would you not even buy a steel one from HF? what are some decent but not super expensive options if HF is out of the question?

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Andrew
Montclair, NJ
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1982 300D Turbo
120k
Petrol Blue Green

Hey, I had one of the first HF aluminum jacks and I noticed a year ago that it did have a lean to it. I thought it was my imagination till I read this.

I moved and dumped the Jack rather than carry it. Moving capacity was limited and a $60 floor Jack didn't make the cut. Especially since it had to ride low in the van.

So I just bought a new one. The smallest one of course with coupon and I was disappointed to see it was made with more steel than before. Basically the base is aluminum but the lifting arm is steel. It weighs a shade more. I thought it was done to cut cost.

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79 300TD “Old Smokey” AKA “The Mistake” (SOLD)
82 240D stick shift 335k miles (SOLD)
82 300SD 300k miles
85 300D Turbodiesel 170k miles

kuene asks: "would you not even buy a steel one from HF? what are some decent but not super expensive options if HF is out of the question? "

I have two HF steel & cast units (the heavy duty ones) that strain my back when I pick them up (Ha!). Those have held up very well. I don't exceed 50% of the limits of the jack (ie: I use a three ton jack to lift 3000# max). I use stout cribbing &/or heavy steel & cast jack stands. Some of my cribbing is timber but most are tag end cuts of wide flange I beam or rectangular tubing (heavy wall). I also have above ground frame engaging lifts in the shop. I use really stout hydraulic jacks on the motor-homes, heavy equipment & trucks. After they are lifted, lots of cribbing goes under the frame. I don't skimp on lifting equipment.

I bought this at HF a couple of years ago and have been happy with it:

3 ton Low Profile Steel Heavy Duty Floor Jack with Rapid Pump®

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'81 300SD

THE EASY FIX
I use steel ramps that do skid ahead when attempting to drive up so I have a pair of 5' long 2" x 8" planks that I hook to the ramps just below the very top. The hook is a 4" piece of 1" x1" x 1/8" angle that is fastened to the plank and drops into a slot in the ramp cut with a 4" angle grinder.
Very safe and easy to drive up onto the pockets in the top of the ramps.
The planks can be removed if in the way when crawling under the car.

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1984 300SD turbo 126
"My true love"

God made me an atheist and who am I to question His wisdom

I HATE HATE HATE ramps. It's amazingly easy to topple a car off sideways when pulling on a bolt, like say a bellhousing bolt which you must pull sideways to remove. I know 2 guys who have died as a result of this. If you're compelled to use them by all means add jackstands and/or cribbing as previously mentioned. Besides, ramps tend to get in the way as you work.

I have a hoist and can't imagine being without it. It was $1700 delivered from Pace Tools and SO worth it.

On the jack issue - I've had a HF steel mid-size (2 ton maybe) jack for many years without issue. It's heavy and clumsy but seemingly bulletproof. I was thinking of an aluminum one for the track as the light weight would be an advantage but maybe I'll look beyond HF - thanks for the tip.

Dan

I have been using various HF aluminum jacks for years... quite well made for the price.
ALWAYS use backup supports though...

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

i'm not super into the idea of ramps - but I want to try them for oil changes, transmission filter changes, and work on the transmission modulator / pressure testing etc. Maybe it saves me some time doing the up and down between test drives. I'm going to place at least 2 jack stands for backup.

question, is a 2 ton jack adequate for my 300d?

maybe my problem is I have the wrong HF aluminum jack. Possible i have the 1.5 ton and just never did the math....

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Andrew
Montclair, NJ
--------------
1982 300D Turbo
120k
Petrol Blue Green

Personally, I would get a new one. How much time and money are you going to invest to fix their quality problems?

You originally paid good money for a jack, you didn't get what you paid for. Quid pro quo, the basis of all contracts in the Western World.

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Strelnik
Invest in America: Buy a Congressman!

1950 170SD
1951 Citroen 11BN
1953 Citroen 11BNF limo
1953 220a project
1959 180D
1960 190D
1960 Borgward Isabella TS 2dr
1983 240D daily driver
1983 380SL
1990 350SDL daily driver alt
3 x Citroen DS21M, down from 5
3 x Citroen 2CV, down from 6

I bought ramps a few years ago, 1-piece steel, thinking I'd need them. I haven't yet and they sure take a lot of space for no purpose.

I always use my floor jack, or bottle jacks with jack-stands. Lift the vehicle in place instead of chasing ramps, especially with low-lip cars that need pre-ramps to lift. The car is where I want it lifted, I don't need to start it or open the door, and often I want to pull wheels while it's up anyway.

My stuff is overkill, 30-ton jacks, 12-ton jack-stands, I needed them for our (52,000lb) motorhomes so they aren't exactly compact, regardless, still take much less space than ramps.

I'd like a hoist like you have Dan, ... but with a 10' ceiling (attached garage) it's not practical. Also, the jacks are still useful out in the driveway on a beautiful 80* day like today to rotate tires etc. Kind of hard on a painted floor though.

For those who have never had a white shop floor: It is amazing how easily you can see under the car with all of that light reflecting, ... and how easy it is to find that little circlip that just sprang into the air, ... even from 20' away. Slippery, but well worth it.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

For reasonably priced floor jacks, if weight isn't a big issue, I use a 3-ton Sears Craftsman floor jack that my daughter bought for my birthday about 6years ago. It easily lifts either end of any car/SUV/Van I have around including the entire front of my W140 diesel (many times), lifts the counterweight & engine end of my compact loader (total weight 7,600#, most of that in the counterweight end), is fairly low-profile for a 3-ton, and seems well built. It is around (guessing here) 35-40# however, not something I lift in/out of a car often.

I was at a neighborhood garage sale last year and saw a "jack" I haven't seen in years, used to be advertised in Popular Mechanics etc. It was an airbag, that you hook to your car exhaust, and it lifts the car. Pretty cool, I should have bought it just for nostalgia (it was NIB).

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

I have used my Rhino ramps a lot since I bought them three years ago. Betsie has been on them multiple times, I had a buddy use it for his Dodge Ram, and I have never had a single problem.
I honestly don't see how you could topple those Rhino ramps. Narrow, higher ramps maybe, but the Rhino's are plenty wide and actually not all that high. They are very, very stable. I have the 12.000 lbs rated ones.

I love mine, and have no issues whatsoever using them. I do have a second (and usually) third fail safe in place (jack stands + rims etc underneath car) just in case.

When I saw my buddy's Dodge RAM with a heavy 5.7 liter v8 Hemi drive up on them, and the ramps did not deform at all, I realized these plastic ramps are incredibly strong.

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"The MB W123 is so bulletproof, you can drive them forever. Which is a good thing as it takes that long to get anywhere."
Betsie: 1984 W123 300D (hobby, 280k miles)
Myrla: 2001 Mazda Protege 2.0 ES 5spd (daily driver, 130k miles)
The Turd: 2007 Toyota Camry (wife's car, 118k miles)

I've used Rhino ramps for years and they are very convenient since I usually am working on a non-concrete surface. They don't have the problem of slipping when on road base. If you are using them on concrete, placing them on heavy rubber mats should eliminate the slipping problem.

However, my main complaint with ramps is lift height. Here are some ramps I've been looking at: https://raceramps.com/car-ramps/garage-and-service-ramps/car-service-ramps/ They are a little pricey but the quality and safety seem to be there.

If I'm doing major work underneath the car, a 3-ton aluminum jack from Northern Tool and jack stands work for me. (My cardiologist is happier with the lighter weight.)

Whatever I use, I always have backup support of some kind. Sometimes it is something as simple as the spare tire.

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Sam

84 300SD 350K+ miles ( Blue Belle )

Just pondering on what colour to repaint mine, decision made - thanks!

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David


1996 Mercedes S124 E300TD - 129k - rolling restoration project -

1998 Mercedes W210 300TD - 118k (assimilated into above vehicle)

you need to bleed the air from that jack, all chinese origin jacks say to use 50cst oil in them which have left many people scratchign their heads, its plenty available as regular PSF from any parts store.

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)