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Jackstand recommendations

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fiatsam

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Dec 11, 2010
Messages
50
I've got a pair of no-name 2-ton, as well as a pair of Craftsman Professional 3 ton (yellow), both of which are made in China but have served me well. As I'm graduating from working primarily on my "light-weight" toys (Fiats) to maintaining the general fleet (Toyota van and Honda Accord), I'd like to pick up another set of 3 ton stands.

The pics of the current Craftsman 3-ton (red) as well as the 4-ton (yellow aren't exactly inspiring (presence of beefy welds), although I'm sure they would do fine.

Any recommendations, or is the current crop all pretty much the same (I've yet to find some that are made in the USA)? This is one "tool" (together with jacks) that I definitely do not want to go cheap on.
 
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wxm

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Dec 15, 2008
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901
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NJ
I have the 4 ton cman, works fine for passenger cars. For my truck I use the 6 ton hein werner or 12 ton torins.
 
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Jim85IROC

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Sep 15, 2010
Messages
333
Honestly, I just buy whatever is available for items like jack stands, as long as the welds look good. My last set was a 6 tin set from Tractor Supply and so far they seem to do fine.
 
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lilredex

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Apr 29, 2006
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Toronto
Made some.

14mdiso.jpg
 
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nexum1919

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Mar 5, 2009
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274
Location
Chicago, IL
i highly recommend the HF 3 ton aluminum jackstands. they are also sold under various brand names. they are quality units.
the problem with steel is that they rust. they rust from inside, from bottom where they get dragged, and also regularly attacked by brake fluid and cleaning solvents.
that being said i'd never purchase steel jackstands from HF, but these aluminum units are a notch above up there. if it makes you feel better you can purchase the same set from a racing website and pay double.
http://www.harborfreight.com/3-ton-aluminum-jack-stands-91760.html
 
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fomocoforrester

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Jun 13, 2008
Messages
3,061
HaroRider said:
I like the pinstyle the best, I feel safer under those.

Maybe im the only one..
Click to expand...

No you're certainly not the only one - you've got the mighty OSHA on your side.

Whilst they allow ratchet style stands, they do say there is an (admittedly small) statistical advantage in the safety of the pin style.
 
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richfinn

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Jan 29, 2011
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Location
Leeds, Yorkshire, England
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fiatsam

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Dec 11, 2010
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50
Thanks guys. I had forgotten about Hein Werner. That's probably what I'm going to go with - just need to decide 3 or 6 ton.
 
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fiatsam

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Dec 11, 2010
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50
twincam00 said:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=148786

heres some pics of the Hein Werner 3-ton stands. They have held up ok but they have very very ****** welds.

Buy the US Jack ones, order them from the factory and they will be cheater than the HW's
Click to expand...

Hmm...I hate to overthink these things (I tend to do that with most purchases), but I'll have to give the USJack ones a look. I must have a computer issue because when I open the Product pdf Explorer terminates on me. I'll have to ask the resident computer technician (my wife :bowdown:) to look at it.
 
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jim2664258

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Aug 3, 2011
Messages
411
Very happy with my Torin stands with the dual locking mechanism. I have 3 ton and 6 ton versions. Got them at Northern - use their coupon codes.
 
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MarkH

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Dec 19, 2005
Messages
1,353
Location
Kansas
Look at the top of the stand. There appears to be two styles. One I see on US Jack and Hein Werner it is fairly flat and the other on most Chinese jacks that is more of a V shape.

For what we use them for the US Jack or Hein Werner style works much better. Unlike some other members we have about 30 Hein Werners and the welding on everyone of them is excellent and the paint was beautiful compared to others when we got them. Except for a couple in the garage the rest have been beat up, think dropping farm machinery on them, but on close examination something that needs to be done routinely they still are intact.

We have gotten most of them through Northern.
 
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twincam00

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Aug 31, 2011
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Location
USA
I agree with Mark, the 'flat' top design works much better in most situations

I think the quality of Hein Werner stands has degraded significantly since they were bought out, the old ones are excellent quality and that's why I purchased my set. Unfortunately their quality seems to have gone downhill or their have poor quality control
 
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soloz2

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Jun 30, 2012
Messages
856
Location
Western NY
I have a pair of the orange 3 ton HF ones that have worked well for me. I picked up a second pair, but then saw the Craftsman Professional 4 ton ones for a few $ more and snagged those. I still need to return the second HF pair... they can be such a PITA on returns though.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2
 
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SMKS

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Feb 14, 2010
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5,832
Location
USA, planet Earth
US Jack was running a good deal not too long ago. It was like $80 shipped for a pair of their stands.
 
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TapperMan

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Oct 10, 2011
Messages
122
Location
Madison, WI
The 3-ton US Jack stands are rated at 3 tons each, as opposed to most other brands which rate their stands at 3 tons per pair.
 
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