In the past I've always had to borrow my neighbors Floor Jack and it sure would be nice to have my own. I called Sears and the 2 1/2 Ton jack is $39.99 while the 3 and 3 1/2 are $109 & $119. I know, I know, I shouldn't be cheap, but I'm poor!! My question is, I'm sure the 2 1/2 Ton would be sufficient for my needs, besides having to pump it more, but honestly, what are the main differences in Floor Jacks? I might consider a tougher 3 Ton piece I can get at AutoZone/Pep Boys, etc. I'm thinking that it should be fine considering that I use jack stands. Right??

 

The only things I look at on a jack are min seat height (lower is better, especially if you want to lower your car) and lift height (higher is better). Usually this means a pretty big garage jack that's fairly expensive..

 

I'm thinking the 2 1/2 ton jack only lifts to 14"-15", I struggled with one for 6 years, finally my fiancee' bought me a nice AC jack 20" lift. 3" seat height.

Now since your on a budget get a jack that can lift over 15", most of them are the 3 ton jack. The seat height may be high, but you can pull your car up on a couple of 2x6's. Also, get some good jack stands!


[Modified by TodaSi, 5:55 PM 3/20/2002]

 

What do you guys recommend? I really don't want to spend over $100 for a jack and jack stands.

 

I got a piece of chit from JC Whitney and it lasted a year. costs was like $40 w/ 2 jack stands.

No I jut use that jack for tire change or minor work. It goes to the track with me.

So I wised up and bought a AC DK20 hydraulic jack. Costed like $200 but well worth it. Lifts the car plenty high and lets me lower very slowly if needed. great jack, well worth the money.

 

I guess it'll be worth it to save up...I have 4k more miles to go till I need it anyways.

 

http://www.salesco.com/tools/jacks/floor/

 

I made the mistake of buying a cheap jack. Ended up spending $230 for a Lincoln floor jack. If you work on your car a lot, I would recommend buying an expensive one - none of the cheap ones that I looked at had a low enough minimum lift height for my 3/4" lowered Type-R.

I didn't do a lot of research at the time, so there may be other highh quality jacks for a similar price, but I am happy with the Lincoln.

 

i have the 2 1/2 ton sears jack. it fits under a stock R jsut fine. i think it'd fit under a lowered R as well.
it's lasted me over a year *knock on wood* with no worries so far

 

Wow, first of all thanks everyone. Yah, I didn't even think about the maximum lift on the jack. That seems like it would be the most important to me because I can always drive on 2x4's. BTW, B2finity, Sears has a really good deal right now. 3 1/2 Ton Jack w/ (2) Jackstands and a creeper (I think that's what it is) for $120 or so. They are all sold out around here, but it seems to be a really good price. Thanks again everyone!

 

My friend got one temporarily so I'm going to hold off for the time being. Checker/AutoZone ended up having little 2 Ton jacks for $14.99 with a Min of 5-6" and Max of 16". I know that I should probably save up and at least buy a nice Sears or something equivalent, we'll see.....

 

Here's what you need:

Longacre Deluxe 1 Pump Winston Cup Jack



Fully CNC profile machined from aircraft grade billet aluminum for maximum weight savings with the highest strength. Fast 1 or 3 pump action. Light weight and durable for when you absolutely must have the very best. Manufactured in the USA by Brunnhoelzl.


Only 31 lbs! (33 lbs. on WC jack)
All aluminum construction
1 or 3 pump
Maximum height: 17 3/4"
Minimum height: 3 1/8"
Extended length steel handle with 1 pump Winston Cup jack

PRICE $1395.00

You might consider upping that $100 limit. Otherwise - check out pawn shops - auto repair tools etc usually can be bought for cheap.

 

for years I was always buying the cheaper jacks... 2 ton, 2 1/2 ton... 29.99 on sale... well, after 5 of those breaking and wearing out, I finally broke down and bought the 3 1/2 ton from sears. best $120 I ever spent, considering I spent more than that on the 5 previous POS. Look for a max lift height of at least 19-20" so you can lift the rear of the car by the tow hook and still get the tires off the ground. save for the bigger jack. you won't be disappointed. my .02

 

i hate the sears jack!!! they suck i have owned the 2 1/4 and the 3 ton jack and they sucked. i work on 3 cars and i work on them alot and i say again i hate the sears jacks!!! you spend all this money on parts for your car but you skimp out on saftey. i think the best jack for your money is either the LINCOLN jack or the AC jak. i have the AC jack and it is great! i also have the AC jack stands. they are also fantastic. if you want a great price and customer service call:

john at krazedkustomz.com
832-721-7954

i think he has the LINCOLN jack and the AC jack.

 

y didnt you just tell them to send it out? did you need it really soon? if you are in the bay area you can come over and i will let you borrow mine if you need it

 

DO NOT get the small sears jack. My parents gave me one as a gift about a year ago, and it will not lift the car high enough to get stands underneath in the front. I always end up having to put a piece of wood in between the the jack and jacking point under the car so I can get that extra 2 inches of lift. Needless to say, I will be buying a bigger, better jack in the near future.

 

I have a superold Craftsman 2.5 jack from literally the 60's, and it still holds up as good as day one (or at least Im sure it does )

Craftsman tools are still awesome today, but if I need to mess with the car when Im visiting my family, I use my Pops' Craftsman tools rather than mine...the quality really was a WHOLE lot better back in the day. I would also suggest checking out a pawnshop. Good ol' USofA made tools, back when people actually cared about their products!

 

I've got two jacks. A small 2.5 ton to take to the track for tire changes and a big 3.5 ton jack for use at home. I got the big one from Costco for about 100 dollars. It can lift the car about 12 inches in about 6 pulls.

 

Have any of you guys ever tried a 1 pump or 3 pump jack? You better be built like He-Man or Fat Albert.

Warren

 

I will agree with a couple people, don't get a Sears jack. They suck. I bought one, and had to return it 2 times... The second time I told them to give me my money back. Each time it lasted like 6 months. The releases are very notchy, and won't allow you to lower a car slowly. One of them actually got stuck on me in the up position... I had to bust out the old bottle jack to get the car off the jack stands.

The best jack from what I've found is the 3 ton jack at Napa Auto parts. It's got a super low profile, right around 3", and goes up super high! Check it out... I got it on sale for like $200.

Do not skimp on a good jack. You will regret it later.

Reefer_Bob.

 

for a while i had a 2.5 ton MVP pepboys jack, and it was OK...never really stopped working, but the maximum height sucked, was barely enough for the lowest point on my then cheap-*** jackstands. Sears had a deal with their new black 3-ton jack and 2 stands for 100 bucks...got that and 2 more stands for 20 bucks. Now i can get my car high enough off the ground that i can actually fit under it and work. Great investment, with so many things, you get what you pay for....don't skimp, it'll bite you in the *** later.

 

for 200 bux, i'll spend a little more and get an AC jack. https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=107896

 

I bought a decent sears/craftsman 3-ton floor jack&jack stands for like $100 a month or two ago. It's nice and goes a lot higher than my old floor jack; i can now jack up the very front of my civic and stick jack stands behind the front wheels & still fit under the car.
it IS a bitch to lower the car though. going from fully locked to a slow release is nearly impossible, the car always drops down pretty fast until i can control it again

 

i'm also a proud owner of an ac jack. if you like working on the car, save the money and do it right, buy this jack - it's incredible.

 

So, everytime you want to lower the car to the ground it just drops like a rock or something? Wouldn't that be dangerous?