My first floor jack

[Danglerb]

I bought my first floor jack today.

http://shop.oreillyauto.com/ProductDetail.aspx?MfrCode=PBI&MfrPartNumber=640181&CategoryCode=3397

$20, 1 yr warranty, not hard to carry in one hand. Has to be 100% better than the screw scissor in the spare tire well.

 

[billymade]

Just be careful, use jack stands; these small saddle jacks tip over easily and arn't terribly stable!

 

[Danglerb]

13" max lift means nothing important of me will fit under. If I go under, I use a real lift.

Its just for changing tires at home. I want to clear the ground with a tire, one wheel off, another one right back on. I'm not even sure it has enough lift to put jack stand in, if I had a jack stand that is.

Its ASME PALD, http://www.normas.com/ASME/pages/PALD.html

 

[Rigmaster]

13" max lift means nothing important of me will fit under.

My most important bit would fit under there, barely.........

 

[Danglerb]

Did the job for me today, I changed both rear wheels twice (spare on, spare off). The trolley moving as the jack goes up takes some getting used to, and something made a couple interesting noises (lift point would have been better with a small block of wood which I will use next time), and lowering takes a LIGHT touch or it drops way too fast.

The handle could have a bit more solid attachment, but it needs to come off to turn the release valve thing. Positioning and pumping it up worked fine. Tucked away under a dolley out of the way when I was done.

Two days of screwing with tires was WAY more of a workout than I expected. Worse neither wheel I suspected of being bent, was bent. One tire does seem a touch out of round though.

 

[Merkava_4]

That saddle (jack pad) looks awfully small, I'd get a bigger one if I were you.

 

[Nealcrenshaw]

AAhhnahh!! Dangler

You could've went to HF and paid $40 more for a real floor jack.It's 59.99 in the store.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=34271

 

[eschoendorff]

I have one just like the pic in post #1... but it came in a case and says "Craftsman" on it. I think that they sell at Sears for $39.99 or something... got it on sale for $19.99.

This one stays in my truck. I am wary of these jacks. About 6 years ago, one of these cheapies was all I had and it lost pressure... and almost damaged my Vette. My ******* puckered hard enough to chew a hemorrhoid. I bought a real jack very soon afterward.

For the money, I would forget about these cheap $20 trolley jacks, and get one of those aluminum racing jacks. They are light weight, store relatively easy in the trunk and work well.

 

[Danglerb]

Its what I needed right now. I've got no room for a full sized jack, no desire to carry it around to use, and no clear path to roll it. Most of my work is at a shop with lifts and real floor jacks, AND I have a lift at home waiting for space to install it. It was driving me nuts though not to be able to even change a tire at home.

Lift points on the Continental are TINY, designed to fit the pad on the factory scissor jack which is the size of 3 postage stamps.

Could be I am rolling the dice. I don't think I am taking a serious risk of personal injury, but if the jack were to outright fail it would be potentially messy. I do treat it like a loaded gun, ie expect it to fail all the time and never put myself or parts of me in harms way. No practical other options for now though.