Good floor jack

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Dude harbor freight problem solved.

dude, what was your harbor freight problem?


































seriously, they used to stock a long-reach floor jack, but no longer do. Was never sure of the quality. The Arcan "looks" to be WAY better built than the ones HF carries, and about the same price (maybe a few bucks more).
 
No experience with that one, but my other jack is a 6ton OTC long-reach air-over-hydro unit that came around the same time as the HW did. It's a helluva jack. I'd almost trust it to hold the front of our Sterling 10 wheeler up w/out stands. Almost.
We buy a lot of OTC equipment and are almost never let down. But their warranties seem to be pretty good, too.
 
dude, what was your harbor freight problem?

seriously, they used to stock a long-reach floor jack, but no longer do. Was never sure of the quality. The Arcan "looks" to be WAY better built than the ones HF carries, and about the same price (maybe a few bucks more).

Somebody gave me one that was like new for free, and its done me well for two years. Prob one of the only things I would honestly suggest buying at that store though.
 
This is what I use: 3 Ton USA Made Floor Jack with - MFG: Hein Warner
More than 4 years of hard, frequent use and it's just now starting to bleed down a bit.
Prolly a lil more than you're looking to spend, though, I guess.

Aah, the classic floor jack design! That jack has a long and storied history. IIRC; it was originally a Walker design, Walker was bought by Lincoln (in the '80s?). Lincoln was initially USA, then moved most production to China (late '90s?), that jack mostly stayed US produced. About 2003 Lincoln sold their hydraulic line to a holding company who renamed it Marquette. This didn't last long, was quickly (a year?) sold to Shinn Fu, who reopened US production and renamed that design Hein-Werner. So that design has had all of the big US names stuck on it.

At one time it was commonly known as the "Lincoln Jack" and was the one to own. We sold pallets of them, by the late '90s the quality went to s***, had tons of warranty issues with them. The design is good and has been widely copied. I have a couple branded Astro, made in China. When Lincoln's quality fell we sold tons of the Astro's with great results.

Shinn Fu is a big player with a good reputation. Their list of private label customers is very impressive, they make jacks for tons of companies from wagon jobbers to huge distribution. Their "house brand" Omega has a good reputation.

http://www.shinnfuamerica.com/
 
I stopped by Costco today and checked out the arcan xl35r jack. It seems to be a pretty well built jack. I think that will be the one I get. Besides,, like everyone said already "you can't beat the warranty"
Thank you for all of the feedback. I hope this was a benefit to some others, that may be or soon to be looking for one.
Thanks
Don
 
I use a Sears professional series that is rated at three tons. It's a heavy S.O.B. and was spendy. It works very well on my '85 4Runner, and it also worked wonderfully on the '01 4Runner I had. It seems to groan a little when I use it on the Cruiser though, which makes me a little uncomfortable. I bought it back in '01, and it has held up well overall. On a side note, it came with two 3-ton jack stands, and I would like to step up to 12-ton stands for the Cruiser. I have heard horror stories about jack stands collapsing under the weight of the '80 series. Any info on some heavy duty stands would be appreciated.

-Justin
 
Has anyone had experience with a quick lift jack. Never used one, but my brother told me about a sears one he saw that would get to full height (unloaded) in 2-3 pumps. That seems like it would be something nice when you're having to do 20 half pumps to get it up to lifting height. Anyone used these?
 
I have one of the Craftsman aluminum quicklift jacks, I love it but the castors are junk (though thats simple to solve). No seal issues and I use it in my shop and on the trail, and it doesn't take 40 pumps to get to the diff!
 
Can you buy parts for Craftsman jacks? I have a low profile aluminum jack I bought at Sears a few years ago and the metal knuckle that turns when you turn the handle to lower the jack broke. If you take the handle off from the bottom, that's where the part is located.
 
So I have this heavy red floor jack from Costco I received for Xmas should I take it out of the box or take it back?

If you need to pick up something heavy, like a car or truck, I would take it out of the box. They are relatively difficult to use in the box.

If you don't have an immediate need to pick up anything heavy, leave it in the box. They are easier to store in the box.

If your never going to have the need to pick up heavy stuff, return it. They are heavier than necessary for a paper weight!:flipoff2:

Well I took it out of the box and lifted the 100 using the jacks full 21" and it worked fine. One little bitch, the pad or lifting point on the jack is small and I would prefer a pad with a little more recess to it.
 
Dude harbor freight problem solved.

I bought a jack from Harbor Freight for a smoking good price but it's difficult to lower in a controlled maner. It seems like the handle gets stuck and when I'm finally able to twist it the whole thing drops. Am I able to lube the crank for a smooth drop?
 
I bought a jack from Harbor Freight for a smoking good price but it's difficult to lower in a controlled maner. It seems like the handle gets stuck and when I'm finally able to twist it the whole thing drops. Am I able to lube the crank for a smooth drop?

My HF did the same thing. I thought it was dangerous. It went in the recycler.
 
I bought a jack from Harbor Freight for a smoking good price but it's difficult to lower in a controlled maner. It seems like the handle gets stuck and when I'm finally able to twist it the whole thing drops. Am I able to lube the crank for a smooth drop?

I don't know, I only have that problem if I lower it with the crank at certain angles. I'm sure you could lube it or something.
 
I bought a brand new 3 ton Craftsman that had that same problem. Scared the crap out of me. I took it back and the second one did the same thing. I am taking it back today and getting the red one from Costco
 
HD house brand 3 ton

As part of my endless fix the bad axle woes, I had to pickup some higher jackstands and a a floor jack. Picked up 6 ton jackstands at HF (figured even if they're junk, they're overkill for a FJ60 in terms of weight) but steered away from their jacks, based on the thread knowledge.

Went by Home Depot for a different project, and found a 3 ton "Suv" jack in the tools dept for about 50 bones. 3 ton capacity, 22" lift, and the jack point pad is removable, and has a 4 or 5" lift insert to allow for higher jacking. Worked pretty well yesterday for jacking up the 60, and although I'm still having misery problems with the actual fix, the jack is working so far. Will give report on long term experience. Its a "husky" generic, so god alone knows who makes it, but not a bad price point for a entry level jack, and for occasional use the other Husky brand tools have been good so far.

Link for those who are interested
Husky 3 Ton SUV Jack - T82503H at The Home Depot

Glenn
 
DAMN! Costco was sold out but they have them up north so it will be the road trip for me
 
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