Any good aluminum floor jack recommendations?

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cudaspaz

cudaspaz

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I'm looking for a large aluminum floor jack with 2 piece removable handle for tight spaces.
I've found several, but I can't find one that has a jack pad large enough to set a section of a 2x4 on the pad.

My 100# cast iron jack is getting tired and I'd really like something easier on the back since I gotta lift it into my truck several times a day and I had a spinal blowout yesterday which rendered me on the self administered light duty list.

I was carrying two 60# batteries, one in each hand up a small flight of steps and while on step #4, my spine decided it wanted to collapse about 1" and I went from Billy bad ***, he man, to instant loser in about .003 seconds.

I could hardly breathe and every time I moved it was like someone was yanking my rib out of socket near my spine.
feeling better today but sore as hell from muscle spasms.
 
I,m in the same boat with a bad back,so this past summer I pulled the trigger and bought an alumi 1.5 ton jack.It has a 2 piece handle,it,s small and weighs about 10-12 pounds.I picked it up at our local Canadian Tire store on sale.It,s now found it,s place in my enclosed trailer for the track.8)Have you checked with Summit or Jegs?
 
pettybludart said:
I,m in the same boat with a bad back,so this past summer I pulled the trigger and bought an alumi 1.5 ton jack.It has a 2 piece handle,it,s small and weighs about 10-12 pounds.I picked it up at our local Canadian Tire store on sale.It,s now found it,s place in my enclosed trailer for the track.8)Have you checked with Summit or Jegs?
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jegs one looks cheap, but the arcan one, heavy duty from summit don't look too bad.
 
Summit was gonna be my suggestion. If you go let me know when and I'll meet you there and we can cruise Summit and grab some Krystals.
 
I've been eying the Craftsmen aluminum motorcycle jack (for my motorcycle) in the link above but Im not really sure I like it. I've read that particular jack rollers need to be "level" or it will tilt over. A guy said that I would need to take it out of box roll it around on a flat surface to check it. If it was out of "level" then I needed to take it back. Im like you spaz I want one that is lightweight but the aluminum sounds like it has problems. I borrowed my friends Craftsmen steal motorcycle jack and that sucker was heavy! But it worked great.

Hope your back gets to feeling better spaz!
 
mullinax95 said:
I've been eying the Craftsmen aluminum motorcycle jack (for my motorcycle) in the link above but Im not really sure I like it. I've read that particular jack rollers need to be "level" or it will tilt over. A guy said that I would need to take it out of box roll it around on a flat surface to check it. If it was out of "level" then I needed to take it back. Im like you spaz I want one that is lightweight but the aluminum sounds like it has problems. I borrowed my friends Craftsmen steal motorcycle jack and that sucker was heavy! But it worked great.

Hope your back gets to feeling better spaz!
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Thanks bud, you should have seen me yesterday.
My Wife said I hope you don't do "That" in front of customers tomorrow.

The Wife and kids could not help laughing at me and I laughed right along with them because it was funny to watch me walk, then all of the sudden flinch and drop to my knees in excruciating pain as it felt like my rib was jammed into a nerve, then all of the sudden the muscles would release and I was back in business, till about 20 seconds later...it was friggin hilarious if you can picture it...it was like someone had a remote control and was zapping my *** with an evil smile on their face. ha, ha.

I told them that the best thing about pain like that is that it let's you know you are still alive.....I kinda like it.
 
cudaspaz said:
Thanks bud, you should have seen me yesterday.
My Wife said I hope you don't do "That" in front of customers tomorrow.

The Wife and kids could not help laughing at me and I laughed right along with them because it was funny to watch me walk, then all of the sudden flinch and drop to my knees in excruciating pain as it felt like my rib was jammed into a nerve, then all of the sudden the muscles would release and I was back in business, till about 20 seconds later...it was friggin hilarious if you can picture it...it was like someone had a remote control and was zapping my *** with an evil smile on their face. ha, ha.

I told them that the best thing about pain like that is that it let's you know you are still alive.....I kinda like it.
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Man you might need to take easy for awhile. My dad hurt his back lifting a double window in place by himself. The next day he laid in out living room floor all day long. It's amazing what a man will do in order to support his family.
 
pettybludart said:
I,m in the same boat with a bad back,so this past summer I pulled the trigger and bought an alumi 1.5 ton jack.It has a 2 piece handle,it,s small and weighs about 10-12 pounds.I picked it up at our local Canadian Tire store on sale.It,s now found it,s place in my enclosed trailer for the track.8)Have you checked with Summit or Jegs?
Click to expand...
Scott, is that the blue one? How do you like it? It's a Michelan right? I need a new one too.
 
My steal floor jack has become a "NASCAR JACK". lol
I can't turn the handle slow enough to let the car down easy... it will just let the car come down fast. Not good when you want to just let it down easy on floor jacks.
 
Believe it or not I found that the 2 ton HF aluminum jacks are fairly decent.
Liked it so much ended up buying a second one to have a matching set.
Not a bad price either at about $169 minus the 20% coupon comes down to around $135.
 
Just a hint with buying cheap jacks ( of any sort )....replace the oil.
You see, at the factory where they make the jacks, they use the old hydraulic oil from the presses/stamping machines in the jacks, and put new oil in the presses.
I used to repair jacks/hydraulic components....so I saw this a lot.....as well as they don't clean them properly before assembly and swarf would get in the ball-valves, so the jack wouldn't operate properly.
 
Good thread Cudaspaz. Moving around my old Snap-On 3 1/2 ton jack is getting old. That suckers got to weigh 100 lbs. I've got to say that it's never failed me, even after 25 years.
 
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