This thread is for reviews of Floor Jacks and Jack-Stands. This way we can have all the reviews of Floor Jacks and Jack-Stands in one easy to find, easy to search place. Please post your reviews of Floor Jacks and Jack-Stands you've used, own or owned here.
Floor Jack: Craftsman Aluminum Floor Jack ("Racing Jack"); Jackstands
Floor Jack: $199 (it's gone up $60 since I bought mine, I paid $139), Jackstands: $19.99
This thing is great. I've had this since the first month they were available. I got it right when it first came out. It's lightweight, which allowed you to carry it if need be, whether it be to a friends, to the track, whatever. Also, it is a low profile jack. It was a 3 3/4"-18 1/2" lift range. It can clear most lowered vehicles I've tried it on, which is a major plus. Also, it's one of those jacks that raises to reach the underside jack point in 1 pump. It raises pretty quick too once you get a load on it. It doesn't take more than few pumps to reach full height. It's full sized, low-profile, the lightweight (maybe 44 lbs), reaches the jacking point in 1 pump, and raises fully in 5-6 pumps. I love this jack, gets placed some won't it portable due to the weight, and has worked for years. I recommend it.
I've read negative things about this jack, but it's been good to me. It even tipped over once and one of the 3 grab handles broke, when trying to jack a car to change flat on a slight slope, and it still works fine, so IDK about the other reviews I read. The most common complaint is oil leaking, or that is got stuck up, and I never had these issues. From reading them, it sounds like people are jacking the car with it, leaving it on the jack and working on it for extended periods. If that's the case, that's the problem. $20 jack-stands and they'd be fine. We all know we're not suppose to use the jack to hold the car up, just to raise it. I always lift the car, put jack-stands under the car, lower it onto the jack-stands, and then remove the jack so the jack-stands are supporting it. The owners manual warns not to use the jack to support a vehicle, only to lift it. I suspect that the failure I read about is due to people using it incorrectly as load barring jack-stands, and not just a floor jack to lift.
I still recommend it, regardless of the reviews on the sears site. Just use jack-stands to support the car once it's in the air, and not the jack-itself...all these people who use it as a load-barring device also and then complain when it leaks or won't lift...they'd of been fine if they used it to jack and not as a load barring device. There's a reason they make jack-stands AND floor jacks. Floor jacks aren't made to support a load for extended periods...