Jack Stands - Poll

[ajchien]

3 Ton craftsman
2 ton someing else I can't remember from autozone?

 

[JASTECH]

Traction, I like them 22t stands!
2x 3 ton from APC in Cali.
1x 3 ton hydrolic stands
1x 6 ton US Jack
1x 2.5 ton Chrome
1x ? ton gold coloured from the 60's

 

[Scuba Steve33]

I am new to working on cars in general. I have a 1970 Chevelle that is a learning experience and a project. Why would 6 ton stands be bad? Right now I am using two 3 ton Craftsman stands and two Rhino wheel ramps. I want to raise the car higher and was thinking about getting the HF 6 ton stands. I understand I need a jack to lift the car at least that high but other than that what are the issues? Confused when you guys say it doesn't help, etc.

 

[unslow1]

2 Torin 3ton
2 HF 3ton

 

[cgv69]

I am new to working on cars in general. I have a 1970 Chevelle that is a learning experience and a project. Why would 6 ton stands be bad? Right now I am using two 3 ton Craftsman stands and two Rhino wheel ramps. I want to raise the car higher and was thinking about getting the HF 6 ton stands. I understand I need a jack to lift the car at least that high but other than that what are the issues? Confused when you guys say it doesn't help, etc.

If you want to get 6 ton stands and raise the car higher that's fine assuming you have a jack that can get the car up as high as you want. There is no real downside to it, it's just that most people won't, because they have no need to or can't because of jack limitations.

 

[BJ42LX]

You win!

I have ... these 22 ton ones...

 

[Scuba Steve33]

If you want to get 6 ton stands and raise the car higher that's fine assuming you have a jack that can get the car up as high as you want. There is no real downside to it, it's just that most people won't, because they have no need to or can't because of jack limitations.

Ok thanks. I was wondering why everyone was bashing the 6 ton stands if you only had a car. Obviously the jack needs to be able to lift it that high but it seemed like others were just flat out against it.

 

[Scuba Steve33]

I just saw a coupon for the 6 ton Harbor Freight stands, $29.99 for the pair. That is an absolute smoking deal!

Here's what I have:
-2x pair Tractor Supply 6 ton
-3x pair 2/3 ton misc

I have found the 6 tons are the perfect height for working on Jeeps, and work very well with the Land Rover and Dodge 2500.

Where did you see that deal? Don't see it on their website.

 

[baucom]

4 3T AC Delco (from O'Reilly)
2 6T AC Delco--for the height
2 6T Duralast

I really like the AC Delco stands from O'Reilly because they have pads welded on the bottom of the feet so they don't sink on blacktop. I wish I would've passed on the Duralast stands and spent the extra $5 for a 2nd set of AC Delco 6T stands.

 

[fourtythree]

Torin 2 ton
HF 3 ton

Both have served me well.

 

[bw77]

US Jack - 3 ton

 

[ekuhn]

HF 3 Ton one pair
Craftsman 3 Ton one pair

 

[MN Falcon]

Height..................

6 ton stands pull up to 24 inches.

3 ton stands pull up to about 16 or so inches, possibly 18" (I haven't bothered to measure the 3 ton ones).

If you have an ordinary modern car, then 6 ton is out of the question, you don't need and probably cannot use something that tall, even when lowered fully. The bases are so big also they get in the way. Now if you need height, such as the Ford Jubilee tractor I have sitting on 6 ton stands, the little 3 ton ones are too short.

Its all about height.

Charles

I disagree. I have 4 of the Torin 6 ton stands from Northern Tool. With out any extension they are 16" high, that is the minimum I would ever have a car up in the first place if I need to crawl under it. I looked at those 2-3 ton ones and decided that they just looked downright scary when extended to get any lift at all with those tiny bases. I know its probably just my imagination but they looked like they would be way too easy to topple.

I also have a pair of stands that I built in school shop some 25+ years ago. They basically have the same profile, so maybe that's why I gravitated to the bigger ones. I should post some picts of my stands, the more I look at them the more scared I get of them, bubblegum welds and all But 25 years says they are plenty strong.

 

[Nealcrenshaw]

HF 3&6 ton sets

 

[evintho]

I have about a dozen 3 ton stands that I picked up at HF, garage sales, etc. Grabbed this pair of 6 tons off of CL for $15 and love 'em! Very helpful when removing trannys or rearends!

 

[chewy7]

harbor freight/central machinery 6 ton, 2 pairs.

 

[mscribellito]

3 ton Craftsman - 2 pairs
2 1/4 ton Craftsman - 1 pair

 

[franzdom]

3ton ESCO (2pr)
3ton Torin Aluminum for track days

 

[jontar]

Not sure of in the states but in Canada they have to be manufactured by a company and eng and rated for certain load, if you use home made one and get killed or injury happens your not covered, I think it actually voids both your life ins and home owners. However you are still allowed for some reason to use blocks of wood like 6*6 and stack them and that seems to be fine.

Having said that I have Canadian Tire Mastercraft ones rated 1.5t and they were 19.99 on sale and work good, so they are cheap enough you don't have to cut corners. Princess auto also sells them in Canada long with about a million other auto parts stores

 

[crewchief888]

2 pair HF 6ton in the garage
pair HF 6ton in my service truck

most of the stands in the shop are HF 6 ton.

 

[Brandon_Lutz]

US Jack 3 Ton -1 pair
Hein Werner 3 Ton USA made-1 pair.

Pretty much covers everything I need jack stands for. I'll probably pick up another set of the US Jack models.

 

[twincam00]

Hein Werner 3 ton- 1 pair
Harbor freight 3 ton- 1 pair
Harbor freight 6 ton- 1 pair

If I were to buy them again I would get US Jack ones in a heartbeat

 

[RECox286]

Why not ? I've been using two sets of HF 6 ton for a very looooong time.

They give me a warm feeling when I'm under anything I care to put in the

air. Good for height, good footprint on the ground, good construction.

I used to use them under our old (but now retired) P-30 Grumman Body.

Uncle Bob

 

[cajunfirehawk]

• Torin "Big Red" HD 6 ton-1pair
• Torin Alum "racing jack stands" 6 ton-1pair
• Goodyear Chrome 6 ton-1 pair

 

[jhelrey]

I have a pair of AC Delcos

 

[pjb]

Went with US Jack 6 ton. Made is USA was a must and 6 ton per stand compared to 6 ton a pair was the selling point.

Truck is a 97 F350 Crew 4x4.

 

[e30bradley]

Torin 6 tonn I have 4, so 2 pairs.. Then torin 2tonn double locking 4, so again 2 pairs.

 

[Vvmvbb]

Esco 3-ton. 21" H max.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=esco%20jack%20stands&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CIwBEBYwAg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ultimategarage.com%2Fshop%2Findex.php%3FcPath%3D255&ei=XsjOT6mfCYSS6gGci9GKDA&usg=AFQjCNFWK3nMoMGMdMQicc3Umke-Gvs36g

 

[lilredex]

Not sure of in the states but in Canada they have to be manufactured by a company and eng and rated for certain load, if you use home made one and get killed or injury happens your not covered, I think it actually VOIDS both your life ins and home owners. However you are still allowed for some reason to use blocks of wood like 6*6 and stack them and that seems to be fine.

You have any first hand experience with that?

Personally, I would have much more confidence in my HOME MADE versions posted earlier, than any of those imported things with that cast iron ratcheting "T" piece on top. I would never work under anything supported by those things.

 

[NewShockerGuy]

I disagree. I have 4 of the Torin 6 ton stands from Northern Tool. With out any extension they are 16" high, that is the minimum I would ever have a car up in the first place if I need to crawl under it. I looked at those 2-3 ton ones and decided that they just looked downright scary when extended to get any lift at all with those tiny bases. I know its probably just my imagination but they looked like they would be way too easy to topple.

I also have a pair of stands that I built in school shop some 25+ years ago. They basically have the same profile, so maybe that's why I gravitated to the bigger ones. I should post some picts of my stands, the more I look at them the more scared I get of them, bubblegum welds and all But 25 years says they are plenty strong.

My thoughts EXACTLY and I also have the Torin 6 ton stands.. Infact my craftsman jack didn't lift high enough so I bought a new jack for them...! lol

I'd rather the 6 ton at the lowest setting than the 2-3 ton at their HIGHEST setting... Now that I got a max jax who knows if I will use the stand anymore...lol

-Nigel

 

[royesses]

3 ton Craftsman SUV jack stands - 2 yellow head, 2 Pink Head.
Had the yellow head for 7 years now. No problems at all.

 

[ford33]

2 craftsman 3 ton
2 HF 3 ton
2 wheel chocks

I made a wooden box to hang on the wall. It holds the 4 jack stands and has two metal hooks on the bottom to hang the hydraulic jack by the wheel axle. A hole in the box bottom allows me to hang the jack handle in the box.

This setup takes up very little wall space and uses no floor space. It took me about two hours to make.

 

[Jawn]

Four "MVP" 3-ton

Four "BlackJack" 3-ton

The BlackJacks are a bit shorter, which works better with my crappy trolley jack (required due to a small workspace).

 

[SMKS]

This is what I am afraid of. I use the HF's for extra **** like the subframe that is currently out of my dad's Nova. Snap-ons are the go to's (heaviest I have is my k5 Blazer) and hence why I will be getting 2 sets of Hein Werners. I'd gladly pay $100 for a pair of stands that wont flex while I'm under a car.

The Hein Werner stands don't look so good in this thread:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=148786

If I were in the market for some US-made jack stands I would look at US Jack. They had a special recently where the stands were pretty cheap. I don't know what they're going for now.

http://www.usjack.com/

EDIT- They now have an online store. The 3-ton jacks are $87 for a pair.

But, the US Jack stands are rated at 3 tons EACH. Most of the cheap stands are rated per pair. So the HF 3 ton jack stands are actually rated at 1.5 tons each, or 3 tons for the pair. This is confirmed in the user manual for the HF jack stands:
http://manuals.harborfreight.com/manuals/38000-38999/38846.pdf

Long story short - the US Jack 3 ton stands are equivalent to most companies' 6 ton stands.