You know what your getting when you buy a Harbor Freight. Low quality and a low price. I have several. But I never rely on them because they can and will fail, and can be dangerous. The last one I bought will slowly collapse, so when you jack up a wheel and come back the car is on the ground.
found an antique roller jack in a junk shop many decades ago--heavy as hell and feels like a truck to pull it around. Thing about it is it will go up about 2 1/2 feet or so, just about straight up which makes it nice to get under one and have some room left (braced of course). Leaks a little now, but jack oil is cheap. No brand name on it. Look around those shops and you might find an old one that works.."me no want no stinkin' aluminum".
I have a 40-50 year old sears 3 ton floor jack that still works good . And i got a newer harbor freak jack that hasnt failed yet
A friend bought a HF racing jack, 1.5 rating. Was really light weight, I liked that easier for me to use when had to pick up to high place. So I buy one, is like 10lbs heavier, we couldn't find where the difference was, even checked with a magnet. Next time I have a need its going to get a bunch of holes.....
Same thing happened when I was working at a heavy equipment dealership in WI Guys took several transmission jacks for the hoist and a couple older Hein Warner Jack's that leaked a bit snd a original portapower pump and a few othet cylinders saying they would rebuild them for **X money. Last I saw that truck was heading south on I90 near IL completely full of Jack's. Never got anything back and the number on there card and receipt was no good.
18 years since toddc's post, and not much has changed Down Under. Still hard to find a reliable floor jack. After several el-cheapos that developed the "self-lowering option", I bought an Armstrong jack. They were once an Australian company, but now manufacture offshore. Quality is still outstanding, and a lot cheaper than SnapOn. Cheers, Harv
Walker Floor Jacks Hello, Back in the early 1958, the Walker Brand Floor Jack was what every good garage/repair shop used. They were heavy duty in all models and the tonnage of any model was fine for all hot rod/drag race build necessities. The floor jack was a life saver in many ways. Despite the cost, it was well worth it to be safe and useful. Lions Dragstrip staging area... late 1958 I had to use a scissors jack to help raise a complete third member rear Positraction gear unit to the opening of the 58 Impala rear axle housing. That is after I had to get the original 3:55 unit out. Almost the same weight lifted down by the scissors jack very wobbly, but with a towel holding down the unit and a rope tied to the 3rd member, it came out and down. But, putting a complete 4:56 Positraction unit back in place was a chore with the scissors jack. Cranking, holding the unit and trying to get it lined up to the bolts was also a big under taking. One wrong balancing problem and the unit would fall off of the scissors jack. So, when I was able to use our newly acquired Walker floor jack, it made life so much easier. The cup plate on the jack was just large enough to hold the complete 3rd member unit of any size. Similar Walker floor jack build… but, we painted our new Walker Floor Jack a combination black and silver. Jnaki Now, it was a simple process, but the complete third Positraction unit was easily lifted into place in the rear axle housing. Now, the process to re-***emble was in full force. The idea of cost should not be a problem. If new, the security is there. If a brand name, the security is there. So, it is up to you as to how important the cost is versus working correctly and safely until the steel jack stands come into play. Used floor jacks were not worth the trouble to fix. New ones were sturdy and built well if one stuck to the popular brand names. Walker Floor Jacks were the best at the time. Our model even fit in the trunk of our dad’s Buick sedan and also in the trunk of the 58 Impala to take over to our friend’s houses to work on the teenage hot rod sedans. YRMV (They come apart safely for transport in enclosed limited spaces...)
I'll bet somewhere in the fine print, the jack manufacturers will advise against drilling any lightening holes in their products. While you're at it you might as well try to take some weight out of your jack stands too!
Hydraulic jacks are super easy to rebuild. Just rebuilt one not long ago. Take them apart and replace the seals.
Have a Walker. Love it because it goes down so low. And it also picks up really high. I have several others. From Napa and hF. Also have a Heim Warner. Badest of them all. Huge heavy and use it rarely it it sits outside most of the time and never fails 4 ton. Gave ten dollars from a s**** man that didn’t know how to get it to release.
Been useing the hobo freight Daytona low profile 3 ton for about 6 or so years, no issues. I lift my F550 with it. Oreillys is advertising one for 179 w 3yr warrenty
Right out of high school (in 1974) I bought a package deal floor jack with 2 jack stands for $99 at the local Sears store. The jack stands were replaced many years ago, the jack hung around until about 5 years ago, my son ******ed it up and took it to his place! The last 4-5 years I used it, it developed a very slow self lowering option, and one of the front casters wasn't rolling or swiveling any more. When it became more of a h***le to use, I bought a Lorren floor jack from the local farm store, it lasted about 3 years (I junked it, what a pile). Then I bought a Daytona floor jack from HF for less money then the Lorren jack cost. That Daytona jack lasted 10 years, until it wouldn't lift anything (my son took it too). I have replaced it with another Daytona from HF.
^ Most people these days would rather go get the most affordable new one they can find. To most of them, if the jack is old their not interested in them. Lots of people don't know that jacks can be rebuilt cheaply, and probably more don't know how to do it. Unless you find someone like me that would appreciate the quality of an old jack and be willing to rebuild it if needed, you'll pretty much have to give them away. This coming from a guy that has three nice old jacks that were given to me because...they're OLD. Good luck!
Good point Doublepumper, but the hydraulics have been rebuilt a few years back as I noted and they haven't been used much, so I figured they would be useful to someone who don't mind lugging the dang things around.....
Neighbor has an art deco Walker, very heavy, has fenders on all four wheels and a headlight, it’s complete but needs restored. My floor jack is a NAPA, 50 years old that I bought new. Cylinder has been rebuilt once.
I use an Arcan 3 ton that I bought from Costco of all places. Included free shipping for about 200 at the time. It seems to work well. FWIW. I was taught a long time ago to use jack stands if you are going to be under the car.
Bought my Sears made in Japan jack in 1979. It went 35 or forty years before I had to add oil. It’s about 47 years old now, and I had to add oil a second time. Still a good jack. I bought a red jack from the local parts store about 25 years ago, and, though it’s heavy and not as nice as the Sears, but it only cost $119, which seemed like a steal. My aluminum HH 2 ton jack is probably over 20 now, and had to be topped off five years ago. My favorite is the $59 HF ton and a half, although I have to be careful not to overload it. I also have an Arcan three ton from Costco. Looking good so far, but it’s only a couple years old, so I’ll withhold judgement.
I have a 90s Craftsman (Made in Japan I believe), a mid 00s USA made Hein Warner and a 60s Lincoln someone gave me that I have to rebuild. Plus all my jack stands have pins.
I just finished this one off yesterday with a rebuild kit. It’s a Taiwan unit from the early 80’s and very solidly built. One thing I wasn’t aware of was the adjustment for the relief valve, so I’m experimenting with that now. I should have counted the number of turns it takes to remove it to get the correct or near to correct rating for the jack.
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