New Floor Jack.... Should have bought one of these years ago..

My old cheapo served me fairly well for years but I didn't know what I was missing until I got this new one. Low profile and has a foot pedal which is nice.





Next to Bathtub for scale...




Regards,
Tim

Nice looking jack, Tim. I googled pro point and got nowhere. Where did you buy it and how much $$$ ?

I was just looking at one at Harbor Freight. It was a 2 ton low profile for $129.00, as I recall. We all could use these low profile jacks.

Chuck

I'm in the market. Where is it from?

Tim.
Is that your garage or your living room? ;-)

Thanks David. The jack is from Princess Auto, the Canadian equivalent to Harbor Freight. It was around $260 on sale. Regular price was around $340 I think.

And Troy, I spend more time in the garage than my living room so I guess you could say it is!

Regards,

Tim

I have a similar jack and it's great for getting under low cars. My track Miata is very low and with my old jack I had to drive the car up onto 2x10s to get enough height to slide the jack under the car. That was a real PITA.

that is a sweet ass jack!

(and your garage is way too clean! yes i am jealous)

Haha, it isn't always this clean....

Had an old POS from Harbor freight. Wouldn't lift the front end of my truck! Tossed it and got a (3 ton rated) nice aluminum one from Costco.

I got a 1.5 ton low profile aluminum racing jack which looks very similar, from Harbor frieght on sale about a week ago for $59 + tax (Normally $119 + tax) It fits anywhere under the speedie I want to put it. Cheap but works (so far). I always save reciepts for this kinda stuff J.I.C.

I got the Harbor Freight cheapie too, 1.5 Ton. No problem lifting my minivan so the speedy should be a breeze. I like that it is small and light, but still does what I need. My last one weighed 50 pounds more it seemed like.

I've been considering buying a Harbor Freight jack. Read online about a couple of failures so I asked a clerk at the store about them. He said they are good jacks, "just remember not to keep the car jacked up, use jackstands and let the jack down. Lead me to think failures are caused by keeping it jacked under the car. Still thinking about buying one, you can't beat the prices.

Bruce. Are you saying that you routinely crawl under a car that is supported just by a floor jack???

I don't care how much you pay for a floor jack, you should never crawl under a car that is just being supported by the floor jack. Always use jack stands.

OK ,Here we go.... I knew a guy who decided to do his brakes..all at the same time.....he near avocado and eucalyptus groves...he was a cement contractor...biiiigg guy. They had a grove jeep with a tail lift on it (like a forklift) used to stack the avocado filled crate on a truck. So he used the jeep to lift the Eldo front then then back and used eucalyptus cuts as jack stands. A mutual friend decides to drop by and cant find Clyde anywhere...decides to go around the back and finds him pinned under the Eldorado that had somehow slipped of the cord wood jackstands. Harold just managed to get the car off of him with the jeep after he'd turned 6 shades of blue.

Moral of the story, never live near an avocado grove.

Troy,

Nope, I never do that. In fact I just bought a second set of jack stands so I can have both cars in the air at the same time. It was just my impression from the clerk's comments that some people let the car in the air long-term and that ruins the jacks.

Yeah, you can never be too safe when under the car. I use jack stands but also put a fail safe under the car to shield me should it come off the stands.

Tim

I bought a Harbor Freight motorcycle jack to pull my engine. I had a lot of trouble with fluid leaks which made it hard to keep the engine up in position.

I gave up trying to put a jack under the engine to get it out. I have a portable, folding shop crane and find it easier to lower the engine to a dolly rather than balance it on a jack. For quick clutch work ( and I've done more than my share lately ) I discovered that I don't need to get the engine far from the tranny to turn it sideways and do what I need. It never even gets pulled out from under the car.

OK, OK, jacks are great, the low ones especially. No question. And a full lift would be even better, and I may have to have one of those someday. But if you want true value (defined as what you get divided by what you paid) you simply cannot beat a pair of ramps. (And no, I am not talking about those whateverinhell vegetable delights those fine southern gentlemen go off into the woods and dig out of the ground and call it gourmet.) I got a couple of ramps recently, HD plastic, will hold 1500 lbs each, for about $12.00. Now that is value. Just don't drive over the end -- gotta be good w/ the throttle and clutch. Just sayin' . . .

I've got ramps too but the garage floor is so smooth, when I try to drive up onto them they just slide away. There must be a cure for that.

There is, and it's easier than you think.

You know that rubber stuff that you put under area rugs when the rugs are over hardwood/tile floors? Keeps the rugs from sliding?

Use that under your ramps. Probably works 90% of the time for about $5.

angela

I have a set of ramps too (they are great for oil changes, just reverse onto them) but you cannot do suspension work with ramps. Nor do they get the car high enough off the ground to work comfortably under it for undercarriage work on the speedster.


Tim

I fixed the sliding ramp problem with my metal ramps, by bending the corners of the high side of the ramp and placing them in one of the garage floor expansion joints. Works great.

I have yet to find a pair of ramps that will fit underneath Pearl. Something always hits, especially in the rear, so I finally just gave up and jack her up and put her on jack stands to change the oil. Someday, I'll have a lift. Maybe before I'm 70. That would be nice....

gordon, i always use some 2' 2x6s, 2 flat on the ground and another 2 placed on about a 20 degree angle sitting on the ramps, seems to work.

David, the jack I mentioned is not like a floor jack with a round end.

It has two parallel rails that fit under the engine. There is no need to balance the engine on the jack.

Aye, Michael...that would work better.

Slippy-slidy ramps? Mine are platic so sort of grab the floor (which is not glassy smooth concrete, so that helps) and no problem. A rubber mat, or like what angela said, should do it just right. and if you want to do suspension stuff, and can't get the jack under the car, then run it up on the ramps, then use the jack to hoist away. 2-stage operation. it could work.

Gordon: how low do you go?? I admit it is close, but the ramps I have will slide up to the tires w/out interference. Pearl must be down a couple of notches. ANd I agree whole heartedly: get a lift. Seen a few that look very nice, and not HUGELY expensive, but not cheap either. Hmmm . . . not 'til 70 you say? Only four more years to go, better start saving.

Danbury News-Times April 5, 2010

"A city man died Wednesday afternoon after a car he was working on fell on top of him.....indicates the man whose name and age have not been released was working under the car in a driveway when the jack failed and the vehicle fell on top of him"

To add to what Carl said- a friend died when the floor jack released while he was under the car he was working on. His wife found him out in the garage. USE JACKSTANDS PLEASE!!

In regard to those plastic or metal ramps that slide when you try to drive up on them... Several things can be done to remedy the problem. On the leading edge, attach some heavy rubber that extends the ramps by at least 6 to 8 inches. When your tires are on the rubber, it prevents them from slipping. Angela had a solution however when I use them which isn't often, I have 2 pieces of indoor/outdoor carpet that I lay on the concrete then put the ramps on the 2' x 1' piece of carpet. The spongy rubber backing prevents the ramps from moving when your driving up the ramps. (forward or reverse)

David: Re Michael's motorcycle lift:

This is the one from Sears (Craftsman). Peter McEwan had the Harbor Freight version and we found it to be somewhat weaker than the Craftsman (parts were thinner metal, etc). Either one, however, will lift your engine nicely level and makes it far easier to pull or replace.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00950190000P?prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1

Pearl sits pretty low. 4" to the lowest thing underneath and about 5" to the sills.

Best thing I've found yet (other than jack stands) is to use a pair of camper ramps made from 2" X 8"s They're about 4 feet long and get me up about 6"-7" That's just enough to do an oil change but a little cramped for adjusting valves.