Can anyone out there recommend a good floor jack? I currently have an aluminum floor jack, and it's nice, but the lift I get off of it is not very high. It essentially will allow me to raise the car to the lowest level on my jack stands. If I want to raise the car higher (as is often the case when working underneath), I have to devise a mechanism (either blocks of wood or bricks) to raise it higher. I'm kind of tired of doing this, and am at the point where I'd just like to get a better jack.

 

No recommendation on particular brand but do get the largest capacity you can get by with and afford. Also, bricks and cinder blocks are not good to use as they can crush quickly if they are weak, wood blocks (6X6 sections) are great and they do not fail so catastrophically if they do give out. Keep you eye out when you see someone building a deck in the neighborhood, usually there are some sections left over. I had three 4X4 sections already but when I had some deck work done they used 6X6 and those things are beasts!

 

I've had really good luck with the 3.5 ton jacks sold by Costco. I bought one eight years ago for $80 and with lots of hard (ab)use (including frequent use on my 7,500 lb empty weight crewcab dually), the seals just now wore out. I bought another one and it also works well, though the price is now just under $100.

 

While not exactly cheap, I'm liking this one. I like the idea of the auto raise to the height you need before pumping. Also, at 20", that's about has high a lift you can get without spending over $1000 or more. Plus, free shipping is nice too.
http://www.toolsurge.com/prodview.asp?sku=OME-25025

 

I use a crafsman, its aluminum and steel constrution. Three yrs and a lot of abuse and no problems so far (just jinxed myself). Cost about $130. JKaz

 

OK, I've made a few calls, and was told about this jack. While definitely not cheap, i REALLY like the lift height of 32". I wouldn't have to deal with stupid props at all to get the car to a high point on jack stands.
http://www.tooldiscounter.com/ItemDi...ookup=OME25023

 

i have a crafsman aluminum jack also. when i got it new it would not go very high. i had to add fluid to it and never had a problem after that. if you can pull your floor jack higher after it is all the way up by hydrolics then you need more fluid. may not be your problem but i do like mine.

 

Well, my current jack works fine. It raises to its maximum height. It's just not that high. Since it's aluminum and lightweight, I'm just going to carry it around in the trunk of the 442 in case I ever need it. This way I don't have to disturb the original jack and won't mess up my bumpers or paint.

I decided on this one. It was cost effective and does what I need it to do. Plus I like the foot pump.
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...9257_200349257

I am looking foward to the day I will no longer have to use props to get the car lifted to the necessary height.

 

I have one of those hydraulic jack in the case I carry in the trunk or in the Vista storage compartment/beer cooler. Besides bending the bumper you had to jack them up about 10 feet with a bumper jack to get the rear wheel off the ground. I always use jackstands and slide the tires under the frame so I don't get squished completely flat if it falls. I have a Chinesium Snears Craftsman cast iron and steel 3 ton black painted job, pretty rugged with heavy duty steel wheels, the old gas station type are the best. I have a drive-on lift too but by the time I switch cars around sometimes it's just easier to do some things on the ground.

 

for me I have 4 -2 1/2 ton jacks that I paid $49 each. What I do is use 4x4's on the bottom of the frame with 1 jack on each end. After jacking up the car I always , always , always use jackstands. I have 6 jackstands at 2 ton capcity and have used all of them in some cases I guess I just have a fear of being crushed due to a hydraulic jack failure.