Harbor Freight aluminum "Racing Jacks"

[Pontiac462]

Point taken....I'll count my blessings! I guess I got lucky.

[FireBrdRestorer]

I have bought many things from HF, never have had any problems with anything yet.

[GRX]

One of my friends bought one of those exact "U.S. General" jacks from HF. Utter crap IMO. It sits in the corner of his garage unused mostly. That is not to say I don't understand why many would want an aluminum racing jack for the reasons mentioned above, provided it's a quality unit of course.

Having said that ... I have an old Blackhawk jack which I bought through work many years ago on my employee discount - you will have to pry it from my cold dead hands.
Sure it's heavy as hell - it is extremely sturdy. I am strong and used to moving heavy stuff.
Sure it's hard to move around on uneven surfaces - the floor in my garage is smooth.
Sure it takes a while to jack anything up - I am not trying to win any races, and that is the way I like it. More adjustability without having to worry how the handle is positioned. And far FAR less effort per pump than your typical racing jack. The Blackhawk is well balanced & darn near pumps itself.
Not only that, I bought it as a promotional package deal - came with a pair of heavy duty Blackhawk jack stands for free.

[speedshopmike]

i generally am way against chinese junk tools (or anything else) but i must admit my HF cheapie aluminum jack not only works great, it weighs almost nothing, fits under every one of my lowered cars, and will successfully jack up my full size bronco (although not without a case of the wobbles)
most all stuff from HF is junk i've found, but this one thing actually is well done.

[PMDRACER]

Originally Posted by Goatman

Good to know. I have a 15 year old Lincoln 2 ton Jack that is starting to bleed down, and was thinking of replacing it with one of those aluminum units. I guess I'll see about having it rebuilt.

No need to "rebuild". All you need to do is disassemble the machanism that rotates with the handle. Inside will be one or two O-rings. Replace these with quality O-rings and flush out the fluid. Done.

Have performed this on two floor jacks and a bottle jack. But still, new used or rebuilt I will never get under a car with only a floor jack.

[598TransAm]

I'm kicking myself in the butt for not reading this sooner. I bought one of these two years ago because it fits under my car and looks cool. Well it broke after about 9 months leaks like an old Ford. My buddy bought me another one for my birthday back in July. Well you guessed it damn thing broke. Here in Houston they were going for $69.00 and seemed like a deal. Thank god I never got hurt while using this product.

I'll make someone a deal on a pair of racing jacks "Like New".



http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=96562

[wagon4]

I have the same jack and one of the caster wheels bent and dumped all the ball bearings out. Ya get what ya paid for. Try to find a heavier caster for a jack. I have been to caster and wheel specialty dealers and they don't have anything that will fit these cheapa$$ jacks.

[68GOATHERDER]

OTC makes a very nice aluminum jack. Very happy with it.

[gtohunter]

Harbor Freight beats anyone's price on just about anything, but you gotta know what you're buying isn't quality. If you need something to do a job once or twice, likely cheap will work, but for something that you want to depend on for years, probably won't last. I bought a 60 gal. single stage compressor for $349 there, and it's held up for 2 yrs through a frame off job. Came with a 2yr FREE REPLACEMENT Warranty, and it's still making air. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you lose @ Harbor Freight, depending upon what you buy.

[Pontiac Jack]

Most (not all) of the stuff I've bought from Harbour Freight is okay. The little Chinese vertical mill I bought twenty years ago has made many barrels of chips and is still fine- it's earned back its $1,000 price probably tenfold or more.

[performerrpm]

well id be glad to have any of those hf jacks since iam down to one of those little minature floor jacks with the little wheels and the little pad about as small as a cup bottom its one of those things i dont even think about until its time for a jack then its like.....ahhhh maaaan daaaaamn...... guess i should get one now while iam thinking about it

[baron_]

the craftsman 'racing' jack has done quite well for me
and almost always on sale - i think I paid $100.00 for it (smaller one)
Lightweight enough to fit in the trunk...even has a little light in the cup holder area to line it up easier....and a handle that pops in and out easily


it's beautiful compared to the napa steel one i've got

[Colin]

Originally Posted by speedshopmike

i generally am way against chinese junk tools (or anything else) but i must admit my HF cheapie aluminum jack not only works great, it weighs almost nothing, fits under every one of my lowered cars, and will successfully jack up my full size bronco (although not without a case of the wobbles)
most all stuff from HF is junk i've found, but this one thing actually is well done.

Ditto..........The one I got is,as best I can tell, identical to a friend of mines Crapsman aluminum jack. So far its worked fine. The good thing is in the manual it has a parts list.........with the o-ring sizes. 9 times out of ten most jack problems are the o-rings..........generally not to hard to fix.
I have seen a lot of people do stupid things with floor jacks...things that floor jack shouldnt be used for. Such as jacking up a car and using the jack to move it sideways accross the floor, using them on an unlevel surface, in gravel or dirt and on asphalt. Even a good jack can and will fail under those types of conditions.
I have used cheap jacks all my life and never have had one totally fail. Have had them leak after maybe 12 years of use but never a failure. If Im working anywhere but on a level concrete floor I use a bottle jack.

[598TransAm]

"Such as jacking up a car and using the jack to move it sideways accross the floor"

OK I'm guilty..Did that before...Now I have 4 wheel dollies that I move the car around with.

[schoust]

I have a Snap On Jack from the early seventies that my neibgher (who is a Garbage Man) pulled off of the curb. All I can say is this thing is flat out Awsome! It does have a small hydraulic leak and after a while slowly starts to drop. Can't go wrong for nothing! Just wish I knew somone who can fix it??