I owned three import jacks over the years, a HF, a Big Red of some sort from Tractor Supply, and a Craftsman. All eventually stopped working from normal home shop work, after failing to lift unless the handle was pumped to full height, bleeding down over time, being almost impossible to release without dropping the vehicle very quickly, notchy engagement on the handle, crappy casters, etc. All cost $70-100, none lasted three years before complete failure. A buddy of mine has a restoration shop and has 3 or 4 of the large 3ton NAPA brand offshore jacks sitting dead in the shop. My father buys cheap jacks and gets similar service.
Four years ago, after the Big Red crapped itself, I said screw it and ordered a Hein Werner 2ton, shipped to my house for around $325. Since then it's worked perfectly, can easily jack up the rear of a car and move it around with the smooth working casters, pump up no matter how little the handle is able to be moved (important for lifting low vehicles), has smooth engage/disengage and can gently lower vehicles without them crashing as soon as you turn the handle counterclockwise, etc on and on.
I guess somehow, someway, I could be the exception, and all the people I know that regularly use jacks may be exception. But, I tend to think that spending $300 versus $100, but getting easily three times the service life, and much better use and quality during that extended service life, is well worth the money. When making decisions like this I tend to amortize the cost over the lifetime of the tool. $100/3yr service = $33 vs $300/10yr service is about the same, then you can rebuild the HW and keep going, and the jack wasn't a complete pain in the *** to use the entire time you owned it.
Four years ago, after the Big Red crapped itself, I said screw it and ordered a Hein Werner 2ton, shipped to my house for around $325. Since then it's worked perfectly, can easily jack up the rear of a car and move it around with the smooth working casters, pump up no matter how little the handle is able to be moved (important for lifting low vehicles), has smooth engage/disengage and can gently lower vehicles without them crashing as soon as you turn the handle counterclockwise, etc on and on.
I guess somehow, someway, I could be the exception, and all the people I know that regularly use jacks may be exception. But, I tend to think that spending $300 versus $100, but getting easily three times the service life, and much better use and quality during that extended service life, is well worth the money. When making decisions like this I tend to amortize the cost over the lifetime of the tool. $100/3yr service = $33 vs $300/10yr service is about the same, then you can rebuild the HW and keep going, and the jack wasn't a complete pain in the *** to use the entire time you owned it.
