Harbor Freight Jacks
 

Got an e-mail today from HF with more sales ads and they are advertising the 3 ton low profile (steel) jack for $92. The 2 ton is $139 (which makes no sense) if you're looking for a jack. The regular size 3 ton is $79.99 with the coupon.

Price is with coupon.

A fair warning though: If you get the regular non-low-profile jack and have your car lowered an inch or more, you'll need to drive it onto wood blocks to fit the jack under.

I bought the 1.5ton Aluminum racing jack for USD59.99 (USD89.99 with a USD30 coupon taken off).
Doesn't say it's low profile, but the minimum height is about 3.5in, which is fine for a stock car (I think our clearance is about 4-4.5in).

The weight difference is significant - the steel jacks weight close to 100lbs, while the aluminum jacks all come in under 40lbs.
Not to mention, I don't think we need 2.5T jacks to lift up our cars (though if you own heavier vehicles, you may want one).

Only downside: the 1.5T aluminum jack only lifts to about 14in.

if you get these, it's worthwhile to remove the shit ass button head screws holding the front roller in and replace them with actual grade 8.8 or 10.9 socket head cap screws, blue loctite them in for good measure and torque them well. I have had the screws back out and the jack fall apart while using it before.

just make sure to get stands also and ALWAYS be safe while using this jack. obviously you should be safe with any floor jack, but especially so with this one because you're likely to have something bad happen eventually with them.

The 3ton isn't the jack you want. You want the 2 ton since it fits under the lowest cars and has the longest reach.

http://www.harborfreight.com/2-ton-l...ump-68050.html

That's the one you want.

I've heard that the lower priced and lower weighted HF jacks have a history of slowly dropping on their own.

Don't cheap out on a jack.

Can you recommend a different jack that has 40 inches of reach and 2" 5/8 minimum height?

I looked high and low and didn't find anything, even in the $300 range.

I got 2 of the 3 ton low profile steel jacks on sale a couple months ago for $79.99/ea. Lowest price I'd ever seen them.

Did you try Michelin jacks?

I love my 2 Ton HF. But I never use only the jack. I always back it up with a jack stand, the wheel/tire I removed, or ideally, both, under the rocker.

Both my harbor freight jacks have been phenominal

Have the little aluminum racing jack for about 7 years and thelowlong reach steel for most of a year.



Wouldnt know if they lower over time cause im not a dipshit that leaves the vehicle supported by the jack

Jacks are for lifting it up and lowering it down, not resting.

Yeah - I don't get this - even the jack will instruct you to always use the jackstands to support the vehicle...

Correct, the 2-ton (# 68050) is the one you want, very very long, and very very low profile, perfect for jacking from the front crossmember and then the rear diff, car is in the air on jackstands in a couple minutes.

Because the reach is much longer, it's rated load is lower. Unfortunately it hasn't been cheaper than $129/139 in nearly a year (it's been on sale prior to that for $99/109 about a year ago, so here's hoping for those who don't have it).

Mine has worked GREAT for the last couple years, no leaks, no slow drops, its built quite well. The valve is touchy, very small window of open/closed, so be careful until you get the hang of it. I cut a hard rubber disk to go in the center of the lifting foot to avoid gouging anything. Be wary, it's freaking heavy (102 lbs) so make sure you have a happy place on the floor for it to live, lol...

Thanks for the review! I've been ready to buy this one, just waiting for it to go on sale.

Nobody said anything about supporting the car with the jack? I was sharing with the OP that I've heard more than once that HF jacks are known to slowly drop. Where do you assume anyone was talking about supporting the car with a jack?

If you're supporting the car with the jackstands, the "slowly drop" issue becomes less concerning.
Unless if posters are saying the jack can't even raise the car long enough for jack stands to be put in, then saying that the jack "slowly lowers" isn't really as big an issue as its made out to be.

I have been very pleased with my Harbor Freight Jack.

If the car isn't supported by the jack

It won't slowly drop

They do, that's the whole point.

Not 100% true. I've had mine for over a year, and it doesn't drop. Usually I'd give harbor freight products a lifespan of three months, but I was pleasantly surprised by the low profile jack.

You can't support that argument based on the "fact" you provided. The only way to know that they "slowly" drop is to leave the car supported by the jack.

tl:dr version: You're condradicting yourself

...Jesus

HF=smush

^ this was my point

And.,. What the hell are you doing leaving the car up on a jack for the hours/days it would take to drop?

The rest of us that practice safe jacking habits seem to have no issues with a droopy noodle.

Most generic jack stands are made in the same factory. Google it.

You'll be hard pressed to find a failure with a harbor freight jack stand that isn't due in part to the users fault.

A lot of people beat on harbor freight due to their low priced items. While they do have some lesser quality parts, good luck finding a shop that doesn't have a few generic harbor freight items around in the tool boxes. Even some of these higher end shops we see around the internet can be seen sporting some Pittsburgh tools...

Not every mechanic will be sporting 100% Snap On and Matco tools.

My BIL has been using his HF jack for 6-7 years now. He's a mechanic and uses it often on his projects.

I, on the other hand, have been using my Craftsman for 5 years with no issues. My pops has been using his rusted Wal-Mart jack for who knows how long lol. Still is holding it!! Dont worry, I got him a 2 ton Craftsman a month ago lol.

Came in here to echo similar comments on the HF jack. I can't remember which HF jack I have - it's the lowest profile jack they have & it weighs around 80'ish lbs. I bought it about 4-5 years ago for around $150 (forgot to bring my coupon), and it's honestly been the best jack I've owned. As mentioned before, pick up some jack stands if you don't already have them...