Aftermarket Product ReviewProvide questions and answers about aftermarket parts for the Third Generation F-Body.
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Since there is no "tools" section (atleast I didnt see one) I figured this is the best place to ask.
Im looking for a good floor jack. I want one that is built well, and preferebly in the USA. Aluminum would be nice, but is not a necessity. A good jack that can slide right under a camaro would be great. I want one that doesnt require 40 pumps to get it just to the body. I dont need a real heavy duty jack. the most I would ever pickup is the front end of a camaro. When I get a good duramax truck, I will upgrade if need be.
so to reiterate, I would prefer a low profile, quick jacking, aluminum, well built, built in the USA jack.
I have a craftsman aluminum jack and a steel one. They both fit under my 1 inch dropped iroc very well. I think i paid around 100.00 for the aluminum one and like 60.00 for the steel one with 2 jackstands included.
__________________ 1986 Camaro Iroc-Z 350 TPI Corvette motor 700r4 trans, BMR strut tower brace,BMR adj.Panhard Rod,Energy Sway Bar links,Eibach Pro Kit,J&M street lower control arms,Accel Distributer,wires.Blacked out all lights.5% Limo tint all the way around.
Kragen has a nice aluminum U.S built 2 ton fast pump floor jack.The last time i checked they were selling for around 100-120.Kinda pissed me off cause i paid $160, still a good price, but i shoulda waited a bit.Been using mine over 2 years, works great.I was gonna buy the sears aluminum jack, but the kragen was/is equal in specs & cheaper....way cheaper now.It just fit under the crossmember with my 1inch dropped front.
HF also sells a 2 ton aluminum jack for around $160
DO NOT BUY SOMETHING AS IMPORTANT AS A JACK FROM HARBOR FREIGHT. All of their products are china made and with no quality control.
I got this as my jacking setup. It reaches my camaro frame in about 3-4? pumps, from its lowest point, also since it is a low profile version it is extended to fit fairly far underneath before its higher point touches the car.
DO NOT BUY SOMETHING AS IMPORTANT AS A JACK FROM HARBOR FREIGHT. All of their products are china made and with no quality control.
I got this as my jacking setup. It reaches my camaro frame in about 3-4? pumps, from its lowest point, also since it is a low profile version it is extended to fit fairly far underneath before its higher point touches the car.
The ironic thing about what you said is that my first jack was actually my dad's that he bought probably 15 years ago from HF. It worked great until a couple years ago when we noticed the frame was starting to crack from use. So I bought a US made jack with Jack Roush's name on it and it was dead within a year due to bad hydraulics. The aluminum HF jack that replaced it is still going strong and works every time.
I do want to get one of those Summit jacks though since even the HF one that I have won't fit under my car and certainly wont fit under my truck unless its parked right.
Realize though, that's 15 years ago, before we cared about saving money and just enjoyed making quality parts. I mean, that's how I feel about it, seems ever since the 80's everything has been getting cheaper and of less quality. That's another reason why warranties are on everything now.
I remember when video games never had a warranty, then one day I bought a game and was asked, you want insurance, I was like hell no, why, I never bought it before, never had problems with games before. Played that game for about 3 months and it ended up melting and the back (reflective foil) started peeling, I forget the game but it P'd me off, ever since then I buy games and get the warranty...same with their systems.
P.S. I just purchased a nice order (small torque wrenches, battery terminal cleaner, oil bucket, power steering puller etc.) through HF, so I'm not completely bashing them, but their products are cheap, so to me I wouldn't trust a jack from them if I could get one I know is great for just $40 more.
-Take care
__________________
-Wrong Wheel Drive-
The improper displacement of power to the front wheels.
Realize though, that's 15 years ago, before we cared about saving money and just enjoyed making quality parts. I mean, that's how I feel about it, seems ever since the 80's everything has been getting cheaper and of less quality. That's another reason why warranties are on everything now.
I remember when video games never had a warranty, then one day I bought a game and was asked, you want insurance, I was like hell no, why, I never bought it before, never had problems with games before. Played that game for about 3 months and it ended up melting and the back (reflective foil) started peeling, I forget the game but it pissed me off, ever since then I buy games and get the warranty...same with their systems.
P.S. I just purchased a nice order (small torque wrenches, battery terminal cleaner, oil bucket, power steering puller etc.) through HF, so I'm not completely bashing them, but their products are cheap, so to me I wouldn't trust a jack from them if I could get one I know is great for just $40 more.
-Take care
Trust me, its definitely something I think about whenever I am under the car but I always have jackstands under it as well so it should be fine. What I DO think is funny though is how much aluminum "racing" jacks have come down in price in the last 5 or 6 years. I remember when they were $500-1000 for one. Now you can find them all day for 200 or less.
Trust me, I know all about the video game thing. I'm on my second Xbox 360 now because microshit can't make a decent quality product to save their life.
I know you said aluminum, but I just wanted to mention a steel one I recently purchased. Bought the 3 ton model, with jack stands and a creeper from sears. I was buying it to replace a 1 1/2 ton that is at least 25 years old. I returned the new one the following day because it was the biggest piece of ****. You want something that doesn't take 30 or 40 pumps, this is your jack. It took almost 70 pumps to get it to the highest point. LOL. I went through all the bleeding recomendations that came with the jack, non of them helped. It ended up puking half of its fluid on my floor. I can't say for sure, but it looked almost exactly like the HF jack. The handle was a sloppy fit, just a big disappointment considering how long I've used the first sears jack.
I know you said aluminum, but I just wanted to mention a steel one I recently purchased. Bought the 3 ton model, with jack stands and a creeper from sears. I was buying it to replace a 1 1/2 ton that is at least 25 years old. I returned the new one the following day because it was the biggest piece of ****. You want something that doesn't take 30 or 40 pumps, this is your jack. It took almost 70 pumps to get it to the highest point. LOL. I went through all the bleeding recomendations that came with the jack, non of them helped. It ended up puking half of its fluid on my floor. I can't say for sure, but it looked almost exactly like the HF jack. The handle was a sloppy fit, just a big disappointment considering how long I've used the first sears jack.
OMG THAT HAS ME LAUGHING...i own a sears jack and it seriously takes me forever to get that mother ****** in the air...dont get me started on the back of the car....put it under the rear end and jack up....you first off hit your hand on the exhaust or back somewhere every pump, and cause its half a pump i swear its like 120 pumps before the ****** is in the air...i NEED to get a nice FAST! low profile aluminum one. The sears jack stands have worked well for me and so has my walmart creeper which also transforms into a rolling seat with a compartment $20....YEAAAHHHHH BAAABBBYYYYY! lol
I bought the same jack as I H8 WWD. I know that it's not aluminum, but, I am impressed with it's performance, a few pumps and you are there. No clearance problems, mine came with a deeply padded handle but it looks like that's an option now. I bought it when I started my strut/shock this spring and I was pleased. The manufacturer is American Forge and Foundry. This a solid,well made tool. my 2cents randy
I bought a steel floor jack from Costco (Arcan 3.5 ton) about 6 years ago , and it has been working great.
I have that same jack, for $100, it's great. But if you want light weight (you mentioned wanting an aluminum jack I believe), this jack isn't for you, it weighs about 100 pounds.
Craftsman all the way! Remember your going to be sticking your arm under there to put down a jackstand so dont cheap out! I have a craftman pro floor jack and kinda wished I got the aluminum low profile one but it was 300 dollars at the time, now that they dropped to 150 at sears and stuck some LED lights in them, I'm very interested in one.
__________________ 9 years.. same bird.. in love with every second
I ended up buying the Arcan 3.5 ton jack from Northern Tool. $125. Weighs 104lbs. Well built and works great. However, dont be fooled by their (Arcan) website. Even though it says arcanusa, they are made in china. But, I honestly couldnt find a good USA built jack that people used and liked that I could afford.
3 pumps got me to my s10's frame, 4 more pumps had it up where I wanted it. It has a low profile and a long reach. Im satisfied.
thats the one I bought. Best to go to the store and pick one up. Was going to cost me $60 to ship it. Instead it cost me about 1hr of my time and maybe $5 gas.
I know you said aluminum, but I just wanted to mention a steel one I recently purchased. Bought the 3 ton model, with jack stands and a creeper from sears. I was buying it to replace a 1 1/2 ton that is at least 25 years old. I returned the new one the following day because it was the biggest piece of ****. You want something that doesn't take 30 or 40 pumps, this is your jack. It took almost 70 pumps to get it to the highest point. LOL. I went through all the bleeding recomendations that came with the jack, non of them helped. It ended up puking half of its fluid on my floor. I can't say for sure, but it looked almost exactly like the HF jack. The handle was a sloppy fit, just a big disappointment considering how long I've used the first sears jack.
I have the same jack and have had no problems with it the creepers kinda cheesy tho but the jack itself is nice heavy duty and doesnt take too many pumps to jack it up but remember its not a racing jack so its not going to be 4 pumps maybe the one u purchased was just defective
I bought my dad one of those crafsman 4 ton steel jacks, and good lord its heavy, but i can pickup almost anything with that thing, but i do have to aggree that dont cheap out on something thats gonna hold your car whaile you cawl under it.
__________________ Once you Pontiac you dont go back
my jack is from NAPA
its a 3 ton jack and fits under the car just fine.
it goes up to the car in ONE PUMP, and from there, a valve switches to let it work normally.
saves so much frustration vs a regular jack that requires 30 pumps to get to the car.
its heavy as balls though. i would guesstimate around 60 lbs.
quality on it is great though. never had any problems with it.
removable collapsible handle
very sturdy
its got a universal joint from the handle to the jack body so you dont have to worry about the gears meshing like with the old jacks
Lots of nice jacks here I see. My car is sitting with about a 2" drop from Intrax springs. How on earth do you get (even a low profile) jack under the front to get to the kmember???
Rigth now I have to get at it from the side behind the front wheel and use a mini jack on the aarm to raise the car slightly, then go in from the front with the normal jack. PITA but I would assume my air dam it about 4" off the floor and I don't see how one can egt a jack under that.
to solve that problem, i crank the wheel as far as i can to one side and go in from the side onto the k-member.
once i get it about 6" or so in the air, jackstands go on and the jack moves around to the front to get a better angle.
but for oil changes and the like, putting the jack in on the side works just fine.
just remember to do it slowly or you can get the jack twisted up.
I actually use 2 jacks....
I can get the 'bird up just using the full size, but for my 99 Z, I use a mini craftsman jack to get the car high enough to get my full size craftsman jack underneath!
I've had the mini jack for about 7 years, the full size for 5 or so... both have been great! I'm a big fan of craftsman.
Rigth now I have to get at it from the side behind the front wheel and use a mini jack on the aarm to raise the car slightly, then go in from the front with the normal jack.
I found a simple solution that costs practically nothing and is much easier then using a mini jack if you ask me
- one 2x4 screwed to one 1x6 (cut a 3 foot section of 1x6, and then a 2ft section of 2x4 screw them together as shown by my cheap little diagram below.... line the wood up infront of the wheels and drive on.
I can't guarntee this will work tho b/c of your drop.... mine is not dropped. _______ -------------
looks like it would work great for the camaro. my jack for my explorer and the ladys car laughs at me when i drive the camaro on blocks to get the jack under it!
__________________ - Crane Powermax 2050 cam (thank you 86copchaser76)
looks like it would work great for the camaro. my jack for my explorer and the ladys car laughs at me when i drive the camaro on blocks to get the jack under it!
mine is looks identical to that but blue, have no complants, also it comes with a 1/4in pad on it.
ive got one like this, got mine from matco but im pretty sure this is the same jack. its nice because it so much longer compared to other jacks, but its damn heavy so dont plan on lugging it around with you
I'm using this jack: http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...6598_200326598 It has worked well for me so far. The only thing I dislike about it is that you have to be very careful when lowering something. It will drop the car too quickly if you aren't paying attention. The jack stands it came with are serviceable, but nothing to write home about.
I have a low pro from Wal mart. I think it's either 3" or 3 1/2" in fully down, to 18 or something like that. This one is my shop/trailer/truck jack. Generally don't have it in the truck unless I have the trailer, but a 3 ton jack will lift at the least one tire of my trailer, and the truck, will plain pick up my 96 or Camaro comitpletely. Have used on my 96 and Camaro, and trailer. Fit's under the car fine.
Just look around some, figure your height with flat tires. I had a jack given to me buy a co worker, jack wouldn't fit under his car, however if he had a flat and it did fit, with a flat, he would be done.
I got the Craftsman 3 Ton Black Steel jack and have no problem with it. I never have an issue with Craftsman products. I really like the jack stands that came with it and I got both plus a creeper that I have not used because i already had one.
__________________
88 Camaro IROC Z28 Convertible
92 Camaro RS 25th Anniversary 2nd place Best Interior-'09 3rd Gen Fest 1st place Best Interior-'08 3rd Gen Fest 3rd place Camaro Modified-'08 3rd Gen Fest
Last edited by 86NiteRider; 04-23-2010 at 07:12 AM.
For the most part, excluding power tools all I buy is Craftsman. I have a tendency to break everything else. I've utterly destroyed wrenches, ratchets, and just about everything else. Though last weekend I actually nearly snapped a Craftsman ratchet in half getting the panhard bar off my 85 TA. I've never seen tool steel flex like that.
I'm absolutely thrilled with this jack. It's heavy duty enough to pick up my truck, but it's low profile enough to fit under my IROC, with a long enough reach that I can actually get to the k-member and still have room to pump the handle. It's got the quick lift feature too.
I briefly had a craftman jack, but like most jacks, it wouldn't fit under my car, so I returned it and bought this one.
Mine's been going strong for a few years now, and shows no sign of failure. I grew up in a body shop, which is a harsh environment for a floor jack, between all of the sand blast media, overspray, dust and other crap. Good ones and cheap ones all failed fairly rapidly, so it was standard procedure to buy the cheap jacks from swap meets, BJ's Wholesale, or some other similar place. Because of this, I just got used to never putting myself in a position where I had to trust that jack. Always stay clear as you're jacking, and get jack stands under the car before you get under it. When you follow that common sense approach, there's really no problem with going with a cheap jack, so long as it's appropriate for your application.
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Always stay clear as you're jacking, and get jack stands under the car before you get under it. When you follow that common sense approach, there's really no problem with going with a cheap jack, so long as it's appropriate for your application.
I have used Harbor Freight tools for quite some time now and find that for the AVERAGE backyard mech that work just fine. They have a 3000 lb. capacity lightweight aluminum racing jack on sale now for $59.99 with a coupon that was printed in the latest issue of AutoWeek magazine. I checked it out and bought one. It only weighs 25 lbs. and needs just 3 1/8" of clearance to go under a car. It pumps up in about 6-7 times and has a rubber pad on the end. I think it is a great value for the garage and if your gonna use it all, you should ALWAYS put a set of jack stands as a back-up!
So I finally found an American company that still manufactures floor jacks in the US. Does anyone know if a Milwaukee Model 20 would cut it for working on a stock thirdgen with ground effects or would it not be low profile enough?
Really you're better off just going cheap. I got a 3 ton low profile floor jack with speed lift from Harbor Freight for $130 (on sale, regular $199 http://www.harborfreight.com/automot...ack-68052.html ). It's been working great for me for the last two years. If it breaks and the warranty is up, I'll just buy another cheap one. I don't run a mechanic shop (though if I did, I'd have a lift), I don't need anything expensive. Just know how to store it and don't misuse it and it should last a few years at least. I'm actually impressed by the build quality on mine.
I've been thinking about getting this one http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...1&blockType=G11 the top looks pretty small though. I had a 2 ton jack, it was smaller but similar and the dang thing slipped. I was jacking from the cross member and it hit the oil pan. The jack wasn't that far up, so it only dented it a bit.
Just be aware that for several years now, Sears has been selling chinese crap. They have to do this to stay in business. Crap is the american way.
Also, recently, they started using the Craftsman name on chinese crap. it used to be that the craftsman tools were all made in usa. Now, they are also putting the craftsman name on chinese crap tools. The kind that round off your bolts rather than unscrewing them. Turning an easy job into a machine shop repair. Wasting your time. And it is hard to tell because they hide the chinese markings.
So just because you have had good results from an old craftsman jack does not mean you can go to sears and buy another one like it. Most likely the one at the store is chinese. It may even be the same jack that Harbor Freight sells at a much lower price.
You will pay extra for the craftsman name, even if the box is filled with chinese crap. In other words, the name means nothing anymore.
They are cashing in on whats left of the reputation, while (probably) transitioning the rest of the tool production to china.
As long as you are buying chinese crap, why not get the good price?
This jack I got got to be 15 to 20 yrs out of it.It still works but will only lift 2/3 to 3/4 the way up.
I found this one just last wk in Craigslist paid $70.00 and it is like new:
I also bought this and am going to mod the pads for a side lift at a time.Bought on Craigslist and paid $80.00.Price range on these I have seen has been from 150 to air over hydro of $450.00.Top lift is 36"
It still works great even through it doesn't look great and I can still get parts for it.
I have that same jack, for $100, it's great. But if you want light weight (you mentioned wanting an aluminum jack I believe), this jack isn't for you, it weighs about 100 pounds. 
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