Anybody use a HF Aluminum floor jack?

chromebumpers

chromebumpers

solid fixture here in the forum
Staff member
My old floor jack which was older than me broke today. I'm not even going to try to fix it, it's too big and much to heavy. Can I get by with HF's 3000 lb. Aluminum racing jack for average cars and one wheel lifting on a pickup or van? Ideally I wanted to hear from someone who can tell me about the drawbacks of these jacks, I really don't trust the consumer reviews.
 
I have two of their 1.5 ton aluminum race models (pics below). The smaller version is good for little stuff like raising a spindle & lower control arm when replacing springs, replacing ball joints etc. but isn't big enough to raise a pick up or full size van because it isn't long enough to have enough lift. The bigger 1.5 ton would probably suit your use fine. Both of the 1.5's I have are less than 6 months old so no idea on longevity but they work fine. Be sure which one you're getting if you go with HF because they bait & switch using a pic of the bigger one in ads but the item # of the little one.

I also had two of their "new model" 2 ton aluminum racing jacks. Both suffered leak down issues and were immediately returned.



 
i use a steel floor jack 3.5 ton, they are heavy as hell. didnt know there was aluminum..
 
Thanks Not A TA, I wasn't aware there are 2 sizes. I need an easier jack to move around and the Aluminum was my first thought. I mainly use a floor jack to slip on and off the wheel dollies so I can move dead cars around the garage to and from the lift. My ongoing problem is I use a lot of tools infrequently and by the time I spot a problem the chance to return or exchange is long gone.
 
That's some garage! Looks you have everything and it doesn't appear you'll run out of screws anytime soon! I never seen shop lights mounted to door tracks - unique idea.
 
The lights on the door tracks at 45 degrees work well. I've also got one mounted to the bottom panel of the door. With the door down I can get a lot of light low for painting and with it up it is at a 45 angle also but shining into the garage and is good for underhood lighting or doing bodywork.

 
Strictly Attitude said:
, I like those bumper stickers I have matching ones from a magazine that I really like
Click to expand...

The GRM stickers? I did my car up in sort of a GRM livery at one time. David Wallens shot a lot of pics of my car when I was running the road track at Palm Beach International one day. Thought for sure it'd get in the mag. Probably shouldn't have mentioned the car had been on the cover and featured in PHR and several big pics had shown up in Hot Rod already! ahahaha
 
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I,M just a bit curious , how many guys even have a few manufacturers stickers/decals on their tool boxes?
now as a decoration, I see many younger guys buy pacts of adhesive stickers and the tool chests are covered in those stickers,
and in many cases I find out that when asked, they have no clue what the various manufacturers even sell????

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0QQDMAY06BRMX0SDRW63

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Motorsport-Racing-Decals-Stickers-D6053/dp/B00G0O6ZUO

yeah! I have a couple on mine
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$(KGrHqN,!iUE7Hfhcz)BBO0kMBb83Q~~60_57.JPG


BUT I THINK A CUSTOM STICKER LIKE THIS WOULD BE FAR MORE MOTIVATIONAL
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btw while its not aluminum its a decent floor jack for the price especially if you get the 20% off discount ticket price.
http://www.harborfreight.com/2-ton-...vy-duty-floor-jack-with-rapid-pump-68050.html
image_12170.jpg
 
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I have a drawer full of them grumpy love my stickers just haven't figured out where I'm gonna stick them yet. lol Yes that's the one love it cause it has allot of real racing not just super high budget.
 
When shopping for a floor jack it really pays too, always read the tools sales description,s very carefully
I would strongly suggest you ,look for a minimum rated lifting capacity of 2 tons with 2.5-3 tons being a big plus factor,
look for a maximum lowered height of no more than 3.75" tall,
to allow easy access to the lower car frame heights on cars like corvettes, and it should have a full lift height exceeding 22"
to allow you to use the much more stable wide base 12 ton rated jack stands, if you read carefully youll find the vast majority of floor jacks fail in one or both areas.
I used to worry about the floor jack lift quality , but its become all too obvious most jacks, that are even semi reasonably priced (under $300) are re-branded imports , so in the price range most of us are likely to be shopping in, your looking for good used commercial floor jacks or imported floor jacks ,so carefully inspect what you intend to buy and look for sales or discount coupons, and shop locally you don,t want to pay an extra $100 in shipping charges or have a jack arrive damaged, that needs to be returned.
the jacks linked below are not light weight aluminum, but they seem reasonably priced and may be functional

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/under-car-safety.26/
http://www.harborfreight.com/12-ton-jac ... 34924.html
IF YOU USE NAIL POLISH TO Color each “tooth” or notch on jack stands a different shade, OR model-car paint. A quick glance will show whether the jack stands are the same height; no counting required.
12tonstand.jpg

vettejack1.jpg

certainly not your only choices but there are a few here
http://www.harborfreight.com/2-ton-...vy-duty-floor-jack-with-rapid-pump-68050.html

http://www.amazon.com/Torin-T83505-...sr=1-16&keywords=low+profile+floor+jack+3+ton

http://www.amazon.com/Arcan-XL2T-Bl...&sr=1-3&keywords=low+profile+floor+jack+3+ton

http://www.amazon.com/Arcan-XL2T-Black-Profile-Service/dp/B007G83T16/ref=pd_sbs_263_3?ie=UTF8&dpID=41vvo5q0elL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160,160_&refRID=0PRJM8A1XMY3VE59J742
 
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