When buying a Jack...

[yelo333]

I'll be needing a jack for

1) A Chrysler T&C Minivan
2) A '07 Honda Civic

To do simple things like rotate tires and change the oil.

I'm more interested in getting one that will last more than 10 uses rather than getting one super cheap. I'm more than willing to pay extra for quality.

A mechanic friend of mine has been preaching the benefits of getting one with a large saddle. He sticks a small piece of 2x4 between the jack and the car so he doesn't knick up the frame.

So feature-wise, I'm thinking

3+ Ton
Large saddle
Good quality

With this in mind, I went shopping...

This one from harbor frieght looks pretty good. The saddle on the demonstration model is waay larger than the one in the picture on the website. I'm concerned about the quality, though, since it only has a 90-day warranty.

I picked up this thinking it would be pretty good, but the saddle was too small.

So...

- Is the size of the saddle a big issue?
- How can I actually be sure what I'm getting is good quality?
- Any particular recommendations?

I have most of the usual suspects around me store-wise:
- Home Depot
- Lowes
- Walmart
- Sears
- Harbor Freight
- AutoZone & the like
- Probably others I didn't mention

BTW, I've already got a set of 6-ton jack stands, so no, I'm not actually going to trust any jack to hold my car up.

UPDATE: Thanks to all of your input, I've decided to get the 3 ton sears jack.

 

[IronWing]

X Jack

 

[thecoolnessrune]

Originally posted by: ironwing
X Jack

Dang, that's pretty dam cool there

 

[woodie1]

Beside the normal features, one important feature I look for is the height when fully collapsed. Some cars sit low to the ground normally plus when a car has a flat tire it can be hard to get a floor jack under it.

 

[dajamesr]

I have been using the HF one above for about 15 years now with no complaints.

JR

 

[bruceb]

Sears jacks are very good and not overpriced. That is what I suggest. Do not buy a jack from
Harbor Freight as this is a safety work item, even though you should use jack stands whenever
you work under the car. And parts for Harbor Freight items, like seals & such are very hard to find.

 

[Howard]

Hydraulic jack

Jack stands that can fit under your car when the jack is all the way up. Find out where all the jacking points are.

EDIT: In a pinch, you can use the standard-issue scissor jack with a 3/4" socket (on a ratcheting wrench).

EDIT2: I would actually recommend first getting a decent socket wrench set and using that before you buy a hydraulic jack and stands.

 

[mooseracing]

Originally posted by: ironwing
X Jack

Too unsafe. At least with a hydro floor jack the seal would slowly leak and not just blow out.


If you want something that is going to last get a HD jack from Sears or another Big brand. I wouldn't go to AZ, HF, or any other cheap place.

You could even buy an older hydro floor jack than needs a rebuild. Nearly most take just bottle jacks that are laying down. You just have to get the right bottle jack.

The one I use is over 30yrs old and has lifted many tractors in the middle and still fits under FWD cars.

 

[T2urtle]

i got a 1.5 alumium jack from sears for about 110$

its a low profile jack with pointless LED on the saddle. Its worked great for me because my cars tend to be lowered anyways. Great overall jack.. it does have a larger saddle.

Your friend is right on the little saddles.. i've had it pinch weld bend on me when getting them high up on smaller saddle jacks.

 

[melchoir]

I've heard tons of horror stories about the sears aluminum jacks failing after only a few uses.
I've had the HF one you've listed above for about 3 years now. It was left outside in the rain with no cover for probably a year.

The only downsides to this jack are, it's heavy as hell. 94lbs, and the one I have you have to be careful while lowering the car, as the jack handle gear doesn't release as smoothly as I'd prefer.

 

[helpme]

I have one of these sets

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_1...t&sName=Lift+Equipment

The jack is pretty beefy and weighs a TON (it's not alum). The saddle is also very large. The jack stands are the typical kind, and don't have the notch that some do in the middle.

If you buy them outside of the set, they're much more expensive.

I've had the jack for about a year, and jack the car up 5-8 times a month. Doesn't leak or have any problems yet.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: woodie1
Beside the normal features, one important feature I look for is the height when fully collapsed. Some cars sit low to the ground normally plus when a car has a flat tire it can be hard to get a floor jack under it.

I cannot stress this one enough...

ZV <--Has 2 nice Craftsman jacks that won't fit under his 951. :|

 

[yelo333]

Wow, thanks for all the helpful replies, everyone!

Originally posted by: dajamesr

I have been using the HF one above for about 15 years now with no complaints.

JR

dajamesr
Posts: 1
Joined: 12/16/2007

I'm having a hard time finding anything but good things about the HF jack. Thanks for the help.

Originally posted by: bruceb
Sears jacks are very good and not overpriced. That is what I suggest. Do not buy a jack from
Harbor Freight as this is a safety work item, even though you should use jack stands whenever
you work under the car. And parts for Harbor Freight items, like seals & such are very hard to find.

OK, I'll keep the sears ones in mind. The problem is that the 3 ton jack still has a pretty small saddle on it; significantly smaller than the HF one. I can't find a sears jack with a large saddle. As far as repairs go, as you say, it's a safety item -- I'm not going to try to repair it myself.

Originally posted by: Howard
EDIT2: I would actually recommend first getting a decent socket wrench set and using that before you buy a hydraulic jack and stands.

Yup, I'm all set in that department.

Originally posted by: mooseracing
You could even buy an older hydro floor jack than needs a rebuild. Nearly most take just bottle jacks that are laying down. You just have to get the right bottle jack.

OK, that brings up a good point -- should I consider buying a garage sale jack? If they last 30+ years without problem anyway, then I'm not losing anything, right?

Originally posted by: melchoir
I've heard tons of horror stories about the sears aluminum jacks failing after only a few uses.

Yes, this is why I'm a little leery about purchasing a newer craftsman jack. My current hypothesis is that the ones people don't have any problem with are the older made-in-the-USA craftsman jacks. Now most of their new stuff is Chinese and prone to breakage. I'm confused as to why they have a lifetime warranty on the other craftsman stuff, but usually just a year on the jacks. That seems like they're acknowledging their jacks have problems.

Originally posted by: helpme
I have one of these sets

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_1...t&sName=Lift+Equipment

The jack is pretty beefy and weighs a TON (it's not alum). The saddle is also very large.

This is the jack I purchased but found the saddle was still too small to use a 2x4 with. Can I purchase a replacement saddle? They seem to be removable and my friend's larger saddle from his jack fit perfectly in this jack.

Since you say you've used the jack every few days for a year without leakage, I guess that means it's a quality jack. Maybe I should keep the jack but purchase a replacement saddle?

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: woodie1
Beside the normal features, one important feature I look for is the height when fully collapsed. Some cars sit low to the ground normally plus when a car has a flat tire it can be hard to get a floor jack under it.

I cannot stress this one enough...

ZV <--Has 2 nice Craftsman jacks that won't fit under his 951. :|

I'm not planning on carrying a 100lb jack around with me, so I won't be using it for any flats. All the jacks I've looked at have fit pretty easily under my car. It's not lowered, and I have no plans to do so. But I'll still keep this in mind.

ZV, how old are your jacks? Do they fit into my USA-is-good; Chinese is junk hypothesis?

 

[Arkaign]

I have a $15 wal-mart brand-x special that I bought in the early '90s that I've used probably hundreds of times for my cars and friends cars/trucks, not a single problem. It's freakishly heavy, but oh well.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Given your vehicles, look for one with a lower lowered height than a higher raised one. I got the Sears set that someone else linked because the only way that I wouldn't be able to get it under my car would be to lay the frame on the ground after removing the suspension. And even then I'd be able to get it under something. But if I had a lower car such as my cousin's GTO, I'd have chosen differently.

 

[mooseracing]

Originally posted by: yelo333
OK, that brings up a good point -- should I consider buying a garage sale jack? If they last 30+ years without problem anyway, then I'm not losing anything, right?

You have to look at what you're buying and know the rating on it. If someone threw in a Heavier duty bottle jack into the floor jack then you may overstress the frame of the jack.

You just need to know what you are looking at, look at the frame of the jack itself, I know ours is over 1/4", but it also easily lifts 4 tons. It is also only around 3-4" lowered, then goes up a few feet. The main reason it does so well is because the jack is 4-5ft long.

 

[Nutdotnet]

If you have a Costco membership you should really check them out. Last time I was there they had a great and sturdy-looking aluminum low-profile jack. Was very lightweight.

 

[exdeath]

I just have a cheap 2 1/2 ton jack with stands that has lasted me a year so far. Picked it up from Checker on sale for $30 for the set. Figure by the time it breaks, I'll have gotten my $30 out of it and buy another one.

Only issue I have is that it's too small, in that by the time I position the saddle and go to jack it up, the base of the handle is too far under the car and I have to take it easy the first few inches of lift so that the handle doesn't hit the rocker panel.

But it's only for quick emergencies at the house. If it's drivable I'll take it to the shop and use the lift. Don't really need a full size floor jack at home.

 

[bruceb]

On most jacks, the saddle comes right out .... it just slips in.
So, any saddle with the same Diameter Shaft will fit just fine.

 

[Throckmorton]

Why do you care about the size of the saddle? Use a piece of wood.

 

[herm0016]

why do you need a jack to lift 6000 lbs? neither of those cars can be more than 4000 or so, and you will be lifting about half of one up at a time, being 2000lbs, a 1.5 ton jack should do you just fine, the safety factor will, at a minimum, be 3 for the jack. We use this jack at home a lot, it works very well even for our 72' big block pickup, that said we do have a 3 ton steel jack, but it sits around until a tractor or a the box truck need work.

http://www.amazon.com/Torin-Al...e-Piston/dp/B0007XRFD0

 

[Nutdotnet]

Originally posted by: Throckmorton
Why do you care about the size of the saddle? Use a piece of wood.

I would agree. I've never used the saddle bare on any floor jack. I've always used either a hockey puck or a piece of wood to level the saddle out.

 

[Pacfanweb]

The HF jack is okay, and it's cheap....the payoff is, it's s l o w. Don't get much lift with each pump of the handle. But for your purposes, it'll be just fine.

 

[yelo333]

Originally posted by: Throckmorton
Why do you care about the size of the saddle? Use a piece of wood.

With the craftsman 3 ton jack linked in the OP, the saddle's teeth would eat into the bottom of a 2x4. With my friend's larger saddle, the 2x4 sits mostly between the teeth. Having it be between the teeth appears to lend a lot of side-to-side stability to the setup. Perhaps this is wrong, though.

Originally posted by: herm0016
why do you need a jack to lift 6000 lbs? neither of those cars can be more than 4000 or so, and you will be lifting about half of one up at a time, being 2000lbs, a 1.5 ton jack should do you just fine, the safety factor will, at a minimum, be 3 for the jack. We use this jack at home a lot, it works very well even for our 72' big block pickup, that said we do have a 3 ton steel jack, but it sits around until a tractor or a the box truck need work.

http://www.amazon.com/Torin-Al...e-Piston/dp/B0007XRFD0

Hmm, looking up the T&C minivan, curb weight is ~4300lbs. Weight distribution is ~60/40. 4300*.60=2580. I haven't ever jacked it up, but if the best jack point is behind the front wheels & engine very far, I can see the actual weight the jack is supporting pushing 3000lbs. Given that I don't think jacks are very graceful when they fail, 1.5 tons is just too close for my comfort.

Plus, is the rating on a jack the static load (can lift 1.5 tons without failing as fast as you can pump the handle), or is it more of a dynamic load (can exert 1.5 tons of force)?

But, there is another reason:

- Most 1.5 ton jacks are aluminum. I don't care about this. Lifting 100lbs is no problem for me.
- Most 2.5 ton steel jacks look disgustingly cheap.
- Most 3+ ton jacks I've seen are heavy. I'm a computer guy -- A reasonably quick way to judge a PSU's quality is its weight. So it's hard for me to get the heavy = quality idea out of my head.

I also like knowing that the jack could lift the entire car, even though this would never be done. It's a mental thing.

Thanks again for all the helpful replies everyone! Here are what I see as my main two alternatives at the moment:

- Keep the craftsman jack; use the smaller saddle for now, and try to find an old broken/defective jack that I can scavenge the saddle from.

- Purchase the Harbor Freight jack and pretend it's good quality (which it may be). It is the only jack I've seen so far with a saddle I'm comfortable with.

Is there something else I should do instead? Is there any other place besides HF that sells a jack with an oversized saddle?

 

[yelo333]

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb
The HF jack is okay, and it's cheap....the payoff is, it's s l o w. Don't get much lift with each pump of the handle. But for your purposes, it'll be just fine.

Good to hear. Another thing that may be unconsciously creeping into my leaning towards the HF jack is that I just got a 15% off coupon.

I must say I am surprised, though, that I haven't heard any horror stories about it. That store doesn't really say quality to me when I walk in there...