anyone use or have an aluminum jack?

I'm considering to pick one up but I'd like to hear of some past experiences from you members

 

Define "racing" jack. I use an aluminum jack from Kragen (Powerbuilt) with 1.5 ton capacity and the thing only weighs 19 lbs. It's still to high to clear the front undertray to get to the subframe, but my car is pretty damn low.

I passed on the $200 "racing" jack at Kragen because I still don't think it would have cleared, it weighed more, and I really don't have to use the jack often enough for $120 more.....

 

I got one of the Harbor freight specials. I got it when it first came out (169). Now they got it for $89. Its ok for the paddocks limited duties, but Id never consider it for a daily garage jack.

 

I have a Craftsman alum jack. I like the quick lift on the first pump feature, but the lever arm feels like it's bending a bit when I lever down on it. I didn't like that it almost tipped over while lowering my diff during a swap, either. OTOH, that's what my steel 3 ton jack is for anyway. It's much wider.

I'd buy one, it's a joy to have such a light jack. Just remember that it's narrow, and not good for all jack duties.

PaulC

 

This is what I have and use on regular garage and race day tire swap duty.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=40105

 

the one I'm looking at is this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEBWA%3AIT

any comments?

 

That is the exact same as harbor freights sell.

 

do you have any experiences with that jack??

 

yea....i use it in garage works and race day to swap tires...lift the whole side of FD in about 3 pumps

 

harbo frieght ones...

i have used it to the max..mulitple track days...whored out to other drivers...haha..it has served it's purpose well..

be careful of the bolts are thy like to come loose...

other than that, no complaints so far...

I use it at home to lift the car too..but for extended preiods of my other heavier cars, I prefer to use my AC jack...

 

Those are actually two different jacks.

 

Tehere are several AL "racing" jacks available now. Some are better than others. I think common sense should be used here...an $89 jack probably isn't going to work for a Nascar team but may be just fine fo changing tires a few times a year...

I have the Harbor Freight jack and have been pretty happy with it. lifting the tire off the ground in three pumps is GOOD. I doubt it's going to last like a "real" good jack would but there are supposed to be parts available...

Cory

 

I found a local shop selling an AL jack made by PROFORM...anyone even heard of such a company??
It seems like they're geared towards domestics

as for getting a good quality jack, all I have right now is one of those cheap $50 ones you pick up from Walmart/AutoZone/etc, so I don't think I can go any lower on the quality scale.

 

I was looking at this one.

http://www.jcwhitney.com/webapp/wcs/...X&appId=563933

Do you think its the same as the one on ebay?

Carl, how high is the harbor freight one in the back? I need to be able to fit it under my airdam to get to the crossmember. I have about 6.5" of clearance.

 

I have a very hard time getting to the crossmember from the front. my car is stock with the 18 year old sagging springs...

 

The Harbor Freight racing jack and the Craftsman racing jack should both work. My Z06 has about 4-5 inches of clearance on the sides ... the HF jack fits underneath the side sills without any drama.

I was debating spending the extra bucks on the Craftsman, but I was able to pick up the HF Aluminum jack for $110. I have many uses for the saved $90 ..... like tires.

-Don

 

Lots of guys in our car club have the HF version and seem to be pretty happy with them.

 

Harbor Freight has a $79 alum jack as well. I will try to find the link again.

 

I've had one of the $169 HF jacks for about 3 years, and I beat the snot out of it. For instance, I used it to reposition the trusses in my garage after all the flooring, roof sheathing, etc had been done, and it still works fine. BTW, the $89 HF jack isn't the same thing, it's like a 3/4 scale version of the big one.

 

HF sells Three diff alum Jacks - the 3000lb "Racing Jack" in two versions - the Silver one (curently $129on the web site)- And Anodized Colors ones ($139) (they are actually slightly different look closly at the side rails) and a Larger 2 ton model ($199) HF also sells a 1/4 size working scale model of the anodized jack.

I have the silver 3000lb model that I use in the garage - It easily fits under the side rail of the fd but is not long enough to get to the crossmember from the front. It also lifts my Dakota with ease (the Dak is aprox 3900#)

 

Yea your right, thanks, I didnt notice. Dont feel so bad now.

 

3 1/2" at the saddle and 6 1/4 at the fraomes highest point (the rear) so you should just make it.

 

I have the craftsman al jack and have not had any problems with it. I haven't experience the handle bending either and I have had the car jacked up very high.

 

A real race jack costs anywhere from $900 for a shop jack (about 3-4 pumps) to $1500+ for a race jack (1-2 pumps) They wheigh about 19 pounds or so but that's just me guessing.

 

I have this jack I got at the Price Club (now Costco?) 14 years ago. It weights about 30 lbs... takes about 15 or so pumps to get the car up, barely fits under the side of the car, parts including wheels sometimes fall off of it. But hey... it works!

I'm kinda attached to it... but yeah... time to invest in a new jack.