I have delt with these P.O.S for awhile. Most of the time I have to bleed the jack and then pump the handle a few times. Then twist the handle to close the jack and it will be back to "two pump chump" status, till I have to let it down and raise it again.Repeat same process...

 

my sears SUV jack died on me about 2 years ago after 3 years of use. i went out and bought one from harbor freight. now that one is starting to go. after lifting a vehicle in the air, it slowly creaks, handle raises (no matter how tight its twisted) and lowers the car ever so slowly. im really getting what i pay for!

 

yeah that sucks. I know a lot of people have said their HF jacks have been pretty reliable but I've been hesitant to pick one up from them. Since my craftsman jack blew the seals out a few weeks ago i've been using the 7K pound Torin jack I've only had for about 6 or 7 months. Noticed last night it wasn't wanting to pump very well and whattaya know - pulled it out and there's hydraulic fluid on the concrete Looks like I'll see about having that one redone too when I try to get my craftsman fixed.

 

May as well keep this thread going since so many jacks are made in china and suck. I have a Jegs aluminum racing jack, not that cheap at $150, and it lasted 13 months with VERY LIGHT home use. My race car is not even working yet and the engine has been being built for the last 12 months, so I used it maybe on 10 separate occasions. That cost me $15 per day I used it. What a great cost effective deal. No parts, not rebuildable, etc. After weeks of reading about all these issues and not being able to get AC jacks anymore, having a bad jack, needing to rely on a jack, and needing to haul it around to the track, etc. I decided to drop alot of money on a hand built Brunnhoelzl jack, aluminum, lifts 23" and is as low as 3.75". I called the number and spoke with ther owner, who answered the phone. Every part on the jack can be bought and repaired. It is a ridiculous amount of money, but I do not own a lift and need to rely on this thing with my life. I use jack stands riligiously, but you are going to have those rushes at the track where you do not use them. I firmly believe the reason these made in usa jacks are so expensive is that we no longer have factories making them in some sort of volume, but companies, like Brunnhoelzel, make it in house with their own machine shop. This country has gone is a Jerry Springer style direction with respect to manufacturing. At a minimkum, if you are going to buy a made in CHina jack, make sure (1) the company stands behind it and has quality control, (2) has a good warranty, and (3) possibly most importantly, you can obtain replacement parts for every part of the jack. I looked at some that cost about $500-$600 made in china and only about 1/2 the parts were replaceable. The rest had no part numbers and were not available. I am sure as time goes one, they will become less available. I do not want a jack that lasts 1 year or evan 5 years, I want a 20-30 year jack. If you want a steel jack that weighs over 100 pounds, you have more options for made in USA for about $500+.

 

I have a steel Craftsman jack and it's been going strong for 10+ years with no problems.

 

my 3.5 ton craftsman jack has started leaking, I put some lars leaks fluid in it, and it seems to have fixed the problem, but I know it's days are numbered. One of these days, I'll end up needing to buy another. What I will replace it with... I don't know at this point

 

I might buy one of these guys when my craftsman one finally eats it:

http://www.asedeals.com/Ranger_floor_jacks.html

 

I bought a Sears 4 ton floor jack had it for 3 years. It failed after 2 years. It was one of those quick lift ones, pump it twice and it flew up. That seal blew out on me. I ended up pulling the quick flow cylinder off and welding it up and removing the quick flow spring. Filled it up and it works better than it did new.
I contacted Sears in regards to so many people having issues with there floor jacks. To put it bluntly, they dont give a flying ****. They fail after the warranty period.

 

I bought a Brunnhoelzl garage jack after researching many jacks. It is ridiculously expensive, but it is also an amazing piece of work. It was hand built and took 6 weeks to build. I bought it for these reasons - I wanted a jack to lift very high and this one lifts 23". I have had back surgery and did not want a jack that I know I would eventually lift that weighed 130 pounds. This one weighs 35 pounds. I wanted a long reach jack. This one is incredibly long. I wanted a jack I can rely on and when it does break, I can get parts. I can call this company anytime and the owners answer and readily talk with you and I can order each and every part for the jack. I know it is difficult to imagione paying $1,200 for a jack, but if you want an incredible billet aircraft aluminum, 100% hand made USA made jack that is made for and used by almost all NASCAR crews, a jack that rolls and maneuverus so effortlessly due to precision wheels with sealed ball bearings, a jack that is huge, yet unbelievably light, a jack that has a far reach and lifts to 23", and a jack that cna be repaired quickly and easily with all parts available, check out these jacks. They also make several other racing jacks that can lift the car with 1 to 3 pumps. I am done with the jacks breaking when you need them most and not being able to get replacement parts. Just my 2 cents.

 

rockin the same one in my garage and will to the day I die. I absolutely hate having to buy tools like this new because I KNOW that everything made today has no comparison to older models as they are a **** ton stronger and last much much longer(the older stuff). Its really actually a sad thing to see 7 pages of **** talking on Sears and their horrible jacks. You would think that with so many people complaining, they would actually do something about it but I guess you see how much Sears really cares....
Sorry for those that dont have access to older "quality" tools or the funds to buy anything decent to work with. Either you get **** for cheap that works for a little while and you pray it will last but usually it just "gets the job done" or you drop an arm and leg on a product that you actually know will stay with you for a while without problems.
I miss the good ol' days when even tho you didnt have enough money to buy the best of the best, the cheaper tool still worked just fine and lasted long enough to get some good use out of it.

 

There are excellent, tough jacks on the market for around 6~700. Most people won't do it. And if you think about it, you could buy 5 Sears jacks for that price. With a lot of abuse you should get 10~15 years out of the 5 jacks. So people buy Sears.

$1,200 for a jack!? That's a lifetime supply of Sears jacks for me. And everytime I buy a new one I get Sears latest technology and improvements...

 

My 3.5 ton Steel jack also blew the seals in a little over a years time. I ended up swapping it for the 4 ton Proffessional jack. My Sears sales guy said there have been many issues with the 3.5 ton blowing out seals but there have been virtually no issues with the 4 ton so I'm hoping for the best.

 

Guys,

I have a Sears aluminum one also and it died. It had a slow dead but its dead now.


What do you guys recommend that will last a long time and that is low for lowered vehicles ???


Thanks

 

The link I posted above, there's a pretty low model there. We have one of those in the shop now and it's heavy, but is working great. I wouldn't want to have to pick it up LOL.... but how often does anyone ever do that?

 

I've had the steel 3.5 ton Craftsman since around 01. I have used the **** outta that thing and it has always done me well. The spring that keeps the handle up did break a yr or so ago, but that's been the only issue.

I believe the ones that have good luck with them, prolly got em before they changed manufacturers (if they indeed did).

 

Harbor Freight baby, Harbor Freight.

 

I have an HF steel jack that I've kept OUTSIDE for the last 7 years or so and it still works like new. Sometimes it's hard to find after a couple feet of snow. But always works great.

I have a better steel jack (forget what brand, not Sears) in the garage. I've also noticed the quality of Sears' tools have gone down lately. It's a shame.

 

I pretty much only buy Harbor Freight aluminum jacks.. They have worked better out of the box than the Sears Jacks I have had and they seem to last longer too.

 

Have 1 I made into a trans jack.
Other is my autox tire changing jack. over a year and still not an issue.

Then there is the beast. 3 metal wheels, has to weigh 90lbs, ugly as sin and invincible one I got from my old man. No idea what kind it is since its "rust" colored

 

I have a blue jack i bought from smas club a few years ago, quick lift, still kickin hard and i bet i use it more than 99% of the folks here.