Decent & affordable aluminum floor jacks?

I'm considering getting an aluminum floor jack to have a lighter weight alternative to throw in the trunk for track days. I'd rather not spend the money on a throw-away piece, but don't want to drop big bucks, either. Suggestions welcome!

FWIW, there's a Harbor Fright 10 minutes from me, so if they have something decent, it's readily available. However, that's not saying I WANT to buy a HF jack. Thx

Brad...I have a harbor freight aluminum racing jack. It has been good to me. I have used it on my 64 Dodge,my pickups, and even used it to jack up the back of my 3010 John Deere tractor to put on the winter chains.

We had a HF aluminum jack at work, and we beat the hell out of it for years with no issues.

I use the small aluminum jack from HF at the track. It was $99 ten years ago, I think they are like $69 now. I actually use it a fair amount around the house as well, for just a tire change or something where I don't need the car high its perfect. I have totally expected it to fail by now lol.

It also has like 5 million pumps on it from my kid jacking up hot wheels.

A local independent tire guy that sells A LOT or tires and nothing else & uses strictly floor jacks. he was paying 600+ for Snap offs and getting about a year out of them. The local HF store manager stopped in for some tires and asked about the service life on the jacks. When he heard a year, he said I will sell you 3 of our (new at the time) Daytona jacks with a 3 year money back guarantee in writing on our letterhead. he bought the jacks and a few more since. he loves them. believe me these jacks get USED almost non stop 9 hours a day 6 days a week
Due to my experiences with other "Name Brand" made in america (but really in China) jacks, I'd buy one in a heartbeat. But I am currently down to just myself in the shop and my 10yo OTC floor boss and 50+ yo Hein Werner are doing fine

I have one sitting in my shop that I never use. If you were local you could borrow it to see if it would work for you.

i have a couple of the Hobo Fright aluminum jacks, one i bought new when it was on sale, and one i bought for 15 or 20 bucks at a swap meet.
both have worked great for me over the last 6-8-10yrs or so i have had them.
sure beats lugging the two 3 ton sears jacks, and my old hein-warner jack around.
i'm getting too old to be heaving steel jacks in my bus or a car trunk.

Harbor Freight used to sell exclusively throw away stuff. The type of tools you'd keep in a kitchen drawer. While they still offer screwdrivers and pliers made from Jolly Rancher candy they also offer really good lines of tools. They have upped their game in the past decade. I have a steel 3 ton floor jack I bought from them in 2003- still works great. I have their low profile 3 ton jack I bought in 2015 and its been great.

I have had two of the HF steel 3 ton floor jacks for years and my only complaint is they leak down, I returned one and the replacement leaks down too. About 5 or 6 years ago I bought one of the aluminum fast pump racing jacks, it’s been great. The heavy steel jacks seldom get used anymore.

I bought three Harbor Freight jacks over the years. They threw in three blue flashlights, some batteries, an electrical meter, and some screwdrivers.

Well, that's interesting... and not what I expected to hear. Thx!

Do be cautious of any "Made in America" claims as I believe only two companies still exist and maybe down to one. The others are well known names now owned by SHINN FU and are imported junk parading under the old names. Likely does'nt apply as i do not believe any are aluminum.
And yes HF has improved their quality on a lot of items and the prices are reflecting it

I'll join the chorus: I've got 3 of the HF 1.5 ton aluminum racing jacks, and they're great. Bought the first one to throw in my trailer-tow box; it's been used to help roll wrecks onto the open trailer, change flats on the side of the road, move all kinds of printing and industrial equipment, and it still works great. When I bought my van it didn't have a jack, so I bought a second one that gets used more when other people are broke down on the side of the road. I ended up with a third when my wife started a long commute and wanted to be able to change a flat on her own. Mine all live in boxes with the handles off. I found a Home Depot toolbox that the jack will fit into broken down, with a folding 4-way or breaker bar and sockets, some gloves, a pair of wheel chocks, and a zip-lock with scrubby wipes. They're light enough to just pick up instead of dragging across the garage floor. I think I've gotten all of mine on sale for $79 each.

I forgot to mention that the small aluminum floor jacks go well with the small aluminum jack. They aren't tall but they are tall enough to let me get under my car and change shocks each day on drag week.

I will also add that I have the big yellow "daytona" jack from HF. Its awesome, it even rolls super smooth and quiet. It would not be something I took to the track though haha.

The small Harbor Freight aluminum jack seems to be hit or miss. My friend went through two of them in a fairly short period or time. My father in law`s jack has lasted for a long time. I have yet to buy one but the price is enticing even though I tend to stay away from the harbor freight stuff.

I think they are made to "leak down" to get people to use safety stands.

a buddy of mine had a jack leak down on him once.
damn good thing a guy came around to bs with him !
no more getting under anything without stands !

Yeah, stands are a must. My Craftsman aluminum floor jack I bought years ago would leak down pretty much ever since new. They didn`t service parts for the power unit and only sold as a complete unit. I bought a new power unit for it and it has been fine going on 15 years or so.

I bought these last year and love them

I like that, details?

I had a quick lift I. My shop before that I had to put together and take apart and at almost 66 years old I was struggling to do it by myself. It would give me 20 inches of clearance under the tires. This setup got me around 14 inches so I called him and talked to him. He said he could show me how to get 17 inches so I bought them and sold my Kwk-lift. Man I really like these.


https://myliftstand.com/specifications/

Those are pretty nice!! I was able to get a couple of untreated rail ties that had been sectioned into 12'-16' chunks, and I usually use these, stacked with double-stacks at each point, under my truck's frames, when I need height and will be working under the vehicle. I started with jack stands, when putting a 4" Skyjacker system on my '93 W150, and the truck was too "wobbly" for my nerves. The chunks, stacked to appropriate height and in tandem at each frame point, were stable, and they are cheap. I think I like your setup better, though.

I've only had HF floor jacks; a 4T iron one and a smaller, Al one, and both have been excellent. The 4T IS a heavy beast, though. I gave it to a young friend who needed one for his family's first home with garage, for his own DYI work.

many years back i had a model A street rod up on 4 jack stands. As i was standing alongside it (small garage) it began to fall. I was able to hold it bracing myself between the car and workbench. Fortunatle the wife stepped out and got the floor jack under it. I had some deep offset 12" steel rims left over from another project. She said, put the rims under the tires on one end of the car, get rid of 2 or the JS and doing so will stabilize the car as the two tires will act like they are on the ground as they are trapped in the rim. HMM. Great idea and used it for years until I got the lift. Back then you could pick the rims up dirt cheap at swap meets as most people don't want a 12" + wide rim.

Buy your aluminum jacks soon.

Monday Wall Street Journal article makes a strong case that
the worldwide price of aluminum is going to go up a lot - more than “average inflation” of other products we are all seeing.

Sample quote

Energy can account for more than half the cost of making aluminum,
which is why traders call the commodity “Congealed Electricity.”

end quote

Harbor Freight 3 Ton Low Profile Aluminum Racing Jack
In my toterbox on my trailer tongue

@ https://www.harborfreight.com/3-ton-aluminum-rapid-pump-racing-floor-jack-64544.html



Jim