Re: Car jacks
 

An other things with a bottle jack compared to sicssor jack are that bottle jacks are generally a lot faster and easier, but require a greater clearance height to get them in place.

Re: Car jacks
 

The newer Craftsman stuff also seems to be getting a bit of a reputation, and I don't mean a good one.

For infrequently used tools I tend to buy HF first and replace it with a used Snap On or Mac Tools one if I manage to break it. eBay tends to have a lot of the pro tools, but shipping a large jack might not be a cheap endeavour.

One of our HF jacks (trolley, not bottle) started leaking after about 1 1/2 years, the other one is doing OK-ish so far but doesn't work on all our cars. The main issue with the cheap jacks vs the good jacks is that you can get rebuild kits for the good stuff. The rebuild kit for the HF ones is usually called "get another one". We also have a 20 ton bottle jack for "higher elevations" and the wife's Jeep. It works, but I've already noticed that I can see scratches on the not-so-hard chrome surface of the piston.

Re: Car jacks
 

How many times do you use a jack, Harbor Freight, I still have my lightweight one that has been used for a lot more than lifting cars.

Re: Car jacks
 

Me? Almost every weekend. The cars aren't that heavy, but usually one of them needs to be put up on jack stands every second week.

Re: Car jacks
 

I second Harbor freight tool store Dh is a mechanic and buys loads of stuff from there including his two floor jacks and stands.

Re: Car jacks
 

Northern Tool is another place to buy Jacks. They have branches all over the US.
http://www.northerntool.com/

I have bought several tools from them, they range from adequate to good, just depends on brand and what the specific tool is . They too have a lot of Chinese stuff like SEARS and Harbour Freight.


What I usually do for tools is buy the cheap stuff only if I need it ASAP and can not find a quality tool vendor. I buy used quality stuff off Ebay, Industrial Auctions or on rare occasion off Craigslist.


Grainger sells a lot of quality stuff, and they stock items you will not find in any of the other brick and mortar places around . Branches are all over the US. Grainger supplies to Pros/Industry only and not to the general walk in public, so unless you have a company shirt on, it will be an issue .

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/wwg/start.shtml


Craftsman is sometimes referred to as Crapsman. Imho, they are decent enough for the occasional use, but don't know about recent Craftsman quality. If one has time, better to buy used Snap-On, Mac, S K etc...
I bought my Craftsman bottle jack to lift my Toyota and my Landie but with the latter I have to stick some cinder blocks under the jack due to the lack of vertical height of the piston.

Re: Car jacks
 

Simplex makes good quality industrial duty stuff. Their 5 ton Jack is sold in some SEARS. About $87 on Amazon. Made in Japan.

http://www.tksimplex.com/html/produc...name=Hydraulic Jacks&scatname=Bottle Jacks

http://www.amazon.com/Simplex-HJ5-Hy...ata/B001HWOEUC

They also have tall cylinders if you need the height.
http://www.tooldex.com/product/SI1-H...J5-Hand-Jacks/

Re: Car jacks
 

The older Craftsman tools - say, up to the late 80s/early 90s is actually pretty good quality, not quite on par with Snap-On and Mac, but good enough that pro mechanics use(d) them. I've got some, I've got a bunch of Snap-On, and the main difference to me would be the warranty. Both have a lifetime warranty, but how useful is that if you get a tool of lesser quality if you have to replace it with the newer tools that you might as well buy at HF?

Re: Car jacks
 

Dh has a tool chest full of 80's and 90's craftsman, mainly because of the replacement guarantee they had (do they still have it), he is famous for breaking his tools. He stopped buying Snap on and Mac cause the guys would take the broken stuff to replace and and he'd have to wait months for him to bring the replacements back. His Snap on and Mac boxes are still going strong. from the 70's and 80's but even those he's replaced in the last year with Harbor freight.
So he's Harbor freight all the way now (except for a few rare things and specialty tools) If he looses screw drivers or breaks things it's not a huge loss

Re: Car jacks
 

They don't any more, not to the same level. They stopped it because to many people were buying them cheap at yard sales etc and then exchanging them in for new items and then flogging them on ebay as new.