Looking for Floor Jacks and Stands

[kevmac858]

like the title says, in the market for a new jack and some stands, dont have any right now. any suggestions for which are good? am a college student on a budget so prefer the cheaper area. looked for a thread on this but couldn't find any. been looking on harbor freight and found some but wanted to know what you guys use and have found to work well for having a smaller, lighter, lower cars. also want some stands that will work well too. any suggestions/opinions would be appreciated

[dnguyen1963]

HF is the cheapest you can buy. Quality is not top notch, but decent enough for any E30 work.

[flying_violin]

I have a couple of no-name jack stands that work fine (jack stand technology isn't exactly rocket science), a couple of Craftsman jack stands (got them cheap somewhere), and a Pittsburgh (Harbor Freight) 1.5 ton floor jack. I've had the jack a little over a year, and it is starting to squeak when it raises the car, but still gets it up in the air. And it provides me motivation to put jack stands under the car while I'm working on it like everyone should be doing anyway!

[Nsquared97]

Get the HF aluminum 1.5 ton jack, this one:
http://www.harborfreight.com/automot...html-7814.html
I have had mine a year and a half, love it. Many others have used the same one regularely without any issues. Just grab a coupon, HF always has stuff on sale.

[AndrewBird]

If you don't mind the extra weight, get this jack instead:

http://www.harborfreight.com/automot...eel-68049.html

It has a lower saddle height, which means that it will fit under lower cars better.

I bought 8 jack stands from harbor freight when they went on sale for $15 a pair. I already had 4, but they were different pairs and had different heights, so now I have 2 full sets of matching stands. Right now they are on sale for $25 a pair.

[e30trooper]

i need to get my self a low profile jack. Car is so low a stock jack wont fit o_O. My only issue is storage :( i have limited space and yes that sucks big balls

[dnguyen1963]

If you do not have space, that does not give you many options, does it?

[Unearth078]

i need to get my self a low profile jack. Car is so low a stock jack wont fit o_O. My only issue is storage :( i have limited space and yes that sucks big balls

trunk fits it all.

OP:
deff get the steel jack, the aluminum sucks. also i have the 2 ton for the front frame rails, and 3 ton for the rear frame rails.

[markseven]

I had the HF 1.5 for six years. The U-joint that drives the opens the valve broke a month ago. I picked up another one - happy to see that they improved the design so that the U-joint is straight when the pole is at a 45° angle.

[iamsam]

yep, I haven't gone wrong with Harbor Freight yet. Wait for a low profile jack to go on sale at HF (sign up for their coupons via snail mail), or use their generic 20% off coupon.

[wikkid]

I don't know if this would be worth the $30, or if it would get under what you need to lift, but it's a 2-ton from Tractor Supply:

http://www.tractorsupply.com/jacks/big-red-2-ton-hydraulic-floor-jack-0116479

[MoreMayhem]

There is a thrift store in Oxnard that sells mostly used tools. That's kinda far from you though. I found them on Clist. Maybe there is something similar in your neighborhood.

I've had a Crafstman 3 ton floor jack for probably 18 years. Never let me down. If the car is too low i'll run it up on a couple pieces of stacked 2x10 lumber before lifting it. Just bought another Crafstman, 2.5 ton low profile. Haven't used it yet though.

[markseven]

I don't know if this would be worth the $30, or if it would get under what you need to lift, but it's a 2-ton from Tractor Supply:
http://www.tractorsupply.com/jacks/b...r-jack-0116479

That does not look stable. Kinda looks like a toy though.

[Kevinl]

I just replaced my 10-year-old 3 ton craftsman with Jack another one got it for $95

[kevmac858]

thanks guys, i will check out the steel one at harbor freight and the jacks today. my oil is leaking pretty big so i need this thing up asap to see whats happening :( story of an e30 life