Floor jack is teh brokes
 

I didn't really know where to post this, since it's really out of place anywhere on this forum, but here goes.

My floor jack decided to stop working on me today. It can handle light loads (i.e. my hand pushing down), but it can't lift the car for shit. I noticed that one of the piston/cylinders (I don't know my jack terminology) that the handle presses down on in order to get the saddle to lift is permanently stuck in a depressed position. See attached picture.

Attachment 39672

I'm irritated for two reasons. One, because my jack is pretty new. I bought it back in May or June at Harbor Freight.

Aluminum Floor Jack - 1.5 Ton Aluminum Racing Jack

The other reason I'm irate now is because this is preventing me from doing my JBR PMM install :/

Does anybody here have any experience with hydraulic jacks and fixing them? I've already bled air out of the pump, and the piston is still stuck. I'm considering draining the oil and refilling it with a fresh batch, but it seems too soon for that, since the manual says to replace it once every 3 years, and this is just a few months old. That, and I fail to see how replacing oil is going to dislodge a stuck piston.

get a new jack:sucks:

take that shit apart and fix it. don't worry about breaking it.

shit like this WILL happen when you buy harbor freight. that's why when i bought the same jack that you have i dished out the extra cash for the warranty.

warranty?

^^^^^What he said! It sucks but I think it's dead.

Do you still have the receipt? If you bought it in June, you might still be within the 90-day warranty. Then you could just bring it back to Harbor Freight and get a new one. I would look into getting this one:

Low Profile Floor Jack - 2 Ton, Rapid Pump® Jack

This looks to be a newer version of the one I have (mine is orange). Works like a champ and I know a lot of other people who use the orange version with no problems.

I think I may just pick that up. And the extended warranty as well lol. Imagine if the jack had failed on me while the car was still on stands...

I wonder if my Harbor Freight stocks the orange jack you speak of. The link you gave me shows the grey jack (mine is blue), and that's out of stock.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. At least I wouldn't have had to waste my time changing out the oil. And I have no receipts from the purchase, I never thought the jack would fail on me that fast lol

Harbor Freight was your first mistake. Their shit is cheap for a reason.

Check the hydrolic fluid. If it's full, then go buy a new jack. With the prices they charge at Harbor Freight they're basically a disposable item anyway.

@skeurton suggested the newer models aren't nearly as fail-prone as the model I had. What jack would you suggest? I'm still leaning on getting a newer Harbor Freight jack + ext. warranty. And keeping the receipt...

I would never buy anything that important from them. Think of everything in there as disposable....5time use lol

Don't waste your time or money, go to sears or lowes, home depot. I'd suggest sears over alot of things. Cheaping out on things like that can get you killed.

Well, the other hand tools I bought from them are several years old now, and still counting. FWIW

do you have a Northern Tool & Equipment close to ya?..i always consider their junk to be a step or two above the garbage at Harbor Freight and they offer a warranty too :shrug:

Nowhere near me, not even in a 100 mile range lol :(

fwiw, I got a decent jack from Walmart that is a "low profile" jack.

It seems to be built well, and is nice and low to squeeze under the car.

Hopefully, you can use your warranty, and get a new troublefree jack.

alot of my tools are from HF and ive never had a problem wit any of them. they also have an awesome no questions asked return policy.

i would def return it and get a new one. i think they give u store credit after 90 days so u can at least get a new one.

also if your buy the warranty they basically tell you that you can come in right before the warranty is over and replace the item for free even if its not broken.

lol genpu's

not gonna lie...I've installed my pmm with the jack from the trunk LOL. And my TMM LOL

Harbor Freight = Disposable Chinese Shit

Throw that fucker away and get some quality tools.

I have that same jack. It's working, but barely. First time I used it actual jack part bent because the car wasn't perfectly level. Because of the front roller bar instead of casters, combined with working on asphalt, it couldn't move to the side with the car, so it bent. Oh well.

I don't have my receipt, I figured it would be in better shape than this, oh well.

You cheap bastards probably use coke cans for jackstands too....:chairshot:

You have the "racing Jack"? Or the heavy duty jack? I picked up the heavy duty jack with the foot pedal, and got the extended 2-year warranty this time

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the crapsman 1.5 ton and 2 ton aluminum floor jacks fail all the time. they just cost more. and craftsman lifetime "bring it to sears and get it replaced" doesn't apply to jacks.

the truth is, the 1.5 ton HF lightweight jacks have always been kind of crappy. they fail, they don't have a high enough max-saddle height, etc. but when you pay $70 for a jack, that is the risk you run.

the truth is, until you spend $500 on a jack, they're all made in china, and some of them are pretty crappy. some more than others.

that being said, my 3 ton Torin "lightweight" floor jack is going on strong 7 years now. I bought it for 99.99 at pep boys of all places. it's not that lightweight, but it's a floorjack. does it mean that all torin jacks are great? probably not. like i said, it's a chinese made hydraulic jack. but fwiw, the 3 or 4 torin jacks that my friends and I have owned have been pretty reliable.

and jack failures are dangerous, so everyone please use jackstands and good judgement.

It is the racing jack. It's nice that I don't have to pump forever, especially on this car where you don't get a very long stroke starting out in the front.

I have the HF 2 ton low profile jack. works great for me, i don;t know why you would waste your time on the racing jack. its light weight and all and is good for short time use at a track. Honestly, are you picking up and carrying this jack around? just get a steel jack and don;t waste your time with these HF racing jacks.

i stand by my previous statement.

I actually picked up that same unit yesterday. It definitely seems sturdier than the racing jack!

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I've already replaced it, but I could always try repairing this one further down the line, in case I find myself needing to bring a jack somewhere

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Actually, yeah. I live on the 3rd floor of a condo building, sooo.

^^Well then that makes sense for you. I don;t trust the HF racing jacks bt if u need a light weight jack like yourself then it makes sense

i went through like 4 of those exact jacks before i decided to fess up and spend some cash

This heavy duty Jack that I got from HF is heavy as shit and seems to be a step up in durability over their racing jack. Let's see if it holds up; if it doesn't, then I'm gonna flaunt the extended warranty card

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i have the same one, and got a 1yr warranty

I have that blue racing jack. it's my 2nd jack. It loud as hell after you get it up over half way. My other jack is a 3 ton regular jack. I think my jack if going to break now.

The blue racing jack never gave warning as to when it was gonna give out, no noise or anything. The last time I tried to use it, both pistons were still extended. As I jacked the car up, the left piston rebounded like normal, while one on the right stayed where I had pushed the handle down to. Once I pushed the handle to the floor, that piston stayed down and never rebounded again.

I'm moving on past the blue jack. I will get a HD low pro jack.

Now I wish I could find a place that will recycle old metal/jacks for $$. There's a few places here that will take it off my hands for free, but I always like getting something out of everything I do lol