shop press choices:

[Sc0]

(howdy, i'm a new member)

I am in the middle of rebuilding a VW FWD transaxle and now need a new tool, a press. So far I have narrowed it down to these models that should suffice for ******/differential work, suspension bushings, and other odds and ends maybe swaging a few bullets.

$581 Omega 60253 25t press 25t
$590 Ranger/Bendpak RP20HD 20t
$590 OTC 5230 16.5t bench
$441 Jacko 520B 20t

Any experience with the above? All are about the same price of around $500 dollar area with free S&H from most vendors. I have enough room for the bench mounted one or the stand up floor variety. I know that the Jacko, Omega and Ranger are imported but consist of premium components compared the the lower quality tiers. The Torin from NT 20t runs for a bit less and the HF 35t is around the same price but seems to be mail order only.

I have a Ranger 32" lift floor jack that I am happy with and actually used their customer service so I have good faith in their products. The others I am not sure about...

Opinions or experiences?

 

[Jack90210]

Opinions or experiences?

I have a 12t Omega benchtop press that I like a lot. For what I paid (~$250?) it's a very good value.

 

[nate379]

My friend has a shop and does transmissions, diffs, etc and the $250 Harbor Freight 20 ton unit has worked just fine for him.

Pretty much just some C channel and a bottle jack.

 

[Sc0]

I looked at the HF versions and even considered the mil order only air over hydraulic 35t that's listed on the online catalog... The local HF store only had the bottle jack variety in stock and to me they had lots of play in the side rails. I looked at the Ranger again and did not like it due to the loss of working space since the ram is mounted underneath the top beam. I decided against the 16.5t OTC and ended up ordering a Omega 25t. I really wanted the Torin 20t from Northern which looks close to the Omega but the local stores didn't have one and when placing the order online it was listed at 170 or 200lbs... The omega was listed around 280lbs. The Jackco would have involved a 600 mile drive to pick it up and then not sure which chinese company made it to source hydraulic parts.

Thanks for the thumbs up on the Omega! Now to wait until it shows up....

 

[nate379]

Dunno, has worked fine for him and the $300 saved buys lots of beer

Another friend has that Omega unit and it's SLOW. It would really need a 2 speed pump. I used it a couple days ago actually and I thought my arm was going to give out before I got the cylinder down far enough (like 4")

This looks like a nice one here...
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0007D2YIG/?tag=atomicindus08-20