Floor Jack Recommendation

[Glen C.]

I need to buy a floor jack for the garage. Would anyone have a recommendation on a good brand and what specs I should look for?

Thanks,

Glen

[Michael M.]

Re: Floor Jack Recommendation

I used to be a big believer in Sear's products but my Craftsman, 'Made in China' floor jack constantly leaks and lowers itself. Whatever brand you decide to purchase, don't go cheap on the jack stands!

[Terry M.]

Re: Floor Jack Recommendation

Over on the Garage Journal Forum (www.garagejournal.com) those guys like old American Iron rebuilt. You should see some of the art deco Blackhawk jacks -- not only functional and built like a brick outhouse, but down right beautiful to boot. I haven't looked over there for their thoughts on currently available jacks, but you might want to search there and see. My general sense is there is not much currently made that I would put my life on. Get a set of good quality jack stands.

[Don L.]

Re: Floor Jack Recommendation

Hi Glen.

I didn't recognize the value in different floor jacks until after I bought. I went middle of the road, not wanting to waste money on the high cost aluminum jack that would see little use. I now have a steel Delco jack for sale if anyone wants it at garage sale pricing. I't's nice and heavy!

Get one that is light weight and get one that has the rubber pad on the jacking foot so you don't have to put a piece of leather (or rag) on the jack's otherwise metal foot, thereby avoiding scratching your frame. A storage case is nice too.

[Patrick H.]

Re: Floor Jack Recommendation

I have two steel ones I'd love to have rebuilt as Terry mentions but finding such a source is not easy.
I have an aluminum one that I received as a gift. It came from Harbor Freight (no, really) and has worked better than the two steel ones.
In addition it's light enough that I can lift it onto one of the 4 post lifts if I need to do suspension work.

No mater what you get make sure it has a high enough reach. The closer the pivot point of the arm is to the handle end the higher it can lift. Nothing worse than a floor jack that doesn't lift your car enough to make it worthwhile. Check out the "maximum saddle height" or similar when you compare them.
The ones with the pivot point near the middle of the jack are useless.

Patrick

[Jim S.]

Re: Floor Jack Recommendation

I have had an aluminum jack from Harbor Freight for probably 8 years - weighs 37 pounds and worked fine for 8 BMW's and 3 Vettes.

Details - try harborfreight.com:

Item #68053

Sale: $89.99

[Larry M.]

Re: Floor Jack Recommendation

I have two steel ones I'd love to have rebuilt as Terry mentions but finding such a source is not easy.
I have an aluminum one that I received as a gift. It came from Harbor Freight (no, really) and has worked better than the two steel ones.
In addition it's light enough that I can lift it onto one of the 4 post lifts if I need to do suspension work.

No mater what you get make sure it has a high enough reach. The closer the pivot point of the arm is to the handle end the higher it can lift. Nothing worse than a floor jack that doesn't lift your car enough to make it worthwhile. Check out the "maximum saddle height" or similar when you compare them.
The ones with the pivot point near the middle of the jack are useless.
Patrick

Pat: List make and model of your steel jacks, as I may have a source for rebuilt parts. This company sells rebuild kits for most early american stuff. I have used them for my repair parts.

http://www.blackhawkparts.com/

Glenn: My recommendation for a GOOD floor jack is the Lincoln or Hein-Werner Model #93642. These jacks are made in USA and rated for 2-3 tons. They have been around for over 40 years, first appearing as Walker, NAPA, Lincoln, and now Hein-Werner. Same jack, just different company names. Used by just about every (old) garage and auto repair shop in town. They are rugged and will last forever. I have one of these, and an old Applied Power BLACKHAWK jack from 1970 that is built like a WW II tank. Both still work reliability to this day.

http://www.jackxchange.com/products/HW93642.cfm

Larry

[Dick W.]

Re: Floor Jack Recommendation

Pat: List make and model of your steel jacks, as I may have a source for rebuilt parts. This company sells rebuild kits for most early american stuff. I have used them for my repair parts.

http://www.blackhawkparts.com/

Glenn: My recommendation for a GOOD floor jack is the Lincoln or Hein-Werner Model #93642. These jacks are made in USA and rated for 2-3 tons. They have been around for over 40 years, first appearing as Walker, NAPA, Lincoln, and now Hein-Werner. Same jack, just different company names. Used by just about every (old) garage and auto repair shop in town. They are rugged and will last forever. I have one of these, and an old Applied Power BLACKHAWK jack from 1970 that is built like a WW II tank. Both still work reliability to this day.

http://www.jackxchange.com/products/HW93642.cfm

Larry

Ditto on Larry's recomendations. I am old fashioned but like the heavy iron jacks. I have three Hein-Werner jacks here, the newest being probably 45+ years old. Have a rebuilder about five miles from me. Won't sell any parts though, if you were thinking about asking.

[Dennis C.]

Re: Floor Jack Recommendation

I have two steel ones I'd love to have rebuilt as Terry mentions but finding such a source is not easy.


Patrick

Patrick,

When I rebuilt my Blackhawk jack I was able to obtain parts from Metro Hydraulic Jack out of New Jersey. At that time the number was 973-350-0111. You could give them a try.

Regards,

Dennis

[Cathy S.]

Re: Floor Jack Recommendation

My great jack cost about $500 is excellent the saddle is extremely low bought from griots garage. I have 2 $100 jacks from Costco. Also very good and im happy with their performance.

[Bill H.]

Re: Floor Jack Recommendation

Yea, ditto with Dick & Larry, I have a Hein-Werner.

Aluminum Jacks (the lower priced ones):

I've used all of them at the racetrack because there's one in every pit.

Craftsman - A boatload of guys have them - every one of them leaks.

Harbor FT. (we had one in the raceshop that i worked in, we also had a Jeg's), the HF is OK for the money, the only problem I have with them is the raise/lower valve, the one's I've used are very hard to lower slowly, they tend to drop fast by just cracking the valve open. The Jeg's aluminum jack we had was excellent, when using it vs the HF, there was no compairson. (the Jeg's was purchased in 2008, i don't know what the quality is now).

Jackstands - don't buy 3 Ton stands when you can get 6 Ton for $10 - $15 more per pair.

[Edward B.]

Re: Floor Jack Recommendation

I got my green Craftsman jack in the early 70s, use it constantly, have never had it leak and have not had the need to add any oil. Craftsman tools of today are certainly not your father's Craftsman. Too bad!

[Larry M.]

Re: Floor Jack Recommendation

I got my green Craftsman jack in the early 70s, use it constantly, have never had it leak and have not had the need to add any oil. Craftsman tools of today are certainly not your father's Craftsman. Too bad!

Ed:

If the top of the jack hydraulic reservoir is secured by a cap that has about a dozen or so "fingers" or fins, then it is a BLACKHAWK jack (as made by Applied Power), and can be repaired with both Sears or Blackhawk parts. Later in the 1970's, Sears went to a different jack. Not certain who made it.

The weak point in these jacks is/was a polymer cup for the main hydraulic ram. They would crumble with old age. You can buy a solid leather replacement for this, which should never go bad. Repairs are quite easy.

Larry

FWIW: Applied Power was also the manufacturer of the "Porta-Power" that was used in just about every bodyshop during this time period.

[Paul J.]

Re: Floor Jack Recommendation

Glen, I have a Harbour Freight iron 3 ton floor jack model# S34271. It's been used every day for the last 12 years and it's still going strong. Last night it was holding up one end of a K2500 and it did'nt move. The only problem that I've had with it is that the spring that holds the handle up broke, but no problems since Grainger had one. When I was talking to people about the spring they said to throw the jack away and buy another one. That's $69. Grainger only charged me $5.98 for a spring and the jack works like new. My point being that people are very opinionated on jacks. Don't pay any attention to them. Good quality cheap jacks work just as well as expensive ones that are similar in design and construction.

There's also stuff on this in the archives.

Paul

[Dennis O.]

Re: Floor Jack Recommendation

I have three. The first is an iron and steel Craftsman I bought in the '70's. It works great with no problems, but is qute heavy. The second is a aluminum "quick-pump" Craftsman I bought about 10 years ago. The "quick-pump" is real handy, but it takes a lot more effort than the old jack once the car is off the ground. The third is a cheap Harbor Freight aluminum that I also bought about 10 years ago to use in the pits on my 2200 lb vintage modified race car. Worked for that, but "died" after about 4 years, I replaced the seals and topped it up with fluid, and it lasted about another 5 years of occaisional use. I have had some good luck with Harbor Freight tools, but I wouldn't recommend their jacks. All that being said, I'm sure we're in a whole different ball game now with what's currently availiable. If it were me, I'd look for a quality used American iron jack, and get the best value you can in a current aluminum "quick-pump". That way, you'll always be able to get your car off the ground. Plus, you'll be surprised how often it comes in handy to have two jacks available.