Buying a suitable jack

expat · 09-26-2002, 04:13 PM

Brand recommendations?

Carry capacity?

Price?

Features?

Things to be wary of when buying this tool?

I need one that will be suitable for most jobs and priced in the 'Yeah I gotta Porsche, but I ain't rich' range.

Don't worry about telling me where to get one. I'll not bother with shipping on something like this

but I should be able to still find whatever brand over here. (I think half the tools made these days are made in Asia anyway. I'll just have to be careful not to buy a cheap Taiwan/China no name brand).

Thanks,
Cheers
Mark

efhughes3 · efhughes3's Garage

I have a cheap Sears jack which works well. Two others come to mind:

Kinesis has one that goes as low as 4", I believe.

Someone here, I think it was Jack Olsen bought a new aluminum jack, which would be nice for the ease of movement due to the light weight. Mine weighs a ton.

URY914 · URY914's Garage

There was a long post a few weeks back about different types of floor jacks. Do a search, I think it started off with aluminum jacks.

pwd72s · 09-26-2002, 05:15 PM

Are you talking "on the road", or "at home" Jacks? If "on the road", I just bought a 2 ton scissors jack at the local NAPA store for around $20. Much safer and sturdier than the factory tire change jack. It'll lift to around 18"...

fred cook · fred cook's Garage

I have had a couple of different floor jacks over the years. The best feature on any of them has been the large lift plate on my current jack. If you look around a bit, you can find a 3 ton jack at a reasonable price. I bought my current one at a local auto parts store for about $60. It is 4-5 years old and still going strong. Also, be sure to order one of the 911 jack pads (from Pelican, of course) that fit into the jack port on the side of your 911. it makes lifting the car a lot easier and prevents damage to the underside of the car. Also, buy a couple of good quality, shop type jack stands, and never, never, ever get under a car that is supported only by a jack. I had a co-worker get killed that way recently. Also, to increase the longivity of your jack, don't leave it sitting with a load on the cylinder. Even good quality seals can't take much of that kind of abuse.

Good Luck!

Fred Cook
'80 911SC

Axeman · 09-26-2002, 06:40 PM

Buy the ones made in Denmark, don't trust your life on Chinese/Taiwanese cr*p!
I'm getting ready to buy a few mysefl...

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

Bill Douglas · 09-26-2002, 07:11 PM

Like Pwd72s, I have a sissor jack in the car. It's just one of the ones from a Corolla. Nice and light, and safe.

My trolley jack is aa big 5 ton jobbie manufactured in Japan. It's ex army (must be good ???) that got sold because of surface rust on the handle

Actually guys. I jacked my car up on a slightly uneven surface, only slightly mind you, and it fell off the factory jack. Trashing the jack in the process. Now I use the bit that fits in the jacking point with my trolly jack - it works well.

tmctguer · tmctguer's Garage

i bought a set from sears that included a nice 3 ton floor jack with a wide plate and long handle, and 2 3 ton jack stands. when i'm in the garage at home, i use this exclusively.

i also purchased 2 2-1/4 ton jacks that i use primarily when i am at the track. these used to be my primary floor jacks until i felt the need to buy a truly sturdy unit.

the 3 ton is extremely heavy and is not moved easily except on its built in wheels. i probably SHOULD take this on to the track due to its stability, but it is too darn heavy to lift in and out of the trunk. hence, i take the lighter on on road trips.

the set costs approx. $125 at sears. right now, they are discounting the set to approx. $115 if you are a member of the craftsman club.

911pcars · 09-26-2002, 09:46 PM

Like so many who have a factory jack that no longer .... jacks, I replaced mine some time ago with a Sears/ROC scissors jack. I recently replaced it with the very high performance and lightweight aluminum scissors jack from a 944 (Turbo I believe). Saves a few grams in sprung weight. I can also move it around the car for fine-tuning the corner balancing.

Yeah.

Use this lightweight thing with the jack pad for emergency tire changes only. I wouldn't trust it (nor any factory jack) for anything that involves placing any live body parts under the car.

At home, I use a fairly compact Made-in-ROC hydraulic scissors jack from Harbor Freight under the jack pad before rolling a vintage, but still somewhat effective Made-in-ROC floor jack under the car. This jack has developed a soft-descent feature, very useful for lowering the chassis gently onto the matching ROC jack stands. Conveniently, this feature is constantly ON which makes for placement of the jack stands a lesson in swiftness and accuracy. These Asian-made tools contrast smartly with my 'merican-made Snap-On tool box (which also contains a fair amount of specialized, but seldom-used ROC tools).

On one of my rare brain-storming sessions, I had once thought about adapting a pair of trailer jacks (the kind that drop a leg down, then crank up to support a carry-on trailer) to fit into the jack receivers. Got the picture? The only problem would be getting the wife to simultaneously crank the other side so she wouldn't lift it faster than me. That idea was long ago abandoned only to resurface upon reading these jack posts.

Back to deep-thinking,
Sherwood Lee
http://members.rennlist.org/911pcars

Jack Olsen · 10:24 PM

Every time I go racing, Harbor Freight sells another one of their new aluminum jacks. It's light enough to take with to the track, fits under lowered cars with ease, is seven pumps to ful height, and is made in China, the worker's paradise -- which might mean it's easy for you to get in Hong Kong.

Here's a thread on it.

expat · 09-27-2002, 12:12 AM

Cool...thanks for all the info guys. I'm off shopping for a jack!

Cheers
Mark

MonkeyBoy · 11-13-2003, 06:15 AM

Here's one that's $22 with 2 lights on it: http://www.bargainoutfitters.com/cb/cb.asp?a=34530

c2 rower · 11-13-2003, 08:21 AM

I love my AC jack! It wasnt cheap but I want something very low profile and will last. I think Pelican has started carrying this line.

JackT · 11-13-2003, 10:35 AM

If you have a Sams Club, take a look at their aluminum racing jack. It is less than $200.00 and I am told a really good jack.

Matt_'77_2.7 · 11-13-2003, 12:52 PM

There is another one at Sam's Club. It is a two stage jack. The first stage brings the pad up quickly. Subsequent pumps function as a normal 3 ton floor jack. It was ~$70. It has the Michelin brand name on it, but I am sure it is just rebranded. I bought it and it has turned out to be a good jack. I like the quick pump feature.

Matt

UTKarmann_Ghia · 11-13-2003, 02:23 PM

I bought one from Checker a few weeks ago that cost $49 (on sale) and is a 2.5 ton that goes real low and to about 20" high. You really dont want to get anything under 20 inches IMO.

Bill Verburg · Bill Verburg's Garage

I've been using my Harbor Freight one for over a year now, no problems at all. My sturdy old steel monster hasn't been touched since the H/F came. I recommend the p/u jack pads that I posted about in the thread Jack posted.

That said the Sears one looks interesting as well.

Once you use one of these light weight models you'll never want to go back to the 'olde' steel ones.

SteveStromberg · 11-13-2003, 04:12 PM

Habor Freight 3 Ton $50 and they have Steel wheels unlike the high priced ones that use PLASTIC wheels. Steve

Randy Webb · 11-13-2003, 05:28 PM

BTW, never use any jack for support when you are under the car -- not just the stock jacks as one poster said. Use jack stands (unless you have a good hoist - with a lock).

Having just pulled the engine on my car, I thought a lot about how safe the hoist and trans jack under the engine were while we were doing it....