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

[JMynes]

When I worked for Roush Racing/Industries in Livonia Mi we had a Mac Tools truck cuz they were a co sponsor on all our race cars so we got employee discounts and payroll deduction. Anyway, bought and still have many of those tools. There floor jack I bought didnt last 5yrs with doing the service I talked about to it. It was Push Start (India) made and was $350 roughly 20yrs ago.

Are they still taking money out of your check? The Snap On guy would be…

 

[Robobrainiac]

I can speak from experience that where I work we have 2 Mac Jack's. I am sure they are expensive and they have handled tons of abuse. I have worked here almost 8 years. Those 2 Jack's have been there before me. If money is not a concern buy a tool truck jack. At home I have a Daytona 4 ton. I have had it not yet a year. It works great. When it comes to harbor freight my belief is that they do sell the cheapest stuff in my opinion. You most often get what you pay for. If you do a little research and stick to the "top" harbor freight brands you will most likely not beat harbor freight prices versus quality.

 

[Remington]

Are they still taking money out of your check? The Snap On guy would be…

Nope. Did for one year and Then i paid it off and never again! Too much interest that way

 

[JACKAL]

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)

I ordered two of these through Amazon almost 4 years ago and they work great from SXS to F450 they do the trick.

Edit, when I bought these they were $135 each, looks like $211 each now.

Blackhawk B6350 Black/Red Fast Lift Service Jack - 3.5 Ton Capacity https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0054WGRBA/?tag=sxsweb24-20

 

[Neohio]

Walker/Hein Warner is one of the best domestic made jacks available anymore.
There are some Milwaukee Model 20/40. But I think they went out of business.
Model 93642 is what you are after.

I worked in a hydraulic shop for 5 years after high school.
The hydraulic unit had been relatively unchanged in 40+ years.
This will be handed down to children.
Keep the casters lubed up for easy life dragging.
The full stroke of the handle is roughly 45 degrees. It can take some getting used to.
I have had a red one of these in my family garage as long as I can remember.
When I moved here, I brought a long chassis 2 ton floor jack down with me. But ended up buying a new one of these for piece of mind.

 

[lee]

@Neohio thanks for the tip.
One of the failures of the re-branded Crapsman jack i got was the release mechanism would not lower the load.
It has two gear looking things that allow the handle to be in any position and turn the release valve.
Any position as long as the handle is almost vertical.
I had the jack stuffed up under the front of my truck and the handle gear was slipping past the release valve gear.
I ended up half under the truck with a screw driver and a hammer trying to drop the truck on top of myself (I was a little pissed when I wrote the first message).

The Warner uses a U-joint to connect the handle rotation to the releases valve.
Much better engineering practice in my view.

 

[lee]

It looks like the Black Hawk jack @JACKAL recomended also has a U-joint connecting the handle to the release valve.
And it's the same Black Hawk I remeber from my days working auto body 35 years ago.

 

[Neohio]

HW uses a poppet valve(29) for the release. You don't need to hardly torque the handle to lift a vehicle.

I don't know what G & H are in your breakdown, but if it is an o-ring. I would recommend staying away.
#28 above is a u-cup and will outlast the o-ring.
#19 is leather packing. It is a time tested design. Kinda wish you were closer and could try it out. If it is within your ideal budget of course.

 

[Neohio]

I ordered two of these through Amazon almost 4 years ago and they work great from SXS to F450 they do the trick.

Edit, when I bought these they were $135 each, looks like $211 each now.

Blackhawk B6350 Black/Red Fast Lift Service Jack - 3.5 Ton Capacity https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0054WGRBA/?tag=sxsweb24-20

@JACKAL Do you ever take your jack to a picnic or ball game?

@lee Do you see yourself sitting in the stands of Columbus Clippers with your floor jack?

 

[JACKAL]

@JACKAL Do you ever take your jack to a picnic or ball game?
View attachment 370225

@lee Do you see yourself sitting in the stands of Columbus Clippers with your floor jack?

No but drag it out often for tourists in East TN who "believed" Portals were " the s h i t" and found out in mountains they are just s h i t.

 

[Ohio4x4]

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.

X2 I've got two. I use them to jack up my work trucks. A month ago my ram broke a shops 9k lift. The Daytona Jack's give no indication of the 5 ton truck they lift. We have had the Napa, and craftsman versions of this same jack and both went to s*** while the harbor freight junk keeps working.

 

[Smitty335]

In independent tests, they are on top of much more expensive jacks. I love mine, but hey, buy what you like.
View attachment 369985

Look at what I found in my truck bed after driving by HF?

 

[Smitty335]

Look at what I found in my truck bed after driving by HF?View attachment 370475

At 104 LBS, I won't be throwing this on my trailer for trips.

 

[GovtMule]

Look at what I found in my truck bed after driving by HF?View attachment 370475

What size tire you gonna put on it?

 

[CumminsPusher]

Ok after reading a ton of responses on here it’s got me thinking I personally bought because of the bang for buck however I see vast majority with HF jacks with not really any complaints but several other higher end jacks with a few complaints Looking even at the business I work at with now all Daytona jacks with good results so far. Literally everyone I know locally has one and I actually haven’t heard of any issue.
My question now is are there many bad experiences with HF jacks?

 

[CID]

At 104 LBS, I won't be throwing this on my trailer for trips.

...
My question now is are there many bad experiences with HF jacks?

Yes ... at 104 lbs. I hurt myself getting it down outta the truck. 😥

 

[Smitty335]

Ok after reading a ton of responses on here it’s got me thinking I personally bought because of the bang for buck however I see vast majority with HF jacks with not really any complaints but several other higher end jacks with a few complaints Looking even at the business I work at with now all Daytona jacks with good results so far. Literally everyone I know locally has one and I actually haven’t heard of any issue.
My question now is are there many bad experiences with HF jacks?

OW HELL YES! Unloading it!

 

[Smitty335]

What size tire you gonna put on it?

Thinking 200 ply 3 x 2 solid rubber ITP's, they come with tire plugs.

 

[Dirtstiffs-1000]

At 104 LBS, I won't be throwing this on my trailer for trips.

How true! I wacked my back out first day with my 4 ton...heavy sombee..we need to fatten you up @Smitty335 if you weigh 104..j/k.
The chinese writing probably translates into ball buster.
🍻

 

[CumminsPusher]

OW HELL YES! Unloading it!

Get an aluminum one for that, one that weighs less then yourself.
Well my Badlands off road jack finally got here. Seems to be good quality. Looks huge under the Talon, appears to not struggle too much to lift the JAH up. Bonus is it rolls nice here in my cement garage.