Floor Jack

[jeepthing77]

What do you have

I have a shitty craftsman one that appears to have crapped out on me. It is the kind that you pull the handle out to twist the screw to bring the load down. Can I just put a little more oil in it? It will go up but once it hits the axle and gets a load on it the thing wont go up any further.

[Sully]

I've got a shitty craftsman too.

I've been unhappy with it, since the day I bought it, but unfortunately it does the job.

The two things I will insist on in the next jack, are the "raises quickly (one/two pumps) till it's under load" feature, and a relatively easy release valve. My damn craftsman takes so much effort to turn the handle and release it, that I've nearly welded a lever arm on the side of the handle to make it easier.

[ironpig70]

harbor freight special. love it.

[ZJim]

I went to Sams Club and bought a "Michelin" 3.5 ton jack. 24 inch lift height. I love it.. freakin awesome. And it was 60 bucks :smokin:

[CJBoxer]

Waiting for the Nascar type aluminum jacks to come down in price, then I will buy one. Napa has a nice jack to but pricy. And my next jack will have the u-joint release instead of the star wheel.

[Peter_C]

The u-joint "release" is a big plus. It only comes on more expensive jacks though. My Snap-on has it and is a great jack. One other thing I found is my jack operates at a lower level than most. Very nice feature when working on lower cars IE Honda. I need a jack that will pickup a K2500 Suburban too. Lincoln has a decent jack if you know which one to buy. Do not buy one of those race jacks from anyone as they are too weak to lift a heavy rig.

[unimog]

That Sams Club Michelin jack works good but the handle doesn't fold back over the jack. It sticks out away from the jack and is a real pain to store it. the handle sticks out and really gets in the way.

[jeepthing77]

Think I might have to go check out the Sams club jack

[u2slow]

I have a 3-ton "Nascar" jack from Costco... I got it 10 years ago. Has the u-joint release. Lifts either end of crewcabs with 11' campers :D

Only things I can fault it for are:
1) its bloody heavy
2) wheels are held on with c-clips, and therefore fall off. Easy fix though... plug-weld a big washer on instead. ;)

[ImNotRight]

I went to Sams Club and bought a "Michelin" 3.5 ton jack. 24 inch lift height. I love it.. freakin awesome. And it was 60 bucks :smokin:
Ditto. Works great!!

The handle is a bit of an anoyance as was said, but for the price compared to what else is out there, I'm not going to bitch about it.

[Tex1978]

Another vote for the Michlelin jack. I don't mind the handle myself. I also bought the bling bling Goodyear chrome top jackstands for like $24 bucks.

[JeepAddict]

I was just in the Home Depot and just happened to see a package from Husky that had the floor jack, two jack stands, a 1/2 inch impact, a 3/8 air ratchet, sockets and accessories. I'm not big on impulse buying, but for under $60.00, I couldn't pass it up. I guess I'll see how it holds up, but I don't think I could have done better even at harbor freight.

[jmhinescj]

Iv'e got one I got from Sams about a year ago...our Sams still gets them every once in awile...but it's an allied not a michelin...same size and lift but it has a pedal to get it to the frame...u-joint release...I think it's a little wider to maybe...it's about $60 here
I bought a pair of those husky jackstands a while back thinkin they would probably be pretty tough...I compared them to my MVP jackstands when I got home and they were the EXACT same, as in I'm sure that they were made by MVP. Makes me wonder if the Husky floor jack at home depot is made by MVP as well. I say this because the MVP floorjack I used to have was the biggest piece of crap ever.

[rusted]

I went to Sams Club and bought a "Michelin" 3.5 ton jack. 24 inch lift height. I love it.. freakin awesome. And it was 60 bucks :smokin:

That's the same one I have but it was before they said Michelin on them. It has the quick step raise lever thing on it, it's awesome. $60 and 72lbs :eek:

I want an aluminum jack. But I got this one it'll do whatever I want it to and I can get something sleeker later. Kinda funny working on the Camry with it it'll lift the whole car no problem.

[rusted]

Iv'e got one I got from Sams about a year ago...our Sams still gets them every once in awile...but it's an allied not a michelin...same size and lift but it has a pedal to get it to the frame...u-joint release...I think it's a little wider to maybe...it's about $60 here
I bought a pair of those husky jackstands a while back thinkin they would probably be pretty tough...I compared them to my MVP jackstands when I got home and they were the EXACT same, as in I'm sure that they were made by MVP. Makes me wonder if the Husky floor jack at home depot is made by MVP as well. I say this because the MVP floorjack I used to have was the biggest piece of crap ever.

My wife was going to get me jackstands so I told her to get me the biggest ones she could find. I knew they would be the cheap stamped steel so in order to work on my 2 ton truck I wanted 4 '6-ton' jackstands.

I trust them to do the job but I wish I had a set of my dad's old cast steel jackstands, those things are beefy.

[K2Orion]

I also bought the "Redneck Combo Special" at Sam's.
Got the Michelin jack, chrome Goodyear jackstands and a 30 pack of Busch for around $100.

I like the Michelin jack for the price but wish the handle folded further. I'm gonna have to figure out a way to fix that.

[Benny]

I bought 2 "nice" Napa Jacks. JUNK. Paid $160 each on sale. RIP OFF!!!

Anything with a 2 piece handle is most likely cheap import junk.

Lincoln/Walkers arent good anymore either.

[nmscout]

Sams michelin jack works great, but it weights 100 lbs.

[Junk Driver]

All the time I am looking to upgrade my floor jack but with one requirement in mind.... Lifts more than the normal 21-24 inches, yes you can get ones that go higher but they also are like 4 feet long! My current jack doesnt even lift my diffs high enough to let me put my jackstands under the diffs past the halfway point on the stands.

Sure makes me wonder how guys with tires bigger than 38s get thier tires off the ground.

Thinking of puttin some adapter to raise the plate up some but still just fit under the diff?

[maddog]

Scored the Summit a couple years back for $80. at a tool show. This is without a doubt the best floor jack I've had so far.

http://www.summitracing.com/

Summit aluminum hydraulic floor jacks are made of strong, lightweight aluminum, but their lifting capacity is anything but lightweight. The jacks are available in your choice of 3,000 lb. or 4,000 lb. capacity models. The 3,000 lb. models weigh in at a mere 37 lbs. and the 4,000 lb. version only jumps to 55 lbs. They feature a low-profile front roller for quick, accurate placement, and have a rotating rubber saddle pad to prevent marring. The 47 1/2 in. handle is knurled for a sure grip.

[jasonmt]

All the time I am looking to upgrade my floor jack but with one requirement in mind.... Lifts more than the normal 21-24 inches, yes you can get ones that go higher but they also are like 4 feet long! My current jack doesnt even lift my diffs high enough to let me put my jackstands under the diffs past the halfway point on the stands.

Sure makes me wonder how guys with tires bigger than 38s get thier tires off the ground.

Thinking of puttin some adapter to raise the plate up some but still just fit under the diff?


The only ones I have ever seen that go over ~22" are the 4' long ones. I would surmise their size would have to do with the stability needed to lift up over 30".

If I have to lift the truck up higher than my floor jack goes I use the shop crane hooked up to the recovery points.

[DRKelly]

I bought a Craftsman one that has the quick lift feature when there is no load. It was fairly expensive. I can't remember how much though since it was about 2 yrs ago. Let me tell you. I am now spoiled by that feature. I highly recommend it.

[DMG]

Weaver model 72. Its big, old, heavy and rebuildable.

[HaWiiLuVeR]

does anyone know of a company that sells the pumping units. ive thought about designing my own jack. safety is not 'as much' of an issue when you use a jack as it is intended to - to only raise and lower the vehicle. jack stands should be used to hold the load. rarely (and im talking like 1-2 times in the many years ive been doing auto work) have i used a jack to actually hold the load.

[sbrem]

I bought a Craftsman one that has the quick lift feature when there is no load. It was fairly expensive. I can't remember how much though since it was about 2 yrs ago. Let me tell you. I am now spoiled by that feature. I highly recommend it.

That is what I have too. I have had it for a while now and so far so good.

Stephen

[Black Sabbath]

I got the 3.5 ton craftsman a little while back. 85 bucks out the door with matching stands :flipoff2: Haven't had it long eought to form a real opinon on it. I did have to return the first one I got cause it was almost impossible to lower the load. The second one is much better.

[Sc0]

I have a cheap red import 3t jack that came with some OK jackstands, cheap folding wheels chocks, and a cushioned knee pad and all for the price of $86. Generic Foreign crap, it did have grease fittings on some items, it is a dual plunger which lifts the plate up quicker, it is low profile and goes 3.5-22", it also has the E-clips on the front wheels. It has a U-joint for the valve, and it's a heavy sumbith... The thing works OK but it has a two piece handle that likes to flex when you put some weight on it, and the jacking motion is stiff... probly due to not smoothing over the surfaces before applying the cheap chrome job. Purchased from a Tractor Supply store.