What floor jack is worth having? (Now BIGGEST TIRE ON A BADLANDS)

lee

lee

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Our first Christmas together my wife got me a Craftsman 2.5 ton floor jack, that was in 1985. We were poor but I needed a jack (and yes, I married up). That jack finally died last year.
I was in the middle of a project so I ran to Lowe's (it's not like there is a Sears around anymore) and the only thing on the shelf that looked at all decent was also branded cratsman.
There is a term we use at work "fit for service" (I think the actual English translation is "YOU ARE ENGINEER? I DONT THINK SO. EVEN MONKEY CAN DO, WHY YOU CAN NOT DO?).
This new jack is not even one year old and it is not fit for service.
And, just to be clear, I don't give any s*** about warrenty - on consumer goods that is a placebo to placate Karen's that want to b**** and moan there way thorough life.

What is a home owner grade jack worth having?
I want it to work when I want it to with out me needing to work on it.
I want it to lower the load with some control without needing a vice grip on the handle because it's jammed.
And if it's worth having the price is secondary.

@DG Rider @CumminsPusher @HondaTech any input?
(The first one to mention harbour freight gets ignored)
 
Dirtstiffs-1000

Dirtstiffs-1000

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In independent tests, they are on top of much more expensive jacks. I love mine, but hey, buy what you like.
20220423 084206
 
NTCPrezJB

NTCPrezJB

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I don’t have a brand to tell you to buy. I have the craftsman 2.5 ton that I’ve had for probably 20 years and it works. Sounds like exactly what you had honestly. I have a 2 or 3 pairs of bottle jacks in different sizes and another small floor jack. I can’t tell you the brand on any of those off the top of my head. The small floor jack I thought it was absolute garbage when I bought it and first tried to use it. I was going to return it. My Dad bled it and added a little more fluid to it and it’s been flawless since. I felt dumb. #DadsRule!

So I say that to say…it’s possible there is just a bit of air in your new jack and it will be fine if you bleed it.

Also I’ve seen plenty of peeps in my family using various HF jacks. I wouldn’t personally write them off if I was in the market for a new jack.
 
JenElio

JenElio

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🤔......I'm going to second what almost everyone has said. Despite what it is......HF floor jack on my book. I've had 2 for the past 4-5 years getting beat on and they've held up great. Buddy owns a mechanic shop and uses same jacks as me on a daily basis and has 0 complaints about the HF floor jacks 🤷‍♂️
 
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CID

CID

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After seeing it finish high in tests and recommended by several sources, I went with the HF 3 Ton. It was $209 a year ago but I think it's pushing $300 now. Another HF is the Badland with big tires for using in the dirt, but it's too new to know how it'll age. The Badland has similar features to the much more expensive off road jack that's used in a lot of off road pits (don't remember the name on that one).

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Vikes79

Vikes79

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unless you’re going layout some serious coin…almost all of them anymore are China jobbers.

with that said my HF floor jack has held up after 5 years of weekend warrior work on cars and stuff.
The one I have is gray similar to this one. I don’t think they made the Daytona versions then.

 
906UP

906UP

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Yup, we're all gonna get ignored by @lee ;)

Unless you want to get a $2500 jack from the Snap-On truck (that's probably made in China BTW) it's gonna be HF for the win. Mrs 906UP bought me one for Xmas a few years ago, no issues
 
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