Good affordable jack and stands?

IslanderOffRoad

IslanderOffRoad

NAXJA Forum User
NAXJA Member
Location
Houston, Tx
I had a great older Sears/Craftsman truck and SUV jack and stands back in Cali... my dad's got em now, doesnt make much sense to ship them.

Bought what I thought were the same jack/stands out here, and they're junk. Absolute junk. The jack is much harder to control when lowering, and the handle is a lot shorter so I feel like I'm pumping forever to get anywhere. The stands seem like toothpicks in comparison.

I'm planning to take it back... but where should I get a good jack and stands these days? Sears has really gone down hill the past few years.
 
I just bought a 3 ton from Harbor freight, seems to be a good jack so far. I have four 6 ton stands that I got at the farm store, I think they're called big red or something? I've had them for ten years or so and are nice and solid.

I know what you mean about Sears. The HF jack replaced an old Craftsman jack that I literally salvaged from the junk more than 25 years ago. It still works, but the seals leak and I'm tired of puddles on the floor. I don't like going to Sears anymore. The sales staff is ignorant of thier products and I doubt the store will be around long enough to worry about a "Lifetime" warranty.
 
Sears has a sales staff? I had to hunt for someone to check me out
 
I run the HF 6 ton stands and they are great. I run a 20 ton bottle jack and it is also working fine. 20 ton is a bit of overkill but I had to go that big to get the height.
 
SEARS aint going nowhere....

Their racing jack sucks ass though, the hf sister is much better. Allthough the fit and finish on the craftsman are nicer, it has issues with the hydraulics leaking.

Bottle jacks are fine for emergencies.... but yeah right, get a floor jack.
 
HF 6 ton stands here, 2 sets. My experience with bottle jacks stored in my rig is that they leak fluid and don't work when needed. I have a Firestone brand? 4 ton floor jack from Costco that leaks occasionally, but it's 7 years old.
 
another vote here for the HF 6 ton stands. the pins that hold the racheting pawl are junk i replaced mine with hardened steel pins, but other than that I love em. their rapid pump jacks seem to be liked well also but i've heard complaints that they don't go high enough and are a bit difficult to control on the way down.

craftsman has really dropped in quality in the past 10 years or so. I don't trust thier stuff like I used to.
 
so the craftsman jack busted the cotter pin on the cup when I was working on my rig today.

thats enough of an excuse for me to return it.

stock bottle jack honestly worked better for most of the job, pretty sad.
 
When I can, I use my 12 ton jack stands, if your jack can go high enough(I use 2" red oak planks under my jack to get extra height), you can get lots of room underneath to work on your stuff. Sometimes the extra height is tougher on the arms though. I needed them for the old CJ-7 I drove on 35's. Brand, IDK, a jack stand has to be pretty crappy to be bad. It's nice when there is a positive retention for the adjustable piece whatever you call that part, it hurts when it lands on your foot unexpectedly. Mine are also older before all the chinese crap invaded the US.
 
xcm said:
SEARS aint going nowhere....

Their racing jack sucks ass though, the hf sister is much better. Allthough the fit and finish on the craftsman are nicer, it has issues with the hydraulics leaking.

Bottle jacks are fine for emergencies.... but yeah right, get a floor jack.
Click to expand...


Which HF racing jack? I was looking at the smaller 1 ton version, are they any good?
 
Ive used the 1-tons at a couple shops ive worked at, good for quick and low-load usage, but for lifting a cherokee, i wouldnt trust anything less than the 1.5ton.

I bought a craftsman 1.5ton to put on a ruffstuff skid, my good friend went the same route, except with the HF 1.5 ton... ive exchange the craftsman jack twice now, due to leaking seals... I FINALLY got it working allright, i had to re-add fluid, then bleed it... Long, pain the ass process... My buddies put just as much time on his HF, and while the fit and finish isnt nearly as nice as the craftsman, it hasnt failed to lift a vehicle yet. Something i cant say about the craftsman...
 
Ogrebonz said:
Which HF racing jack? I was looking at the smaller 1 ton version, are they any good?
Click to expand...

I would NOT go with a 1 ton for an XJ. I have a HF 1.5 ton aluminum jack and it works ok on my XJ, struggled lifting the front of my girlfriends 2wd dodge 1500 pickup.
 
I hate my Craftsmen 3ton

I use to borrow a ProXone (black & Orange) 3.5 ton that was bought at O'rielly's and it was the Best floor jack i'd ever used.. You could of painted it red and put snap on stickers on it.. with a $499 price tag.. It was THAT impressive!
 
Check www.TorinJacks.com. A lot of the jacks I see in stores around here apparently come from the same place, with the differences being colors, stickers, and prices. Craftsman, HF, the parts stores... all the same Chinese-made stuff. Some great, some crap, some okay. Can't recommend anything, just saying don't get too caught up with branding.
 
agreed.
main reason i liked the one above was it lifts to 24" which is hard to find. worked great though, no complaints other than weight.
 
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