Floor Jack and Jack Stand Recommendations?***NOT A HI-LIFT

Whatever you wanna do with your $300 jack, man, go ahead, really. I'm telling you that when I look for a jack that I will use every single day and trust to get cars and trucks that I don't even know what they are going to be until 5 minutes before I get there to change their tire on the side of the interstate with drunks and morons flying past me at 90MPH, inches away in the slow lane, I prefer to trust my life and livelyhood to a Pittsburgh jack from Harbor Freight and not a fancy overpriced model that does the same thing, feel free to take it for what it's worth. In addition, I'm talking about operating a truck that cost $95,000 or more including equipment and lighting, spending the extra $200 isn't a problem.

 

Honestly the steel ramps always made me feel concerned when they flex while driving up on them. I gave them away and built a set of wood ramp, with mitered ends to allow it to go up easier. Considering a 2x6 stacked flat can hold up a house I'm actually much less worried about collapsing.

So I can vouch for Pittsburg and putting my truck up on wood

 

A lot less cabbage! Lol.

I believe they are related but not the same. IIRC the HF one only has 1 cylinder

 

Mine isn't the racing one but it's got 2 little cylinders. I'm assuming these are NOT rebuildable, however, right?

 

I carried an awesome set of wood ramps made from 2x12's. They were stepped and 4' long, basically a 4' piece, a 3'piece, a 2' piece and a 1' piece, They nested together and were stored along the frame of my flatbed in brackets I fabbed from flat bar, and they were awesome for getting low riders off the ground without damaging them.

 

anything is rebuildable if you've got enough money, but the jacks are cheap enough that you can go buy a new one for less than a rebuild and you'll probably even gain a spare cylinder if you scavenge.

 

Pretty HF jack it has 2 cylinders...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARDbPOALCts

 

Great deal!

If that is the same one then that is a great deal then!

 

Oops mine are 2x12 also. Heavy AF but good.

 

I remember watching a show where they were rebuilding old WWII tanks. They had this rediculus hydro-pneumatic jack for lifting the chassis, but once it was in the air they were throwing some 6x12 blocks of wood under it.
When it’s a static vertical load like a tank or a truck the wood blocks are safer than any steel stand. It might compress the wood a bit, but it’s not going to deflect like an overloaded steel angle.
Granted you need to keep your wood in good shape. Don’t let it get soggy. If it gets a check in it you might need new wood. Insert some other almost clever double entendres.

 

I'm thinking that any of the inexpensive Chinese floor jacks discussed will get the job done if they have enough lift height capability. You just want to get the truck up in the air. But the most important thing is to JUST use the jack for that purpose. Then, you put jack stands under the truck and gently let the truck down onto them. Don't have to remove the floor jack. Can leave a little weight on it to keep it in position. You never want to trust your life to a floor jack since the only thing holding it up is a cheap chinese O ring holding back the hydraulic fluid. I have both 3 and 6 ton jack stands. My floor jacks consist of an aluminum "racing" jack from HF I take to the junkyard and the Hein-Werner 3-ton I bought to replace my 30 year old Japanese made Sears floor jack. I really liked the Sears and tried to fix it but was not successful. Get one of those Hein-Werner's when you are young and most likely you will use it the rest of your life.

 

+1 on the Hein Werner recommendations! My dad still has his working from over 15 years ago. I'm currently using a 3-1/2 ton NAPA pro jack. It cost about $200 a year ago. We use them at the shop I work at daily. They're dual cylinder and hold up to normal daily use.

 

Hey Guys,
Thanks for all the recommendations and tips.
Solid advise here. Will probably end up going with a combination of the Costco/HF floor jack with some Powerbuilt all-in-one units from Amazon.
Again, thanks for all the insight!!!

 

Costco $100 black jack 3T duel piston. Works very well for me and it low profile so can use it on others smaller cars.

 

I have a low profile race jack from harbor freight and a long travel Tacoma. It works fine on mine.

Also worked on a bagged brz.

 

I like my Arcan 3 ton, Costco sells them around mid summer all the way to Christmas for 90 or so dollars. Been great for lifting all my cars and trucks. Not the slimmest jack ever but for the rare few it doesn't fit under I just drive them up onto blocks first.

For all those out there with boutique jacks, the hell y'all need a crazy expensive jack for? You're lifting cars not tucking them into a silken bed of spare crinkled dollar bills. Now if you use them for your job, that's a different story but still most just buy a basic Mac or Matco jack and call it a day.

 

Don't forget, also most dangerous....

 

+1 for the HR low profile jack. Works like a charm. I also use their big super heavy duty jack stands.

 

I'm using a harbor freight floor jack, and harbor freight jack stands. I got the 4 ton stands, mostly because they are taller and have a larger base (so more stable).

For the jack, get the tallest one you can, because jacking up a lifted truck is a pain.