Buying a Floor Jack

[whoopnip]

First, here's the story of my jacking troubles...

The first jack I bought was a tiny, crappy, off brand thing. It cost me $30 and had a 5-12" lift range and a 2 ton capacity. The handle was about 15" long. To release the lift you had to turn a screw with a flathead screwdriver, and even the slightest turn dropped the car instantly. In short, I hated it. In order to get the car high enough, I had to jack on the each individual lower control arm. Eventually, one time I got the Civic high enough that I couldn't get it down with the same jack (LCAs were at too much of an angle), and had to break out the scissor jack.

I returned that jack, and decided I wasn't going cheap again. I then bought a Craftsman jack for $150 on sale. This thing was a monster. It weighed 102 pounds (steel construction), had a 4-20" lift range, quick unloaded lift, 4 ton lifting capacity, and 5 foot handle (detachable to 2.5 feet). Except for the massive weight, I loved it. I'd only used the jack about 15 times, and then about an hour before I have to leave for work, I decide to rotate my tires. Got the front of the Civic in the air just fine, but when I tried to get the back up, the jack crapped out on me. With each pump, the lift would go up and then down some. Under weight, it would just go up, down, up, down, with each pump. I took another car to work and finished the rotation with the scissor jack when I got home.

I looked online and reviews for the jack were terrible. 90% of them said that the jack broke after only a few uses. Reviews were similar on other Craftsman jacks.

So now I'm in the market for a new floor jack. Looking to spend $150-250 but may go higher based on availability of quality jacks. It MUST be able to fit under a Civic lowered 2.5", and MUST have at least a 2 ton capacity. My Civic isn't lowered yet, but will be in the coming months. I want one that comes with a warranty and that is known to last.

What is everyone on here using to raise their cars?

I'll probably also invest in some ramps... they seem easier.

EDIT: I ended up buying the following jack. I have a full review on page 2 of this thread, post #26.

Central Hydraulics Rapid Pump® 4000 Lb. Capacity Lightweight Low Profile Aluminum Racing Jack
Item Number: 92782
Sold by Harbor Freight Tools
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=92782
List Price as purchased: $179.99 ($190 shipped)

 

[lethal6]

For oil changes and minor stuff I use ramps.

For lifting I use this: http://www.mygaragestore.com/detail.aspx?ID=1597

Picked it up at Costco last year for $100 (I think) and it has been an excellent jack. Haven't had a problem getting under the car yet and I am lowered on Skunk2 springs. It has a very big padded handle and the jack speed is very fast going up and easily controlled going down.

 

[miguey310]

http://www2.northerntool.com/jacks/floor-jacks.htm

 

[Matt.]

I have one from harbor feight, thing has worked about 2 years now no problem

 

[lownslow]

i have a low profile jack from harbor freight that works great and fits under my car.

 

[toneekay]

I have a low profile jack from Harbor Freight as well, and also a regular floor jack from Craftsman! Both are awesome!

 

[s_crowley 17]

You should get a low profile depending on your car's stance.. and I would recommend Craftsman just incase it breaks down the road (3 years from now)

 

[xxsenceo89x]

I have one from harbor feight, thing has worked about 2 years now no problem

x2

It was like $60 new

 

[31dev31]

I have a standard jack, old school if you may say lol. And my car is slammed, but I lay down several 2x4s of different lengths on top of each other (longest on bottom, shortest on top) to create a ramp to raise the car up about 4 inches, then use the regular jack. Ghetto, but gets the job done.

 

[whoopnip]

Alright, thanks guys, been reading your suggestions. What do you all think of this?

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200345429_200345429?cm_ven=natural&cm_cat=netconcepts&cm_pla=&cm_ite=

I kinda wanna go aluminum (they're so much easier to move around) but I'm not sure that it's worth the extra $60-100.

EDIT: Also considering this one:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=92782

They are both $190 shipped. I'm leaning towards the second now.

 

[RonJ]

The first jack has a higher lift height that should be considered, but I love Harbor Freight.

 

[whoopnip]

The first jack has a higher lift height that should be considered, but I love Harbor Freight.

Yeah, I know, that's why I'm not going straight for the second one. Do you think I'll need that height? Probably not for the Civic, but I'll also be lifting a Volvo V70 and Mercury Villager.

 

[Chris.]

ive been using an MVP Prolift jack

it came from i dont know where like 12 years ago or so....

they dont sell it anymore... but... it is the best jack ive used ever...

a real floor jack with the 5 and a half foot handle that splits in 2.... the handle makes an awesome breaker bar.

we have left that jack outside before.... under load... for about a week at a time before... and have done that several times..... no failure yet... i can honestly say that i have no problem leaving the car on that jack and crawling underneath it with no jackstands... done it hundreds of times...

ive been looking for a replacement lately... and have not found one that has out performed that one in reliability...

 

[whoopnip]

ive been using an MVP Prolift jack

they dont sell it anymore... but... it is the best jack ive used ever...

If only they sold it still... any opinion on the two I'm trying to decide between?

The real choice is two inches of upper lift range or 50 lbs of jack weight. They both seem to have good reviews, so I'm not worried about the reliability too much. I'm leaning towards the aluminum one.

 

[lethal6]

You already have my vote being that the first one you posted is the jack that I have but a different color. Good jack.

It's not aluminum though if that is really what you are looking for. At least it doesn't feel like it. Thing weighs a ton.

 

[whoopnip]

You already have my vote being that the first one you posted is the jack that I have but a different color. Good jack.

It's not aluminum though if that is really what you are looking for. At least it doesn't feel like it. Thing weighs a ton.

Yeah, at over 100 pounds that thing's definitely steel. I'm not a body builder, so I probably can't lift that thing into my trunk by myself. Would be easier if it wasn't such an awkward shape.

Honestly, the jack would probably sit in my garage for 98-99% of it's life. But if I need to help out a friend who doesn't own a jack, I kinda wanna be able to move it and not have it be a pain in the ass.

I do want that extra 2" though, and your good review has slid me a little more towards the steel one.

How is moving it around in the shop? The Craftsman one I had was similarly heavy, and the wheels sucked. I basically had to slide it along the floor.

 

[toneekay]

It's ideal to have a jack with a lift of 18" (1 and a half feet) or higher.

 

[whoopnip]

It's ideal to have a jack with a lift of 18" (1 and a half feet) or higher.

Ok, well the steel one is 21 3/8" and the aluminum one is 18.25". They have minimum lift heights of 3.5" and 3.25" respectively. So going by what you're saying, I should be fine with either one as far as lift height.

I'm ordering the jack tomorrow night. As of now I'm siding with the aluminum Harbor Freight one. Any last minute opinions?

 

[lethal6]

Yeah, at over 100 pounds that thing's definitely steel. I'm not a body builder, so I probably can't lift that thing into my trunk by myself. Would be easier if it wasn't such an awkward shape.

Honestly, the jack would probably sit in my garage for 98-99% of it's life. But if I need to help out a friend who doesn't own a jack, I kinda wanna be able to move it and not have it be a pain in the ass.

I do want that extra 2" though, and your good review has slid me a little more towards the steel one.

How is moving it around in the shop? The Craftsman one I had was similarly heavy, and the wheels sucked. I basically had to slide it along the floor.

Yes, it is heavy. Too heavy? No. I have thrown it in the back of the truck a few times and it isn't all that bad. Then again, I run a cabinet distribution business so I huck cabinets around all day. It's all about the leverage. I had no idea it weighed over 100 though. Wow.

As far as moving around the shop, I can't comment on that. I just recently moved into a new house that has an exterior garage. I haven't had a chance to use it over here yet. At my old place, I worked out in the driveway. Same thing when I lugged it over to my buddies house. His garage is full from a recent move as well, so we worked out in the driveway.

That being said, it moved around both driveways very nice. Mine was washed (or what ever they call it. makes it look like mini rocks all over) and my buddies is pretty smooth. No trouble on either so my guess would be that it would move like glass on a nice garage floor.

I will be rotating my tires in about a week or so. I should be able to tell you how it does on the garage floor after that if you don't already have one.

 

[lethal6]

Got your post in before mine.

If you are lifting cars or smaller vehicles only, the aluminum one should be more than enough. My decision was lift height and price. I was looking at one around $100 and it needed to lift not only my Civic, but also my '07 Chevy company truck which is pretty high. Not including friends with trucks and suvs that don't have jacks. I seem to be the go to guy for this stuff around here.