Jack for lowered car & torque wrench for *
Jack for lowered car & torque wrench for * Going to be moving this month to a place with a garage, so finally be able to work on my cars easily. Need some recommendations on:
A decent rolling floor jack to get under my car. About a soda can tall.
Also a decent torque wrench for multiple applications on the car. Small enough for things like spark plugs in these ls1 f-bods, but also handy for many other things.
I don't mind spending the extra for a specific tool if it will really benefit me over the cheap ones and last a long time.
I borrowed my friends jack and stands last week to do some maintenance/minor repairs. Local mechanic quoted me like ~$640, we did it for $70 in parts and 3 hours work. So way I see it I already earned these
.
A decent rolling floor jack to get under my car. About a soda can tall.
Also a decent torque wrench for multiple applications on the car. Small enough for things like spark plugs in these ls1 f-bods, but also handy for many other things.
I don't mind spending the extra for a specific tool if it will really benefit me over the cheap ones and last a long time.
I borrowed my friends jack and stands last week to do some maintenance/minor repairs. Local mechanic quoted me like ~$640, we did it for $70 in parts and 3 hours work. So way I see it I already earned these
. 
I'd get this jack right here (the low profile 29023):
http://www.asedeals.com/service-jacks-omega.html
I personally own an AC Hydraulics DK13HLQ, and it is by FAR the best tool I have in my entire garage. Being able to jack the car by the k-member and the rear end is the biggest time saver in the world when working in my garage. The jack above looks like a really nice piece, and is much cheaper.
http://www.asedeals.com/service-jacks-omega.html
I personally own an AC Hydraulics DK13HLQ, and it is by FAR the best tool I have in my entire garage. Being able to jack the car by the k-member and the rear end is the biggest time saver in the world when working in my garage. The jack above looks like a really nice piece, and is much cheaper.
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 374
Likes: 1
A long reach jack like that is great if you have the room in the shop to manouver a 4' long piece around all the time (really, not to be a hassle, that pretty much means that you need to have at least 5' worth of space on every side of the car, and maybe more where you want to work it if you're jacking by the side frame locations).
Since almost none of us have that much room I prefer something like this:
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...5429_200345429
Since almost none of us have that much room I prefer something like this:
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...5429_200345429
A long reach jack like that is great if you have the room in the shop to manouver a 4' long piece around all the time (really, not to be a hassle, that pretty much means that you need to have at least 5' worth of space on every side of the car, and maybe more where you want to work it if you're jacking by the side frame locations).
Since almost none of us have that much room I prefer something like this:
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...5429_200345429
Since almost none of us have that much room I prefer something like this:
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...5429_200345429
I've got a smaller jack, and it sits in the corner and collects dust.
Thanks for the advice guys. I went ahead and ordered the Arcan XL35 last night after researching more. The Omega was a little too pricey after shipping to be justified for my use.
Just want to be able to do general maintenance and minor repairs with ease for now. I have pretty much 0 car knowledge, but with all the guides on this site I'm trying to learn how to do a lot of things myself, but starting small.
This jack will make it way easier, my friend's jack was a cheapo from harbor freight, too high for my car so I had to use a scissor first, and he didn't tell me till after we had it in the air that the floor jack was broken. When you released it, it just came crashing down lol wtf. Had to get a regular jack out of my truck to lower it safely, back onto the scissor.....yea that was about a third of the time I spent working, screwing with 3 pos jacks.
Now I need a good torque wrench, been doing everything by feel so far. These are where I'm totally lost.
Just want to be able to do general maintenance and minor repairs with ease for now. I have pretty much 0 car knowledge, but with all the guides on this site I'm trying to learn how to do a lot of things myself, but starting small.
This jack will make it way easier, my friend's jack was a cheapo from harbor freight, too high for my car so I had to use a scissor first, and he didn't tell me till after we had it in the air that the floor jack was broken. When you released it, it just came crashing down lol wtf. Had to get a regular jack out of my truck to lower it safely, back onto the scissor.....yea that was about a third of the time I spent working, screwing with 3 pos jacks.
Now I need a good torque wrench, been doing everything by feel so far. These are where I'm totally lost.
Hey:
On your Torque wrenches, if you can swing it, get a 3/8" drive flex head, (E.g.,Mac, Snap On, or Craftsman Pro type, very good quality) with a medium long handle in inch/pounds and a very long handle 1/2" drive in foot pounds (E.g., Harbor Freight, Northern Tool or Craftsman, cheaper good qualty). This way as stated above you can cover the most ranges and can get most everything precise and tight. Also if you need to buy sockets, get all long impact, in SAE/Metric, to give you the most durability. Only buy std thin wall as needed, to save some hassles and cash. Just some info to help you choose. Good Luck on your purchases on whatever you choose.
Dub
When In Doubt Do Without
On your Torque wrenches, if you can swing it, get a 3/8" drive flex head, (E.g.,Mac, Snap On, or Craftsman Pro type, very good quality) with a medium long handle in inch/pounds and a very long handle 1/2" drive in foot pounds (E.g., Harbor Freight, Northern Tool or Craftsman, cheaper good qualty). This way as stated above you can cover the most ranges and can get most everything precise and tight. Also if you need to buy sockets, get all long impact, in SAE/Metric, to give you the most durability. Only buy std thin wall as needed, to save some hassles and cash. Just some info to help you choose. Good Luck on your purchases on whatever you choose.
Dub
When In Doubt Do Without
