I am in need of a new and better floor jack. HF is offering Rapid Pump 1.5 ton Aluminum Racing Jack and a Rapid Pump 3 Ton HD Steel Floor Jack. Both are on sale w/coupons. Any experienced recommendations from the hive?
I am in need of a new and better floor jack. HF is offering Rapid Pump 1.5 ton Aluminum Racing Jack and a Rapid Pump 3 Ton HD Steel Floor Jack. Both are on sale w/coupons. Any experienced recommendations from the hive?
The big HF steel floor jacks have been solid in my experience. I wore out one of their 1.5 ton aluminum ones (the bigger of the 2 options) after a few years of use (including outside in snow / slush). The 2.5 ton aluminum one I replaced it with has been solid.
I've had both Hf aluminum floor jack and both have served me well over 6 years. Including jacking up 1 ton trucks. Given their lightweight and price I think they are a good buy
Another vote for HF. I have the 2.5 ton steel low profile one for the garage and it fits under the low Miata but lifts one end of the suburban with relative ease. I bought the 1.5 ton aluminum unit to take to the track for wheel changes, it's light enough and works well.
I have a few hockey pucks to separate the jack from the vehicles when lifting them.
If you have a low car, don't do like I did. Buy the actual low ride height jack they sell, needing 2 jacks to get the miata in the air sucks.
That said, I've had the big one for almost 10 years kept outside with absolutely no issues what so ever. Rapid pump would be a nice upgrade though.
+1 on the low profile HF steel jack. Lifts Volvos and Suburbans. Also handy for when you need to jack a car with no wheels up off the ground (low profile). It also has a higher lift than the aluminum jacks.
Get it on sale with coupons and such for about $90 shipped to your door.
If it doesn't need to be mobile I would go for the steel unit. All my aluminum jacks have had the wheels get pretty beat up and I have also had the scissor part break after a couple years. My 20 year old steel jack still works perfect though.
RevRico wrote: If you have a low car, don't do like I did. Buy the actual low ride height jack they sell, needing 2 jacks to get the miata in the air sucks. That said, I've had the big one for almost 10 years kept outside with absolutely no issues what so ever. Rapid pump would be a nice upgrade though.
Parking on a couple blocks of 2x4's can solve that problem sans extra jacks.
That or add some external jack points to the bumpers that are offset and removable. Similar to the quick jack point on the Shelby Cobras.
Stefan wrote: Parking on a couple blocks of 2x4's can solve that problem sans extra jacks.
This. I did the 2 jack thing for years with a lowered miata. Now I have a lowered 5. I keep a stack of spare laminate flooring scraps in the garage, stick em in front of the wheels and drive forward 6 inches and the jack can roll under. WAYY easier.
volvoclearinghouse wrote: +1 on the low profile HF steel jack. Lifts Volvos and Suburbans. Also handy for when you need to jack a car with no wheels up off the ground (low profile). It also has a higher lift than the aluminum jacks. Get it on sale with coupons and such for about $90 shipped to your door.
+2 on the low profile HF steel jack. I've got the 2-ton model and I haven't seen a car it can't get under yet. Had mine for 4 years now and no complaints. See if you can catch it on sale and double up with the 20-25% off coupons that are in the magazine every month.
Have both aluminum and steel. Both work fine. The steel is a bit bigger (and a lot heavier) but lifts higher with less pumps. Aluminum fits in tighter spaces and easier to carry around.
Bought the steel jack because I needed a (low profile) jack and they didn't have any aluminum jacks in stock. Later bought the aluminum jack to haul in the trunk of the Miata to events. Both were on sale w/coupons when I bought them.
Love my low-profile quick-jack HF unit. It's rated for 2 tons, and it did strain a bit picking up the front of my son's 02 Exploder, so the next time I used one of the several slow-jacking, heavy, and indestructible 90s-era 3-ton Craftsmans I have.
I have the 1.5 Ton Compact Aluminum floor jack from HF and it doesn't get my car high enough if I need it flying high. Can only get high enough for about 2-3 notches on my jack stands.
I've had 2 of the 1.5-ton HF jacks for taking to autocross events. I bought the second one when they added the quick-jack option and even converted the old one to a home-made transmission jack.
I have the HF 2 ton long-reach, low profile version in the garage. It's frequently on sale for $139, and maybe less if you catch the right sale. I can get it under my S2k without boards and it's long enough to reach the cross-member and still be able to move the handle to jack it up.
The 3-ton is on sale for $99 right now, but it's not a long-reach, and you don't need a 3 ton jack unless you're working on big trucks.
http://www.harborfreight.com/2-ton-low-profilelong-reach-steel-heavy-duty-floor-jack-with-rapid-pump-68050.html
djsilver wrote: I've had 2 of the 1.5-ton HF jacks for taking to autocross events. I bought the second one when they added the quick-jack option and even converted the old one to a home-made transmission jack. I have the HF 2 ton long-reach, low profile version in the garage. It's frequently on sale for $139, and maybe less if you catch the right sale. I can get it under my S2k without boards and it's long enough to reach the cross-member and still be able to move the handle to jack it up. The 3-ton is on sale for $99 right now, but it's not a long-reach, and you don't need a 3 ton jack unless you're working on big trucks. http://www.harborfreight.com/2-ton-low-profilelong-reach-steel-heavy-duty-floor-jack-with-rapid-pump-68050.html
H-F 2t long-reach, low-profile
I had a similar jack. The one downside is it's bloody huge: almost 40" long plus the handle - so you need a fair bit of room to operate it. My ex- got it during the split since it would be impractical to use in my much smaller garage. It's also over 90 lbs, so not very portable.
I've dealt with the "riser blocks" for jacking clearance for years - it's berking annoying. Why the aforementioned jack was purchased in the first place.
I had the 1.5 ton Harbor Freight racing jack fail spectacularly at an autocross. The seals blew and dropped the car as if the jack wasn't even there. I'm on my third one now, so that's not an indictment. Jack stands are a must for any jack, always.
I've never found a jack that did everything well. I have the BIG HF trolley jack and the 1.5 aluminum racing jack, and between the two they take care of everything I need.
Ian F wrote:djsilver wrote: http://www.harborfreight.com/2-ton-low-profilelong-reach-steel-heavy-duty-floor-jack-with-rapid-pump-68050.htmlH-F 2t long-reach, low-profile
Yep, that's the one I got. Like I said, wait for coupons and sales and such, and you can score it for under a Franklin. It is a big, heavy unit, but I've found I can work it with only half the jack handle (the handle is a two-piece affair, joined with a bolt in the middle) which makes it handy for working in tight spaces. The entire handle comes out easily with a bolt at the bottom, useful for when you have to toss it in the truck to go somewhere. I've dragged mine through mud, used it to jack cars up in fields, and even had a car fall on it while jacking on some dirt, and it's been fine. (Always throw some old tires under the car in addition to using jackstands on thick pieces of wood) It's also survived a few LeMons races.
What's a riser block?
In reply to Ian F:
Another vote for that jack - I sold both my 1.5 ton aluminum racing jack and another 3 ton, shorter HF jack after buying this one. Yes, it's pretty large and heavy, but it's much better when it comes to dealing with low cars that have their front and rear jacking point fairly far in (like an RX8 or MR2).
Thanks for all of the responses. I read them all, did some research and decided to buy the 3 ton steel/aluminum quick jack from Costco. Just under a Benjamin, 2 piece handle for restricted areas, easily removed for storage/transport, not quite 60 lb, 4" starting height, and store is 5 minutes away instead of 65 miles.
Resurrecting this thread. It's time to replace my beat 3-ton Aluminum HF jack. I like the 3-ton as it has a higher lift than the 2.5 or 1.5 version. Has anyone tried any of the Chinesium aluminum jacks available on Amazon? There are many.
How funny. My 25+ year old HF Aluminum ain't cutting it any more. I recently searched them all to find that Home Depot had a deal either shipped to home or shipped to store. Looks to be the same jack as HF but cheaper.
HF is $144
https://www.harborfreight.com/25-ton-aluminum-racing-floor-jack-with-rapidpump-64543.html
Home Depot is $137 but the 10% off makes it $132
I considered dropping the cash on this one because I wanted the sweet looking AL stands it comes with.
But, just these stands alone are $67 w/ discount and I like the non-round bottoms better.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Big-Red-3-Ton-Aluminum-Jack-Stands-2-Pack-T43004L/100594518
Also timely for me as my northern tools steel jack stopped holding after 25 years or so.
Reminder that round bottom jackstands are unsafe and will roll out on you. Please use something with edges. That is all.
Just came here to also say Stay Away!! from those fancy round bottom jackstands. The bigger and more square the better. I go with the 6 ton truck stands at a bare minimum. If you need to use them on soft surfaces throw a nice piece of 3/4" plywood (not OSB) or a 2x12 under them.
Also strongly considering the 3 ton professional version as my aluminum one is nearing the end of its life and is too short to lift the Land Cruiser in one throw. I still have an old steel Craftsman for backup duty but its a pig.
You'll need to log in to post.
