Harbor freight jack on sale

Jgordon · 06:21 AM

Hey, I just reserved one of these:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=47246

WHich seems to be the same as the more spendy one:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=40105

I spoke to HF, and the person on the phone couldn't think of a way they're different, except you don't get fancy blue. It's still $169 in the store, but if you print out the web page they give it to you for that price. I figure for $50 I can go without blue.

Just thought I'd pass it along.

Edited to actually show the expensive jack I meant to in the beginning.

Andras Nagy · 11-17-2005, 09:23 AM

Just keep in mind that this jack lifts only to 17-1/2" high,and costs $130.

Sears has a 3 ton jack, non-aluminum, that lifts to 20" high and costs only $90. Those 3-1/2" makes all the difference when you want to drop your engine or get enough room under your car to crawl under there to do some work.

Granted, Sears' weighs more, but then how many of us need to be lugging our jacks from one side of NASCAR to the other side during a race? If we did, the Team would pay for our jacks, and you couldn't take it home.

Could this be a case of needing bragging rights?

Early_S_Man · 11-17-2005, 09:24 AM

Those aren't the same jack ...

17.5" lift height at the saddle vs 14. 5"

35 lbs vs 24 lbs

Jgordon · 11-17-2005, 09:59 AM

Warren - good call. The cheap one lifts even higher than the expensive one.

Andras - I looked at the sears one, and it has a minimum height of 5 3/4", vs. 3.5" for the HF model. Could be an issue on lower cars. I'm thinking I can get a couple of 2x10s and lift the car the extra couple of inches once it's already on the jackstands.

Do the AC models that Pelican sells ever go on sale? I bought a sears jack a while back, returned it b/c it's made in china, and now I'm going with this one, made in Taiwan. I trust Taiwanese quality over chinese, but I'd still rather buy american. Just can't seem to find reasonably priced american machinery anymore. Anyone know a source?

Andras Nagy · 11-17-2005, 10:09 AM

I've found that I can always just lift the car with one hand while pushing in the jack with the other (and this with a hockey puck on the saddle cup to keep from marring anything). The hockey puck also helps when you're lifting from below the engine, on the metal lug, and want the rear of the car raised more than 17". With it lifted from the back, both rear wheels are off the ground for tire removal, for CV joint work, etc. etc.

Then, if I want the sides lifted, the trusty jack plate is high enough that 5" minimum height is no problem. And again, the 20" lift is great for tire switching front to rear, or track to street tires.

dfink · 11-17-2005, 11:27 AM

Sam's club has a large shop style jack with I think 21" or 23" lift for $79.95

ruf-porsche · ruf-porsche's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by Jgordon
Just can't seem to find reasonably priced american machinery anymore. Anyone know a source?

Ever try WAL-MART ?

RickM · RickM's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by Jgordon
Warren - good call. The cheap one lifts even higher than the expensive one.

I think it's the other way around....

Steve 82SC · 11-17-2005, 01:28 PM

I bought that Harbor Frieght jack (47246) about a year ago. There was a special in the store and it cost me about 90 bucks. I have a steel Sears jack, but this Harbor Freight one is much lighter and gets the wheels up in three pumps. That commercial size steel jack at Sams Club looked pretty good, but it was so heavy that I would have needed some sort of jack to get it into the car to get it home.

Steve

rbarton · 11-17-2005, 01:33 PM

I think I've seen the Sam's club jack dfink is talking about and it is aluminum. Anyone have one? I asked the wifey for one for Christmas.

randywebb · 11-17-2005, 01:47 PM

Wal-Mart??

They sell almost exclusively Chinese, not American, machinery.

Look carefully thru the American flags and you might find something from a Chinese place with an American PO Box for a "head office"...

Imcoz · Imcoz's Garage

This one's definitely cooler... and it's Jeg's, and on sale.

http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10002&storeId=10001&categoryId=22795&parentCategoryId=10785&langId=-1

911pcars · 11-17-2005, 02:05 PM

The Jeg's jack is rated at 1.5 tons. That's 2500 lb.; close to the weight of most 911s. Granted, folks usually lift only one end and rarely if all, lift the entire vehicle. And it being aluminum, there's usually not a lot of margin in structural strength compared with good ole' heavy pig iron.

Good timing. I'm currently looking around for something that's decent in the 3 ton capacity range.

Sherwood

Bill Verburg · Bill Verburg's Garage

I've never lifted the whole car w/ a floor jack.

there are several different Harbor Freight aluminum jacks so shop carefully for the one that suits your use. I've had mine for 3-4 yrs now and it works fine lifting up a whole side of even a porker like my S4V8.

I have 4 different floor jacks, 3 steel and the HF al. I always grab the HF

Jgordon · 11-17-2005, 02:41 PM

Dfink - Checked Sam's club after reading your post - found one that matches your desc - chinese made.

Rick - Pretty sure on this one - silver = cheap = 17.5 inches, blue = expensive = 14.75 inches.

Wal Mart - I have issues with them anyway, would rather buy from a manufacturer. And much of their stuff is chinese, as Randy mentioned.

Bill - which HF jack do you use?

Jgordon · 11-17-2005, 02:43 PM

Ok, I see the confusion - I posted the wrong dang link to the expensive one.

Apparently attention to detail is not a strong point. Here's the identical $50-blue paint version:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=40105

Bill Verburg · Bill Verburg's Garage

Quote:

Bill - which HF jack do you use?

Dunno
it says

long frame 3000 lb

poorsha · 11-17-2005, 03:01 PM

I sprang for the AC jack before our host had them available.
Best darn jack I've ever used (but not cheap)

randywebb · 11-17-2005, 03:21 PM

I have a Norco (nice steel jack) and the Sears Al one. I also always grab the Al one ... it's just easier to use...

autobonrun · autobonrun's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by poorsha
I sprang for the AC jack before our host had them available.
Best darn jack I've ever used (but not cheap)

Same here, I had two jacks fail within a three year period. Slow leaks. I sprang for the AC Hydraulic as well; the high lift model. 29 inch lift height and 2900 lb capacity. Not only are they not cheap, they are not light either (over 80 lbs) but excellent quality and a 5 year warranty. But being only 3" at the front, it slides all the way under my lowered SC.