3 ton aluminum floor jack

[mdross1]

Hoping for suggestions to help find a good working 3 Ton aluminum floor jack.Our shop has a steel 3 ton that honestly cannot imagine how it could lift 6000lbs.Tried lifting the right front of a 3/4ton extended cab diesel engined GMC pu
Don't care if it is slow as long as it works relatively easy.

[RICK LAKE]

mdross1 You want a floor jack with a 3 ton limit? Aluminum? What lift height are you looking for? How much money do you want to spend? How low do you want it to be to side under a car or truck? Speed pump, air assist, foot operated? I have 2 jacks, one from sears that is about 20 years old and is a 3 ton jack. U se it on c ars and trucks you can get under that are about 6" off the ground. For the cobra, I have an aluminum one that is 3" high for getting under the cobra's side pipes and is a speed jack. I got this one from Harbor freight on sale for $129.00. The other place to look, would be a tool dealer like Snap-on, Macto, or Mac. These companies sell all kinds of equipment but the price is 50-100% higher than stores. I also think the same company makes them for all and just changes name plates and maybe pump handles. You could also look at Pepeboys, Autozones, O'Rielly's, A&R auto shops, and these are others. Lowes and Home D. also carry roller jacks in my area. Rick L.

[DanEC]

As hard as it might be to accept - Harbor Frieght has a nice line and selection of aluminum floor jacks in 1-1/2, 2 and 3 ton sizes. I also recommend the aluminum floor jacks they carry - nicely made.

I have a Sears, steel full size 2-ton jack but hardly every use it. Instead I always use 2 - 35 year old compact 2-ton roller floor jacks with bigger saddles than the compact ones sold now. They are compact, light weight, generally get under things and I typically use both of them together to lift one side of the car or one end from both sides. One slowly leaks off a little but I put jacks under it to unless I'm just quickly pulling a wheel off or something. I like the little bigger saddles for more area support but I still use a piece of plywood and square of cut up old bed liner between it and the frame. I wish they still sold these things but I may pick up a Harbor Freight aluminum one some day.

Also, off-subject but I'm 61 now and have occassional back issues. Manhandling these bigger tires anymore is not something I look forward to. A couple years ago I bought a set of Harbor Freight, crank-up car dollies on sale for $50 apiece - $200 for the whole set. I think they are normally about $90 each now. Even if you don't need a set of car dollies you might want to consider getting just one for tire and wheel work. They are slick - slide it under the tire and crank it up until it clears concrete, put a jack under the frame and lift it until the weight of the tire is barely resting on the dolly, knock the spinner loose and just roll the tire off and away from the car. No lifting or strain - and working it off the pins is a cinch with the weight off. Best thing is if you don't mess with the rotor position - putting the wheel back on is a cinch. Everything is still lined up the same as when I pulled it off and I just wheel it back under the fender, position it over the hub and slide it right on the pins. No fighting it to get it to where the pins and the wheel line up. Really nice.

[mdross1]

Thanks for the response Rick L and DanEC was looking at the Harbor Frieght jack and really like the idea of the crank-up rolling dolly.Was really curious if you could really lift 3 ton with a 3 ton rated jack.Need to have a jack that size just in case.Have to pick up an antque JD tractor down in Conn.May just take a bottle jack since I have several of those up to 20 ton.

[lovehamr]

This thread about jack safety came up over on the FE Power Forum and I though some here might want to peruse it.

Your jacking safety reminder

[Karl Bebout]

Costco has had nice looking aluminum jacks for a good price. Don't know if they still do since they change their merchandise mix from time to time. Can't beat the customer service at Costco and their products are generally very good quality.

[mdross1]

Have talked to a lot of people and tried a few 3 ton floor jacks actually lifting near the rated capacity.Because the jacks are so heavy and takes all the energy I have to lift 6000lbs off the ground will be taking a 5 ton bottle jack.Thanks for the input.