Floor jacks

[towtruckAl]

Still using Heinwarner and old walker floor and bumper jacks they leak a little but never let me down Tiawan stuff is far superior to chinese . All the old jack repair guys are long gone around here . And dont buy cheap jack stands .

 

[Mike67]

I have a Michelin 3.5 ton I picked up at a swap meet that is a brute. I believe they were initially sold at Sams club.
That thing easily would lift my Cummins powered 4x4 with several pumps.
I'm not sure who actually manufactures them though.

 

[Triplegreen500]

Well, given all the comments here (THANKS!!), and the fact that we have a new HF store in town...I sprung for the Daytona 3T. So far so good - one lift (front end), no problems!

I do use old, SOLID, weigh-a-ton jackstands that have so much paint on them from being "refreshed", I have no idea what their tonnage is....and I have a (relatively speaking) newer set of stands that are rated for 3T each. I used to do concert and stage rigging for a living - one thing I do not mess around with, is overhead loads! I used to run a 1,600 seat theatre built in 1929, and the rigging (ropes) was....we'll just say, "antique". The 1/2" hemp was so dryrotted you could hold it in your hand, and if you rubbed it with your thumbnail long enough...you'd cut the rope in half. I had a buddy come down from NYC to tell me what we needed. I made the City (who ran the theatre) purchase three and a half MILES of rope, so we could re-string the entire fly gallery.

They were thrilled.

But...it was either re-rope...or cancel the season, because you don't want heavy stuff falling on the heads of performers - national touring acts, or local children in a dance recital.

Again - thank you to everyone for your input!

 

[1967coronet]

Well, some of them anyways. We had a whole thread on here with all manner of part numbers,
part names, legal documents on that recall (which included several brand names, by the way).
Mine, having just recently been purchased at the time of that thread, were not part of the problem....
at least, as far as we knew at the time, anyways.

At least your using jack stands these days.

 

[moparedtn]

At least your using jack stands these days.

Heh...if I'm being honest, the last time one fell on me, I "felt it" pretty good. Figured I'd pushed my luck
for too many years already.
That and I'm moving a lot slower these days.

 

[1967coronet]

Heh...if I'm being honest, the last time one fell on me, I "felt it" pretty good. Figured I'd pushed my luck
for too many years already.
That and I'm moving a lot slower these days.

just glad you didn't get hurt bad.

 

[khryslerkid]

My old Laren started creeping down so I bought a HF 3 ton Pittsburgh also. I like the Rapid Pump feature. Takes a lot of jacking out of jacking.

I'll get a rebuild kit for the Laren someday. Hell I've had that jack for many years. Don't even remember where I bought it anymore.

I use a wood block when jacking on the K frame.

I read one review about the Pittsburgh and it stated that the inside piece was off center a little. I guess they built my jack with the same fixture.

Here's the Laren...

 

[moparedtn]

just glad you didn't get hurt bad.

Thank you, my friend. I'm living proof God has a sense of humor.

 

[66Satellite47]

My 1st floor jack was a Heinwerner 1 1/2 ton from Junkgomery Wards. An excellent piece. Used it for over 20 years of hard use., til it couldn't stay up. Kept it another 15 years, planning on the rebuild I never got to. Now it's replacement the Craftsman is in the same shape waiting for the rebuild.

 

[Hey-O]

Most all are built in China nowdays unless you get a Lincoln.

I thought the same thing, so one built in one part of China is better than one built in another part of China. I have a HF Daytona that works great. Bought it because of the reviews. It's not the same anymore, big name brands charging big money for something made across the street from another in China, I don't think so. It's not about the money, It's about paying more for what use to be and isn't anymore. I don't like being played by a company that doesn't come out and says, guess what, made in China, so it can push its bigger price tag. To me, if It's made in China, It's made in China, period. I use mine for my personal use, I'm not running a business with it either. Just my opinion.

 

[Ron_M]

Harbor Freight Daytona Jack
I agree that saddle is way small. Crazy why they did it that way.

I **believe** that the saddle can be removed by taking off the rubber pad and that the saddle is secured with a 10mm hex bolt that is on there like the dickens. There's a youtube video showing how to remove. I bought a 10mm hex allen and a cheater pipe and hope to investigate soon. I also just bought an OEM cross bar that I intend to use with my Daytona jack. (But they're available at HF too.) When I bought my Daytona jack, the one I wanted was on the very bottom. The cashier asked the stockroom guy to "get one from out back" so no one had to move 4 other jacks.

 

[Ron H]

I'll join the crowd with HF Daytona I bought about a year ago after my 40+ year Craftsman finally let me down (pun?). I did a long review search before getting this and wow, many positive's. More than some of the other more pricy ones I was looking at. I was going to rebuild the old one until I latched onto another my departed F-I-L had as his shop as it is being cleared out. Forgot that one was there before buying the new one. A bud is going to rebuild the Craftsman so gave it to him. Yeah, I've had my share of HF crap so was leery when getting this one; but a few things have from HF have been fine.

 

[khryslerkid]

Recently all I've been seeing at the shops I deliver parts to are HF Daytonas and Pittsburghs. They're getting used hard everyday and the guys I talk to like them.

Yeah, I get a guilt complex buying Chinese but what can you do. Really sucks that things have come to this.

 

[Big Bad Dad]

Harbor Freight Daytona Jack
I agree that saddle is way small. Crazy why they did it that way.

I **believe** that the saddle can be removed by taking off the rubber pad and that the saddle is secured with a 10mm hex bolt that is on there like the dickens. There's a youtube video showing how to remove. I bought a 10mm hex allen and a cheater pipe and hope to investigate soon. I also just bought an OEM cross bar that I intend to use with my Daytona jack. (But they're available at HF too.) When I bought my Daytona jack, the one I wanted was on the very bottom. The cashier asked the stockroom guy to "get one from out back" so no one had to move 4 other jacks.

Forget the cheater bar. Get an impact hex key socket and use an impact wrench. Popped mine right out. This was after I wrestled with it and rolled around the floor with a breaker bar., and failed......

 

[Ron_M]

Forget the cheater bar. Get an impact hex key socket and use an impact wrench. Popped mine right out. This was after I wrestled with it and rolled around the floor with a breaker bar., and failed......

Noted. Thank you for the tip

 

[Budnicks]

https://winchcentral.com/jacks/usa-made/

 

[Ron_M]

Forget the cheater bar. Get an impact hex key socket and use an impact wrench. Popped mine right out. This was after I wrestled with it and rolled around the floor with a breaker bar., and failed......

Took your advice. Glad I did.

 

[Ron_M]

Learned today that the OEM cross beam does not fit the Harbour Freight 3 ton low profile long reach floor jack. The OD of the OEM is bigger and the jack does not have much provision. Going to try the crossbeam on my old Matco.
Not sure if the Harbour Freight cross beam will work either. Hope it does. Be nice to find a larger saddle for the HF piece too.

 

[snakeyes]

I HAVE 4 Blackhawks never problem lifting my military trucks and trailer or any cars when I had a body shop also had the Heinwarner and just recently about 15 years ago was given a large craftsman no problems yet , Jack stands all big Blackhawk

 

[Ron_M]

OEM cross bar on Matco. Talk about clash. Yikes!