Minimalist floor jack for extended cab

Is the main disadvantage the weight? How does it do on slow release?

 

So far I think I am going with

$220 LiftMaster 3 Ton Heavy Duty Ultra Low Profile Steel Floor Jack with Quick Lift

this. Any opinions?

 

That price would be a red flag IMO

 

Its heavy and big, but it does great at both lifting and lowering. Controllable rate on both. The long handle means you aren't putting a limb under the truck to reach a separate release valve either.

 

The size is, unfortunately, a critical parameter in my current circumstances. Literally every inch counts in my shed overcrowded with tools, sporting gear and such. So much so that spending an extra $100 for the same features but a smaller size makes sense.

 

Yeah. That's why I mentioned the unijack. It's not as convenient, but it's relatively tiny and will still safely hold your truck.

 

I'll add another +1 to get the 3 ton as minimum lift capacity. Consider it a piece of safety gear. Typically they are rated at 75% of the gross weight. Lots of trucks on here are modded to be heavier, 2 tons is flirting with that line of potential danger. Will it work? Probably. Does a hospital bill or death cost more than getting a bigger jack? You betcha.

If you absolutely need the smallest lightest version spend the $$$ and get one that is all aluminum. Possibly the most expensive version is the Pro Eagle but there are others more reasonably priced if you search a bit.

https://www.proeagle.com/products/3-ton-big-wheel-jack-kratos

 

I do have a bottle jack which works alright -- however, I need something I can use to support/stabilize a differential and perhaps even a tranny

 

I think a little over $200 might do. See the one I posted a few comments ago.

 

Sounds like you are still trying to hit a specific price point and not the smaller size because that Amazon link is for a monstrous boat anchor of a jack. Also one that, in my opinion, is overpriced anyways.

If you are sticking with the LiftMaster you linked above, I'd suggest the Daytona from Harbor Freight over it. It's cheaper and they are probably made in the same factory anyways. It is also smaller and lighter - exactly what you originally asked for.

Harbor Freight also has an aluminum version for slightly more ($240 before coupons/sales) and again it's lighter and smaller.

Good luck making your decision.

 

are you saying that because it is 31"?

is it ?

 

Haha, yeah. Black friday special about 6-7 years ago. I needed a jack and the price was right. Oddly enough it hasn't skipped a beat and works great for smaller cars. It works fine for the tacoma I just got tired of having to stack a pile of 2x10's to get it tall enough for larger vehicles. Basically this one, but without the 360 handle. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Black-Ja...on-Handle-Black-T82016W/33348137?athbdg=L1600

 

If you only need to lift a differential or tranny, a low capacity jack will do just fine. If you want to lift the whole truck from the differential or tranny, I'd suggest a 3t. A 2t or 2.5t would probably do it, just much easier to stroke a 3t.

I remembered at work we got a hf 3t, heavy as heck but it lifts a 9k lb truck, for flat tires. It takes some ugga chugga but it does it.

 

According to the shipping label receipt, both diffs are right at 70lbs, though the front one is probably closer to 80-90 after the other items that are bolted to it. You don't need a jack for the back one, but definitely need a helper or something like a transmission jack for the front one, it's just unbalanced and awkward as it doesn't just go straight up and in. Because you have to rotate the back up significantly to get it in, it was threatening to just rotate off of a normal floor jack, I abandoned the floor jack idea and waited for a helper.

All that to say, if you actually need to raise/lower transmissions and diffs, I would get a dedicated jack like this one to make it more stable and have something to strap it to.

 

@Mods2Travel that is too specialized. I want a single jack that I can use for both the truck as well as things like diff/tranny, fully understanding that a jack of all trades is a master of none.

I lowered my front diff manually and it weighed more than I thought. Lifting it to install back may be a bit more challenging, which is why I would prefer to do it with a floor jack and maybe strap it on with cambuckle straps for added security as the "saucer" pad doesn't look sufficient for balance.

 

I completely understand. TLDR, get anything with the larger saucer.

Seeing as how you're in the middle of a front diff install: I tried lifting the front diff with the cam straps around the front arms, and a floor jack and just couldn't get the back diff mount at the right angle to drop over the cross member and into the mounting hole. The jack was always in the way of me being able to get under it and position it. If the front diff didn't have to rotate to such an extreme angle, or if I had taken off the hard breather lines first, I think it would have worked better and I might have gotten it raised up. That being said, I would get one of the jacks with the larger saucers as several have posted examples of. The smaller saucer I had on the one I posted was not conducive to keeping the diff from rotating off, but the larger one would be much more stable. Probably the difference in a 2" and 4" (ish) saucer diameter.

In the end, a helper was much safer than trying to balance it on the jack with the smaller saucer. I'm not a big guy, and my wife only has a couple pounds on that front diff assembly, but even the two of us got it installed without dropping it on ourselves.

You may benefit from this, that I posted recently.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...thers-on-the-actual-r-r.773077/#post-27619408