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A good, high quality, rugged built floor jack will cost an arm and a leg. :eek:

If ya don't want to go that route, you can go with the "Made In China" floor jacks. They are of lower quality and are fairly inexpensive. When one of these cheaper jacks quits working you just you throw it away and buy another one.

There ya go! You might want to check out eBay as well.

I purchased a Walker made in the U.S.A. jack about 40 years ago. Still works fine. I think it is worth the money to buy one that will last a life time and then some.

See you down the Back Roads

We have purchased three of the China jacks (2 1/2 ton) in the past year. All three have "leak down" problems. Have your jack stands ready,because after a couple of minutes under a load the leak down starts.I have a Sears jack that was purchased 25 years ago and never had a problem,but it was probably built berore the China Craze.

You should Never Ever work under a motor on hydraulic jacks without extra security ie: axle stands or blocks.
Alas I've seen the results of this & it was a quality jack & he was a quality bloke.
Every thing stacked up. The jack was regularly maintained & tested & the load was well within it's capacity by over 2 tons he was only checking the final drive oil levels on a crawler.
Not worth the trouble to block it, he was only going to be there a couple of minutes & he wasn't really going right under!!!!!!
Even laying the removed wheels under the car could save you if the jack gave way.

Gator,

SAMS CLUB - Roush Racing 3 1/2 ton shop jack $74.22 .

Gator,

Mine is Michelin - made in China - works good - quality appears good. Sams Club purchase.

The Roush is also made in China - appears good.

Kipper, no one said we were working under a vehicle that was not supported by jack stands.
After many years of working on autos we are smarter than that.
I also had a friend that was killed when a vehicle fell on him. He set a jack stand under the axle and didn't let the weight of the vehicle down on the stand. When the jack failed the stand fell over and he was crushed to death.

If your friend was smart & not working dangerously, how come he was killed when the jack gave way??

I'll bet there's quite a few, on this site, who have also worked dangerously under a jacked vehicle!

This is a site with members of mixed backgrounds & abilities.

Safety cannot be emphasised enough.

Yeah it is bad when you are an old codger and the durn jack leaks down before you can scramble around and get the jack stand in place. Just have 'em all set and ready, before you jack'er up! (you can huff and puff after the thing settles down)

I have three floor jacks, 2 six ton ones and a small one. The one I use the most is a real small one I won at a club meeting, a doorprize.
I use it when the car is on the lift to raize just one wheel. I like doing brake jobs on the 4 post lift, raize the car up and down to suit me, then jack up each wheel to adjust the shoes.

If you ever buy a good car lift you won't go back to jacks and jack stands except in special cases. When you build your dream shop build it tall enough so a lift will fit in with a car on top.

Well, all I can say is "Safety First." And better to be "overly" safe. It seems like the first mishap with a jack could easily be the last!!

It's sorta like that unsuccessful skydiving one-liner somebody posted just a day or so ago.

I can only hope "we" all are very safety conscious; regardless of how many times "we've done it before." This idea of safety around / under a jack certainly isn't something to be taken lightly!

Bill.

It's only dangerous when you forget it's dangerous !

Prehaps should be in "One liners"

My car is on jack stands and my jack is broke.

I tried to drive it off by revving up the engine to 60MPH and slamming on the brakes. It didn't work.

So I took off my seat belt poured another drink and wondered? What would a man of substance suggest?

"When you build your dream shop make it tall enough for the lift to fit with a car on top"

Now you tell me Mr Mack!

Hey MM, JG.
Nothing to do with jacks but similar to the car lift story.

I once knew a chap wo lived in a little cottage similar to Sarnie Castle, his wife had always wanted a 4 post bed with drapes etc.
He bought her one for their 25th anniversary,
remember this is a little English cottage.
He took great delight in showing off this bed to visitors.
The bed filled the room, the door was removed, you had to climb on the bed to get in the bedroom. There was about 12 inches either side of the bed & tight against the wall at head & foot.
The step ladder against the side wall was for visitors to climb so that they could admire the canopy tapestry !!!!

Kipper.

Quote: "There was about 12 inches either side of the bed".

I'm glad to know that!

That sounds like a Kingsize bed in a 14' Winnabago! VAROOM! ZZZZZZZZZZ!

John Gill get a 12' long 2X4 and apply it as a pry bar at the end you want off first, edgewise and angled at whatever angle that will allow you to pry up on the axle being supported by the jack stands and lift up till the car falls offen the stands, That is what they do down here in the Southwest!or go down to Harbor Freight , Lowes, Home Depot and buy yourself a brand new floor jack, jack the car up and remove the said jackstands, being careful to not knock any paint offen the brand new floor jack, then take it back to Harbor Freight, Lowes, or Home Depot where you bought it and along with your receipt ask for your money back, "The jack was too tall and wouldn't fit under your work bench" ,That is what,tighter than bark on a tree, folks in the Southwest do!

I would look in the telephone book for a jack repair service. Contact them and see if they have any rebuilt jacks for sale. I purchased two Walker hydraulic jacks, a large one and a small one years ago and I use them on a daily basis.

They may also have other brands of US made jacks, that are rebuilt, for sale.