It's been compared to a new Snap-on 3-ton for ~$700 to the point of a now-settled lawsuit. IIRC judge said close but no cigar, but I digress. The Daytona is a beefy jack and it does have u-cups instead of orings on the pistons but not on the ram so ? It also has 'magnet filtration', all of which HF's banking on will give the jack an avg life beyond the range of the 3yr warranty they put on it.

I get what you're saying; however, if the Snap-on FJ300 power unit fits the Yellow Daytona, that would negate the definition of "disposable" even though the power unit costs more than a complete new jack.

 

[WWheeler]

I get what you're saying; however, if the Snap-on FJ300 power unit fits the Yellow Daytona, that would negate the definition of "disposable" even though the power unit costs more than a complete new jack.

Though they are similar in design, I've seen nothing to make me think parts between them are interchangeable. That said, if the cost in time/$ to fix isn't significantly less than replacing with new, that is exactly my definition of disposable.

 

[Wamsutta]

Though they are similar in design, I've seen nothing to make me think parts between them are interchangeable. That said, if the cost in time/$ to fix isn't significantly less than replacing with new, that is exactly my definition of disposable.

I just happened to be at NAPA yesterday. I was looking at the #791-6420 very closely. It's a nice jack but the dingle berries from the MIG splatter bother me. They are easy to remove with a couple of taps from a small chisel and a 12 ounce hammer. The kid working there said his girlfriend's Dad recently got an awesome floor jack that he thought was better than the NAPA. I asked him if he happened to know what kind it was. He said it's a Daytona.

 

[BDT/NWMN]

I just happened to be at NAPA yesterday. I was looking at the #791-6420 very closely. It's a nice jack but the dingle berries from the MIG splatter bother me. They are easy to remove with a couple of taps from a small chisel and a 12 ounce hammer. The kid working there said his girlfriend's Dad recently got an awesome floor jack that he thought was better than the NAPA. I asked him if he happened to know what kind it was. He said it's a Daytona.

I got a chuckle out of this.

A while back, NAPA had a jack on sale that was close in capacity and price.
After comparing the specs, weight, and warranty; I concluded that the Daytona would be the better buy.

 

[Moparman390]

Oil changes? $35 Rhino ramps. Up and on/down and off in seconds. Done.

For jobs requiring a jack, a sub $100 consumer one will do just fine for ya.

 

[yamaha0343]

The Northern Tool version of the Daytona jack gets you an extra year of warranty for a couple bucks less. Pretty sure it’s the same jack.

 

[WittHay]

Heavy duty (rebuildable)

Mid-grade (disposable)
Harbor Freight Daytona 3 ton (yellow) ~$180 (3yr warranty)

Consumer level (disposable)

Probably not relevant to this thread working on a Ford Focus. There is a group of 3 1/2 ton jacks that have been around forever and seals and parts are available for them Napa, Sunex, Norco, Strongarm(Can)

Good jacks, they just dont have the low profile design like the Daytona

 

[texasprd]

Norco 2-ton - not horribly expensive, and rebuildable