I am about to buy one of the Harbor Freight Aluminum racing jacks. Is there anyone who bought the one for about $80 instead of the $130 upgrade that is happy with it? I know a lot of people return it for whatever reason, but I can't see paying $50 more for the larger one. For those that return it, or have the larger, what made you go with that choice rather than the smaller one?

 

Actually, I'm not quiet content with the $130 one. The first problem is you can't jack from the front because its not long enough to get to the support beam. Of course one could drive the car up on 2 x 4's but a good jack is suppose to prevent this additional step.

So I jack the car up from the sides. Thats where my 2cnd problem comes into play. The car is lowered 1". OK, no problem for this jack with 18" street wheels. But there is a prob once I get my RoadRace wheels on where I have 315's in the rear and 17" wheels all around.

It seems that when I want to remove the track wheels back to the streets, sometimes there is a little resistance in getting the jack under one of the rocker panels with the 17" wheels on. I presume its because the car with the 17" wheels is a tad bit lower, even though the 17" tire should negate it. So its back to the boards to get clearance.

What I would really like is a jack I saw that has a 3" height and is 30" long! That will pose no problems in getting to the beam in the front and will definitely pose no problems if I need to jack from the sides with my Track wheels on.

I'll have to find the link but the problem with this jack is its like 85 lbs!
Its also expensive but like so many others, I've learned to give up on splitting hairs on good equipment that does the job 100% of the time and does it the safest and proper way.

 

First of all the 80 dollar one and the 130 dollar one are the same size... the 80 dollar one is a piece of junk.. with several product liability issue still pending.. the 130 dollar one is a quick pump.. and is made much better than the 80 dollar one... I was told buy a friend on the "inside " at Harbor frieght to stay away from the 80 dollar jack..

my car is also lowered.... the long nosed jack that reaches fromthe front cost close to 300 dollars... its a nice jack but very heavy... I just use my jack to jack up one side then I take my three ton jack and jack up the other side,.. For 130 dollars you cant beat this jack for a lowered C5. funny thing about the previous poster... he can get a 3 1/2 in jack under his 17 in wheels .. I wonder how any of these guys with a non run flat will get a jack under their car when the 2 in sidewall is flat and the car is stilling on the rim and the clearance to get a jack under it is 2 inches...

 

I'm pretty sure the 130 dollar one has a 2 inch higher maximum jacking height over the 80 dollar one. They both look like good jacks, so it's hard for me to tell that the more expensive one is better...I guess you get what you pay for, but for 130 is should be flawless. Just my opinion

 

That Harbour Freight jack looked cool, but I didn't buy it, in fact I'm still in the process of buying one, BUT if you want a really good jack that answers the concerns in the above post; there is a great jack at Sears for $119.00. IT has the quick lift feature and I believe it's either all or part aluminum. It may be on the website too. It is a low profile jack and was highly recommended when I told the Sears personell why I wanted it. also, one year guarranty. Good luck. If you buy it let me know about it.

 

I bought the $80 dollar one and am very pleased with it. I jack from the sides for oil change and wheel removal. I don't get under the car without the jack stands in place. I don't see any problem with the quality of the jack.

 

good point . . some folks do not think the issue all the way through . .

last evening while listening to the Ohio State Patrol on my scanner I heard one of the troopers call in that he had a flat but no spare. They had to tow him in . . poor planning . . at least he had a radio and a free tow

 

I have the sears al. jack, costs a little more also lifts 2-tons,no problem gettin under the car, Pep Boys has a sale on 1 1/2 ton for $99,dont know if its nationwide.