Here's the Floor Jack I got from Pepboys

It's a Torin Big Red and a bit of an overkill (3 tons) but it seemed to be a good deal--$59.99 with $10 mail-in rebate, and will raise the car up to 20". The only thing I don't like about it is that it has a slow lift unlike the other one I have which raises the car pretty fast. I'm still deciding whether to keep it or not and if not I'll probably splurge and get an aluminum one and be done with it.

Interesting, saw a real nice Al Powerbuilt floor jack at Kragen and then saw the same one at Pepboys under Torin Big Red. If you got the bucks, buy a product, put your name on it and mark it up... capitalism at its best.

Was at Sears buying some tools and thought I look at their floor jacks. Almost gave into temptation. There was a Craftsman 2.5 ton floor jack (pretty nice I might add) with 2 jack stands marked down from 149.99 to 99.99.

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Originally Posted by Hector

Was at Sears buying some tools and thought I look at their floor jacks. Almost gave into temptation. There was a Craftsman 2.5 ton floor jack (pretty nice I might add) with 2 jack stands marked down from 149.99 to 99.99.

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FWIW I'd still recommend against the Craftsman. Love the tools, hate the jack - it's left me stranded twice now! Well - not stranded, but stand-ed (up on stands) :)

- Robin

I have the Sears 3 ton and though almost universally panned on this board...mine has worked great. I would not replace it with another one though...would upgrade. Biggest reason is...don't need a fancy aluminum one...may be nice if you can find one with a good load rating...aluminum jacks generally aren't as strong...sure there are exceptions...but I want a real low slung floor jack...as my Sear's floor jack with a block of wood in the cup doesn't go low enough...so gonna find a low floor jack next time.
George

How does it drop the car? Instant or very very gradual with lots of control as in a full turn?

Tiger...as your question implied..that is the issue with the Sears jack. If not careful...the car will come down quicker than you want. The valve on the Sears jack is just not as refined as a higher end jack. For the money however...as with most Sears tools...they are hard to beat for a home mechanic...just takes some care bringing the car down....I usually use two hands on the jack handle to modulate the valve for best control...a real good jack only takes one.
George

George, I remembered from a previous post you said you were happy with the your floor jack. At Sears, I remembered this and that's were temptation came into play. Thought maybe I can gamble and from the luck of the draw I'd get a good Craftsman.

my smaller torin was dead within the year. i'd hesitate buying another one (i'm using the factory jack right now) unless it had a good warranty. i changed the oil at least once before this happened and kept it topped up after it started dying , it eventually died completely.

was going to tell me that Torin is not reliable since I've never heard of this brand before. I had the guy at Pepboys open the box up to give me extra reassurance. The floor jack frame looks like is well built but of course couldn't tell ya anything about how well built the hydraulics is. As I said before, thinking about returning thing since I haven't used it yet.

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Originally Posted by ryan roopnarine

my smaller torin was dead within the year. i'd hesitate buying another one (i'm using the factory jack right now) unless it had a good warranty. i changed the oil at least once before this happened and kept it topped up after it started dying , it eventually died completely.

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2 ton aluminum one thats on sale right now at checker Kragen for 99.00
The same jack is at costco and sams for 150... It looks like an improved version of the jack that i bought a couple of years ago for 350 from costco and took back after i broke the rear casters off the first time i used it... The newer one looks like it has much stronger casters and is rated at 2 tons instead of the 1.5 they were originally at...I'm probably going to go buy myself one soon for a christmas present since they go lower and the new car is much lower than the 535...

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Originally Posted by Hector

was going to tell me that Torin is not reliable since I've never heard of this brand before. I had the guy at Pepboys open the box up to give me extra reassurance. The floor jack frame looks like is well built but of course couldn't tell ya anything about how well built the hydraulics is. As I said before, thinking about returning thing since I haven't used it yet.

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you described at Kragen tonight. I need to get a floor jack, like, now as I'm planning to get under the car tomorrow to troubleshoot some driveshaft vibrations I've had for a while. Also, the suspension is starting to get a little loose, and after I drive over a pot hole or a pump while making a right turn, it shakes momentarily and feels like the front end suspension is going to come off.

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Originally Posted by Bill R.

2 ton aluminum one thats on sale right now at checker Kragen for 99.00
The same jack is at costco and sams for 150... It looks like an improved version of the jack that i bought a couple of years ago for 350 from costco and took back after i broke the rear casters off the first time i used it... The newer one looks like it has much stronger casters and is rated at 2 tons instead of the 1.5 they were originally at...I'm probably going to go buy myself one soon for a christmas present since they go lower and the new car is much lower than the 535...

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