Shorts

What brand/model floor jack do you trust when you work on your truck?

infidel

I don't trust any jack when working under a vehicle, use stands but I use a long reach floor jack. Advantage is they lift over three feet high and can reach easily all the way to the front or rear differential on any vehicle without having to crawl under.
I bought two of them from Harbor Freight for about $125 each but they don't seem to carry them anymore.
These are similar> http://jmcautomotiveequipment.com/pr...roducts_id=255

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...9257_200349257

Shorts

Don't know where I implied not to use stands.

infidel

The word trust.

Shorts

I have a 2.5T jack I don't trust to lift the truck. I used it on my smaller suv in Japan. It is of narrow build and has a small seat. I was lifting the suv to work on some suspension stuff and getting it high enough to put on stands it moved/tilted on me. Was working in the garage, n level floor, the rear wheels chocked and ebrake on. Since then I don't trust it.

infidel

I get you, hate it when that happens.
About wet my pants a few times in my life.
More worried about what the jack was going to do, not the vehicle.

It seems like anymore you need to spend some serious money on a good jack.

nkennedy

Any jack rated for 2 tons or more should lift any corner on a stock truck. I wouldn't work under one w/o a jack stand though.

Shorts

Umhm, scared the heck out of me. I initially though I imagined it but I could hear the metal moving on the cement. You know, that cement grinding sound. The suv was a Isuzu Wizard (a Rodeo in the US). If the jack did that on that truck under those circumstances I'm really not going to try it on a 4500lb front of the truck, especially with higher jack points

infidel

What happens with the higher lift jacks is the arc of the jack going up tries to move the vehicle or the jack.
If either one doesn't roll then the jack's lift pad shifts and things can get scary.
That's why I like the long reach jacks, you never have to get under the vehicle.
I suppose if I was jacking up more vehicles than I do that I'd invest in an air hydraulic jack because they lift straight up.
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...5291_200365291
I like using my forklift most of the time. Can't safely lift a whole Ram but can pick up a passenger car 12 feet off the ground no problem.
During apple hauling season I pick up the rear end of the truck and all three axles of the flatbed trailer at once to adjust the brakes on both every couple of weeks.

Lary Ellis (Top)

My jack is about 20 yrs old but looks very similar to this 3 ton model. I use 6 ton jack stands and I always keep the jack in place on the side I am working on (as a safety measure) should a jack stand fail.

I was changing a tire on my 1970 Firebird with the bumper jack that came with it and it would hook in a small slot on either corner of the rear bumper but still lift the whole back end when being used...it would lift the rear end 3 ft in the air before it got the tires off the ground .

I was on the side of the road and no jack stand, just pulled the flat off and working on my knees, wheeled it aside.... looked down to grab the spare and thought I heard a noise...looked up in time to see the car coming right at my face and luckily I had a lot of upper body strength to shove it back away from me just before the bottom plate on the jack shot out from under the car.

Ever since that day I carry a small 8 to 12 ton bottle jack in each vehicle to augment the OEM jack as a temporary jack stand....I know that isn't the perfect solution but I figure it will hold long enough for me to do back flips trying to get away from the vehicle should the stock jack fail again

chaikwa

I use a 10,000lb jack that does a good job from me, but it requires the use of a chain to be safe. I can use it without the chain, but it's not as safe and it has the potential to damage whatever I'm lifting.



For a jack stand, I usually just have T-Rad roll under the truck.






I've attached a pic of the jack.

Shorts

Chaikwa, that might be a little bigger than I need. ]

Infidel, thanks for that (about the jack arc). I had a feeling that what it was. What concerned me was that I thought it was going to do a wheelie.

Dr.Dizzle

I currently use an old Walker (Greyhound model) for my trucks and a Hein Werner for my cars. Both US made and rebuildable unlike most of the offshore cheapies available today. If I were to purchase a new jack in the future, it would be another Hein Werner product.

birdboy

i use a craftsman its a pos, the older ones were good

Hvytrkmech

Shorts, I have a Snapon 2.5 ton at home that I use and it will dead lift the entire front end of my truck. Expensive but in my opinion well worth the money. At my shop we have several 4 ton regular looking OTC floor jacks that do a great job and several air over hydraulic 20-30 ton jacks for the bigger lifting. You like to work on your own stuff, spend the extra money on a high quality jack, you will wish you had done it sooner. I know Dr Dizzle stated Hein Werner, they used to be the Cadillac of jacks, we still have a long reach 20 ton at the shop that still works great. Some of the Hein Werner line is now made off shore so be cautious if you go that route.

Good luck with whatever you decide.