Pitched my old floor jack, as it was beginning to concern me. I have a light weight aluminum jack that I take with me on trips, but want one of good quality to keep in the shop. Thoughts/recommendations?

Mickey

In addition to my Craftsman jack, Mick, I've also got one of Harbor Freight's larger aluminum jacks.

I picked one up at Sam's Club. It is a 5 ton with Roush Racing logos on it. I think it was about 70.00. It has held up pretty well for about five years. I am sure it is made in China, but it has jacked the MG many times, my Cougar, daughters Alero and Grandmas Nissan on more than one occasion.

"Harbor Freight" and "quality floor jack" don't exactly go together! Harbor Freight is where you go when you just want something that will perform its job, no more, no less, regardless of durability. I've thrown away two Chinese jacks in the past year and will never buy one again.

If by quality you mean something that is of high quality, rebuildable as opposed to throw-away, and will last a lifetime, look no further than AC Hydraulics. They are the highest quality, made in Denmark. They definitely aren't the cheapest, but the alternative is to buy a Chinese jack for a quarter the cost and replace it several times during your lifetime when it fails. Just the hassle alone is worth spending more in my opinion.

See here for AC Hydraulic jacks: http://www.asedeals.com/hydraulicjacks2.html

Hein-Werner are also very high quality, although a Chinese company now owns them. These used to be Lincoln brand also. Even with the new owners I've heard that the quality of the past Hein-Warner products is still there, and they are still being manufactured in the same factory here in the USA.

More good brands to look into are OTC, Milwaukee, Norco (best of the Chinese stuff) and U.S. Jack.

Unfortunately Craftsman jacks have taken a nosedive in quality over the past few years. I wouldn't touch them anymore. As with any of the cheaper jacks, sometimes you get lucky and they last forever and sometimes you get a dozen uses from them before they start leaking.

For a good place to start looking, visit this site: http://www.jackxchange.com/

Thanks, guys. Steve - good start for my search!

Mickey

My girlfriend got me this one as a present. Good quality for around $200. OTC 1532

Floor jack is one thing I don't spend lots of money on...both my Harbor Freight units have lasted longer than did my Craftsman unit...& they do the job-jack car up so I can put jack stands on it.

I'd rather spend the money somewhere else.

I consider jacks and other support equipment to be the "elsewhere" you speak of. People have been killed placing jack stands when their jack failed.

When it comes to safety-critical tools, I'll spend whatever it takes. A couple hundred extra dollars isn't much over the 50 years I'll own the jack.

Not surprised about the Craftsman jack. They're horrible.

It goes up & down...I'm not dumb enough to get under a car without a jack stand under it & you don't have to get under an MG to put stands under it (so, you slide your arm under the car...there's wheels on the car that, should the jack collapse, will keep the car from sitting on your arm!)...I consider the jack stands safety critical equipment, the jack just something to facilitate their use.

Oh, & I learned the hard way not to get under cars without stands....back as a teenager, I went to a junk yard to get a part for my car....used the jack that was in the trunk to raise the car...young & stupid, I slid under to get what I wanted...thank goodness for tires otherwise I wouldn't be here...it pinned me under but the tires took the load off my chest.

Racers/mechanics do it all the time due to time constraints...

I still wince but strangely enough...
I haven't heard of any accidents.

I like the Jegs aluminum racing jack.
Name brand (sort of)...As in...They wouldn't like to defend against a product liability lawsuit.
So maybe that influenced their choice of jacks???

http://www.jegs.com/p/JEGS/752655/10002/-1

Looks like Jegs sells the same jack as Harbor Freight

And Machine Mart and Moss in the UK.

I have one and its worked fine... so far.

I'm guessing (after rereading the post) that mickey isn't going for a lightweight jack...



And my endorsement of the jeg's jack that it...."Hasn't killed me yet"...

Is not what he had in mind...So far as being helpful goes

You guessed right! Already have one of those. (See my original post!)

Didn't mean to let the worms out of the can...

But this time I'm not buying for cheap. Not looking to spend $1K or more; I just want this to be the last one I buy...

...but not because it slips/falls/tips over on me!

A really nice AC jack will cost half of that. If I could buy any jack, that would be brand I'd be looking at. They have a lot of styles, including some low-profile units that are perfect for small cars.

The DK20Q ($457) is my choice, or if I had the space, the DK13HLQ. The DK20 is only $425 and also has the 3" minimum height of the others.

See here for more info: http://www.asedeals.com/hydraulicjacks2.html

Thanks! I'll check 'em out.

Having been in the automotive tool and equipment business for 31 years, the quality of jacks has changed. Hein-Warner and Walker were the best,but the real US made Hein-Warner is gone and Lincoln now owns Walker.The Lincoln Jacks are OK if you buy the top line product.If you go for price,its just cheap Chinese junk with a Lincoln label.You get what you pay for.The best made imported jacks are by OMEGA.They are made by the Shin-Foo jack Company in China and sold under the Omega name. Heavy duty built and have a 1 year exchange warantee.If you buy it from a parts store,make sure on the warantee,because jacks are heavy and a pain to return by freight.My supplier just requires I send back the handle yoke and keep the rest for replacement parts for credit.Shin-Foo was the original maker of the Astroline orange 2 ton floor jacks in the late 1970's that were great for the money.Every one started copying the jack and cheapened them up till the became the Chinese junk we have today.Look into the Omega 2 ton jacks. They have a low saddle jack like the good Lincoln[around $200.00] and a 2 stage pump 2 ton jack which is the one I own[around $180.00]. The 2 stage works great on PU trucks,as well as cars.Remember a jack is used to get it up in the air.PUT JACK STANDS UNDER IT SO IT STAYS UP AND YOU DONT GET KILLED! DUH!The aluminum jacks are pretty to look at,but unless you buy a Nascar quality jack they're Chinese junk too with a fancy label.

Thanks, John - that's the kind of info I'm looking for. I saw an Omega on one of the websites, and was leaning toward it.

My practice is always to use jack stands, as I wouldn't trust even the best floor jack. And my alum. jack is used very sparingly, and really meant to take on trips.

Mickey

If I'm not mistaken, Shin-Foo also makes Norco jacks, which I mentioned in a previous post.

Never lend tools. My first jack was marketed by NAPA and was American made. 3000# jack that I loaned to a friend to lift the side of his boat trailer to change some bearings. He didn't tell me that the boat (all 38 feet of it) was on the 3-axle trailer. He apparently lifted the whole side and changed all three bearings on each side. The jack worked, but came back to me totally torqued and ruined. He, of course, denied it. So, I went out and bought a 2 ton NAPA jack, still American made, and chained it to my garage wall. Now, all NAPA jacks are Chinese. Hope I never need another new jack. Oh, and I never ever get near the underside of my car without jack stands (5000#, NAPA, American made - no longer available).