Harbor Freight Floor jacks
Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2014 11:27 pmHF has a very good reputation for its floor jacks, and run sales on them regularly... so I finally got one.
Now a G506/508's axle is already almost 18 inches off the ground, so why did I but the 3 ton low profile jack that only goes to 20 inches? Elementary my Dear Watson (you do know that Sherlock Holmes NEVER uttered that phrase, right??)
I paid $89 for this jack on sale. 3 tons, 20 inch height. While they do sell 4 ton jacks (not really needed for a G506/G508) its not the weight capacity, but the lift height that we need. The only higher reaching jack is the this one:
It reaches 23 3/4ths inches (still not high enough) and even on sale, its almost double the cost.... for the even less lifting capacity. So whats a smart CCKW owner to do?
Floor jack extensions!
For the price of some round stock (about $20 for 2-3inch x 6 diameter) you can lift the saddle up to a height that allows for lifting the axle WITHOUT resorting to dangerous and unstable wood blocks.
Here's the saddle fo the HF jack.. note the center bolt.. that's where the extender bolts in
and the saddle bolts to the top:
These are available from autobodytoolmart.com
But here are some other extensions that work just as well (homemade):
You get the idea. The lifting capacity of the jack is not altered, as the extension does not increase the length of the lifting arm (well, mathematically it does, but for less than 6 inches of lift its still well within safety margins).
Now a G506/508's axle is already almost 18 inches off the ground, so why did I but the 3 ton low profile jack that only goes to 20 inches? Elementary my Dear Watson (you do know that Sherlock Holmes NEVER uttered that phrase, right??)
- hfjack.PNG (112.52 KiB) Viewed 2334 times
I paid $89 for this jack on sale. 3 tons, 20 inch height. While they do sell 4 ton jacks (not really needed for a G506/G508) its not the weight capacity, but the lift height that we need. The only higher reaching jack is the this one:
- hfjack2.PNG (140.78 KiB) Viewed 2334 times
It reaches 23 3/4ths inches (still not high enough) and even on sale, its almost double the cost.... for the even less lifting capacity. So whats a smart CCKW owner to do?
Floor jack extensions!
For the price of some round stock (about $20 for 2-3inch x 6 diameter) you can lift the saddle up to a height that allows for lifting the axle WITHOUT resorting to dangerous and unstable wood blocks.
Here's the saddle fo the HF jack.. note the center bolt.. that's where the extender bolts in
- hfsaddle.PNG (82.01 KiB) Viewed 2334 times
and the saddle bolts to the top:
- fjextend.PNG (21.62 KiB) Viewed 2334 times
These are available from autobodytoolmart.com
But here are some other extensions that work just as well (homemade):
- ext4x4.PNG (538.45 KiB) Viewed 2334 times
- ext2.PNG (395.61 KiB) Viewed 2334 times
You get the idea. The lifting capacity of the jack is not altered, as the extension does not increase the length of the lifting arm (well, mathematically it does, but for less than 6 inches of lift its still well within safety margins).