Bargain of The Year?: AL floor jack from HF

tom p.

tom p.

Active member
Someone had brought up this particular AL floor jack from Harbor Freight a few weeks ago. I have had my eyes on these slick jacks for a long time but just not willing to commit the $400 - $600. I picked up the Harbor Freight unit and it arrived today and is quite a surprise! It looks like an extreme bargain for $140. See for yourself:



sjack.JPG
ssaddle.JPG
sroller.JPG
sprofile.JPG
sjack1.JPG
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My advice is to avoid the 3,000 lb Harbor Freight jack, since the average auto curb weight is well over 3,000lbs.



I would strongly suggest the 4,000 lb aluminum jack from Sears. It's about $179 and very nicely made. (even though both jacks are manufactured in China)



searsalumjack-3.jpg




Link: Sears Jack



Dean
 
Dean, thanks for your comments. There are no SUVs in my garage...we still enjoy driving. :D



I have been using a cheezy (autozone $75 special) Chinese jack for the past 6 years and it carries a rating of only 2.25 tons. The three ton capacity of this new AL jack should be more than adequate for the stuff I am lifting. I doubt the jack ever sees a load in excess of 1 ton let alone 3. BTW, the cheezy Chinese special stills works great!



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It's probably just me but, I don't understand why anyone would want an aluminum floor jack. I could see if maybe you had to have one to haul around for work or maybe to the racetrack. For home use though I want something as heavy and sturdy as possible. I have just heard too many stories of those aluminum jacks breaking and cars coming crashing down.



Here is the jack and stands I just got for my birthday.



Craftsman 3 1/2 ton Floor Jack and Jack Stands - $149 ($119 after $30 rebate)



Craftsman 6 Ton Jack Stands - $35



29951floorjack.jpg
 
tom p. said:
Dean, thanks for your comments. There are no SUVs in my garage...we still enjoy driving. :D



I have been using a cheezy (autozone $75 special) Chinese jack for the past 6 years and it carries a rating of only 2.25 tons. The three ton capacity of this new AL jack should be more than adequate for the stuff I am lifting. I doubt the jack ever sees a load in excess of 1 ton let alone 3. BTW, the cheezy Chinese special stills works great!



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Click to expand...



From the label in one of your pictures it shows your jack is rated for 3,000 lbs. That is 1.5 tons, not 3 tons. 1 ton ~2000 pounds.
 
well I'll bite

are we talking 3 tons here or 3000lbs

photo shows 3000lbs inwhich I agree with Dean is not heavy enough.



Most important is to purchase quality jack stands and then use them.
 
you guys are correct, my bad.



It says 3000lb, not 3 tons. It still is more than adequate for my modest lifting needs. My heaviest car is 3300 lbs and I certainly can't see lifting all that weight at once.
 
The good thing about that aluminum jack is that it is ligh and low. I have been thinking of getting one for a long time now. I have heard that the HF jacks bend at the plate or the extensions. I have not seen this and find it hard to believe. If the jack was bending and breaking I would think that they would not sell it anymore.
 
Yeah, for legal reasons they would stop selling it if it were a real problem.



My primary reason for purchase is due to the lo profile of the unit. My old jack doesn't really fit under our newest car. This HF jack is very light in comparison and just glides as you move it. Big difference compared to the beefier jacks.



I will agree that this is more of a light duty jack and isn't going to be capable of lifting heavier vehicles. The Sears jack pictured above may ultimately be a better deal if you have larger vehicles.
 
That is why I wanted one. I had the coilovers on my hatch sitting really low and could not get a jack under it. I raised it now and it is fine but I still like that jack. The new ones at HF don't have a fixed font caster, they have two seperate ones for better manuvering.
 
For just occasional use this jack may work. However, members of 993 board on Rennlist that have purchased this jack for use at track events have been very dissappointed in its overall quality and reliability. It does not seem to last long under frequent use.
 
When it comes to floor jacks, I believe that you get what you pay for. My neighbor has a Sears jack and after only a few years of occasional use, it just barely gets the job done. He still uses it, but I wouldn't use it to lift my lawn mower. :nono I bought Griot's Garage floor jack and jack stands. With their lifetime warranty with no questions asked, an extra couple hundred bucks is well worth it. How long would it take you to save the extra money to buy a preminum piece of equipment, 2, 3 or 6 months? Would you rather wait a little to get something that will last you a lifetime or get it now and need to replace it in 3 or 4 years? By the way I also bought their rubber saddle pad, which I couldn't see using the jack without it.
 
I have one of these and it is excellent.



If you check the Corvette forums you will find that this product has been discussed for a couple of years. It is one of the few that can get under a Vette and the jack is well made. Remember also that a Vette weighs just a bit over 3000 lbs., so it is not a big load to lift.
 
Ok, I have a AC Hydraulics DK20 Floor jack. Great Tool to have.

No light weight. I just happned to run accross what has to be the lightest floor jack out there. A carbon Fiber floor jack. I can't believe it!

Carbon Fiber Floor Jack



A little expensive though.
 
I usually like to make my judgements based on first hand experience, not observations of "neighbors" :) Sure that is a nice jack but $400 is a bit extreme and there are far better floor jacks out there for that kind of money. Here is the Holy Grail of floor jacks.



http://www.ultimategarage.com/acjacks.html



When my Craftsman dies eventually that is what I will get.
 
HellrotCi , I saw that you said that you bought the jack and jackstands from Griots. So how do you like them. I just used the Griots "new improved" jackstands over the weekend and really liked them. They are light to move arount and the feet that have been put on the base really prevent it from sinkin in the ground.



My driveway is rocks and I place a sheet of plywood under the jack and jackstand and the old jackstands used to really press into the wood, the griots barely left a mark. Don't even ask what my old jackstands do to a nice warm blacktop driveway.
 
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