Would anyone recommend any of the floor jacks at Northern Tool? I'll probably only use it very little, so I don't want to sink a small fortune into one, but other than capacity, what other features does it need, such as extension, etc.? Any input on their jack stands would also be appreciated. Oh yeah, I'll be getting the cross member piece and doing the mod to be able to lift the car at the suggested lifting points. Thanks everyone!

 

I think I'd check out the ones at Pep Boys, Auto Zone and, O'Reilly near you. And, believe it or not, Wally-world has some nice ones too.

 

I bought a Big Red racing jack from NT. Works fine thus far. It does NOT have a removable saddle though, so it will not accept the NT Cross bar. I bought another jack - Michelin brand - at Sam's for that...

 

Sears . .$89.98 with a low profile wide roller on the front - -works great - -reasonable price.

 

Me dumb ...................... never thought of them (smacks head) Craftsman Can't be beat ...................

 

I got one from Jegs. 1-1/2 ton all aluminum racing jack. Cost $139.00. Great jack and only weighs about 30 lbs.

 

Try this.

http://www.tooltopia.com/index.asp?P...l=&strCompare=

 

Costco also has a low profile racer type floor jack for $99.....works great. Also, don't forget the BMW "pucks" for the side rail slots.....makes lifting from the sides a much safer proposition & can be left in place. Otherwise, get a couple of hockey pucks from any sports equipment store for the lifting saddle on the jack.

 

got lucky on Sat., was at a fleamarket(fleas sold out) found a small alum. low profile jack for $25.00! brought it home, serviced it with oil, Works great!

 

Here's a write-up from MyMiata which compares the Craftsman low profile floor jack to similar appearing versions:

Craftsman Aluminum Floor Jack
September 27, 2003

RudeDude opened a topic on Miata.net about this aluminum floor jack from Sears. I had been looking at the one Harbor Freight sells ($130 to $160 depending on the day of the week) for some time, but had an uneasy feeling in my gut about it--I read of a couple of people who had had trouble with the head casting breaking, and of some hydraulic problems, apparently with some early production units. HF had acknowledged the problem to some extent with exchanges and refunds, and the newer production runs seemed to be OK--but I still had reservations.

Sears had this Craftsman unit for $179.99, less 10% if you opened a Sears charge account, so I went for it--$161.99.

Notes:
The Craftsman jack is similar in design to the Harbor Freight unit, however it's fit and finish are definitely a step or two above that of the HF jack. The specifications for the two jacks are shown below--the major differences are the Craftsman's 2 ton capacity (vs. 1-1/2 tons for the HF unit), and the Craftsman's 4-1/8" longer length. Before you ask, it is made in China--what the Heck isn't these days.

The good news is that it's nearly entirely made from welded plate aluminum (the exceptions being the jack end casting for the pump handle, the lift head pivot casting, and the pump's cast iron base). On the HF jack the body side plates and the entire primary lift arm (and maybe the lift arm's control straps) appear to be cast aluminum (high quality sand-castings, maybe die-cast, but definitely NOT high-pressure die-cast) --this makes the integrity of these components entirely dependent upon the skills of the foundry. The precision cut from plate side members and welded lift arm of the Craftsman unit are costlier to produce, however their ultimate capacity is far more predictable than that of low cost castings--this in itself may account for the Craftsman unit's additional 1,000 lb. capacity.

The jack has a Quick-Lift feature that raises the saddle to the chassis in one or two pumps of the handle, it then goes into jacking mode where 6 or 7 full strokes will lift the load to maximum height. The required pumping effort is somewhat high, like many faster lift action jacks, but not unreasonably so. A nice touch is a parts tray at the rear of the jack body, with a magnetic rubber lining. The lowering action is quite smooth and controllable, 1/2 turn of the handle will lower the car very gently and opening the valve more does not let it drop excessively fast.

This is NOT a "race jack" (if you're looking for super fast lowering).

Specification

Craftsman (# 00950239000)/ Harbor Freight (# 3941)

Rated Capacity 4,000 lbs./ 3,000 lbs.
Length 27-3/4"/ 23-5/8"
Width (widest point) 12-1/8"/ 11-13/16"
Height (highest point) 6-1/4"/ 6-1/8"
Lifting Range 3-3/4" to 18-1/2"/ 3-1/2" to 17-1/2"
Weight 42.5 lbs./ 35.4 lbs.
Handle Length 44-1/2"/ 47-1/4"

For years I've been telling anyone that would listen that "If you do what your gut says you might be wrong, but if you don't you probably will be wrong...I'd rather go for maybe being wrong, than probably being wrong." This is a good practical example of the philosophy working out. Like many Harbor Freight products their jack is a good value, particularly when it's on sale--in fact I almost bought one several times--but when you see the HF and Craftsman jacks "side-by-side" deciding whether or not to cough up that other $20-$40 is not a difficult decision!

This is a quality unit easily worth the $40 to $50 premium, over the Harbor Freight jack, that it's MSRP of $199.99 commands. On sale at $179.99 it's a great deal-- the extra 10% off for climbing in bed with the Sears credit card devil is just icing on the cake!

 

I have a 2 ton (mini) floor jack that I got from sears. It's a bit more difficult to operate than your standard 2 ton floor jack, but I can easily transport it when I take the car to the track which is nice.

 

Yeah Dave S, I saw one in Costco the other day, but it's not on their website. It's all aluminum but I didn't really look at the specs. In order to get the car on jack stands, how high does the jack need to raise/extend assuming that I'm using the Northern Tool crossmember thing?

 

 

Guys, do you have a model # for the Sears lift? I'm looking right now and don't see one for that price. There's one for $99.99 that's silver & red and the reviews are horrible. Everybody gave it a 1 out of 5. Yikes.

 

I bought this (Omega) jack last year and recently used it to get my calipers off for powder coating. A Long reach jack like this makes life a lot easier. Other long reach units are much more expensive. The Omega seems well made and was definitely a worthwhile addition to my garage tools.

 

I bought this low-profile Heavy Duty jack from Tooltopia.com and love it.

FREE SHIPPING! - Omega (OME29023) Heavy Duty Low Profile Service Jack- On Sale through April 4th!

Extra long low side frames designed for long reach under the car chassis.
Innovative design of Magic Lift offers a quicker lift for professional performance.
Low-profile design for maximum access, which fits easily and safely under vehicle.
Wide stance and low center of gravity provides optimum stability under load stress

 

Bought this one too. Works great.

 

I have the Tooltopia jack and it is a LOT longer than the other AL jacks people get. I got the jacking adapter that puts 2 pads on the "ideal" jacking locations.

The only bad news is that tooltopia seems to have "jacked" the price from 6 months ago. I think it was $189 so $229 is not such a good sale.

It is well woth the $$$ and has a ton of reach.

 

Picked this one up as well. It's just about perfect with the low long reach.

 

I just ordered the Omega at: http://www.monstronix.com/ome29023-p-67155.html
$185.61 + $6.50 shipping.