Buying Floor Jack from Craigslist? - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

chrisgt · #16 05-28-2017, 06:42 AM

I have a Jeggs aluminum high lift racing jack I've been using for 5 or 6 years now, it's been amazing, not a single issue with it ever. It's light enough to throw in the trunk of a car, sturdy enough to lift a truck.

On plywood: A good jack WILL ROLL on plywood just fine. I'm lead service tech for a stage rally team, services for rally cars are generally held in a grass field, gravel parking lot, etc. We use 3/4" hardwood plywood to jack the car up and it slides just fine. Never had it pull the already jacked end off stands or anything. Make sure you jack up and put jack stands under the downhill side first, that way when you jack the uphill side you're trying to pull it uphill, much less likely to run into issues.

You have to make sure the castor wheels on the jack are rotated to roll in the correct direction on plywood, they don't auto swivel into place well, but if you line everything up right, it works great.

gatorblue92 · #17 05-28-2017, 09:37 AM

I'm still using a 3 1/2 ton AC Delco low profile high lift racing jack I got from Sam's Club about 10 years ago. Its lifted all of the Mercedes I have owned as well as my current F-150 without any issues. I only get it just high enough to put my 6 ton Harbor Freight stands under. I think those are designed for heavy equipment so they should hold up a W124 or F150 without breaking a sweat.

leathermang · #18 05-28-2017, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Father Of Giants

Could a plywood surface on top of pavement work so I don't destroy the wheels or risk unwanted movement?

NO, as Rocky Racoon and others have said....
you need solid surface...
those are small wheels relatively.....and lots of weight.. meaning pound per square inch pressure on the ground..

and they need to ROLL to be safe...

If you are needing to make dents in pieces of plywood... this would be good process.....LOL

leathermang · #19 05-28-2017, 11:48 AM

Interesting stories of what people have done without incident.....
when we are dealing with safety......
do not preclude that they got lucky...or some pertinent facts are not contained in the description...
and we should not suggest to others less than Slam Dunk safe procedures and equipment...
So I vote ''no'' on plywood... there are many types of plywood...and what it is laid ON may affect the situation.... the idea is that to preclude the car being pulled potentially OFF the already installed stationary jacks on the other end of the car.. the rolling Jack must easily move to where the physics decides it needs to be....

torsionbar · #20 05-29-2017, 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Father Of Giants

I DON'T trust something like this to lift my car, 3 tons? REALLY?
https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/tls/6147890174.html

Matco is professional grade stuff. Why wouldn't you trust it? Plus rebuild kits are readily available.

Honestly I'm not sure what the fuss is about, what exactly are you "trusting" here? Only a suicidal fool gets underneath a car supported by a floor jack. This is what jack stands are for.

And even the cheapest china-made disposable floor jacks don't fail catastrophically, they fail in the same way this pro-grade Matco has failed. I.e. they no longer hold pressure, and slowly lower down on their own.

IMO the cheapo aluminum floor jacks from Harbor Freight are fantastic. I bought my first one in 2005, beat on it continuously for 11 years, and it finally failed last year. Pump it up and it slowly lowers down on its own. No problem, chuck it in the trash, go buy another for $79. A lot of what they sell is junk, but their floor jacks have a fantastic bang-for-buck ratio.

Zulfiqar · #21 05-30-2017, 11:33 AM

I have 4 jacks in my garage, one of them is the weaver 4 ton - I got it for no charge as it didnt lift and had not one spek of paint on it and was buried under tons of other scrap stuff.

I rebuilt the cylinder and greased all the zerks and the rear wheel caster bearings. Its the quickest to lift up a car neatly onto jackstands.

another I picked from craigs - its an ancient sears jack with the block type pump which was just low on oil - I refilled it with fresh iso 46 oil.

one is a small 2 ton el cheapo jack, I use it a lot too - quick tire changes etc, its original oil leaked out and I found later that Im supposed to use ND SAE 30 oil in it - it keeps on pumping with it. ATF or Jack oil just dribbles away.

The last one is another one of the elcheapo but its dead now as I took it apart for resealing and it has some really stupid O rings in it which are unobtanium. - Im not sweating 30 dollars on O rings for a 30 dollar jack.

BillGrissom · #22 05-31-2017, 04:00 PM

I bought the HF 3 ton jack shown earlier a few years ago and love it. I store it under one of my rarely driven classic cars. It has 2 pistons, which let the head come up fast before applying load. It also has ample travel. For decades before that, I used a small cheap one from K-mart (sold under many brand names), even on my 4100 lb 1965 Chrysler, but often had to jack up, prop, add spacers, jack again to get the travel needed. I just use that one for tight spaces or lifting just an engine and such.

Father Of Giants · #23 06-13-2017, 06:33 AM

Well sadly those jacks where sold before I got the 300SDL running in good shape.

These are rougher, are these ones rebuildable? The price is attractive.

https://knoxville.craigslist.org/tls/6168712512.html
https://knoxville.craigslist.org/tls/6156768284.html

Here's a cleaner one, it's much closer too. Probably will buy it since it's close and cheap.
https://fredericksburg.craigslist.org/tls/6173458797.html

But still is my only option a skid pad when using this thing on asphalt? Could I lay metal underneath it? I'm still lost at how to improvise for use a jack on pavement.

Father Of Giants · #24 06-13-2017, 07:08 AM

Ok found a solution.
www.TechGuys.ca | How to: Jack up a vehicle using a floor jack

but, where can I find high quality wood? I can't cut wood myself no tools whatsoever, not even a workbench.

leathermang · #25 06-13-2017, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Father Of Giants

Ok found a solution....... but, where can I find high quality wood? I can't cut wood myself no tools whatsoever, not even a workbench.

If you substitute a piece of steel for that piece of wood on the ground you will be safe... although I am sorry you missed out on those long frame floor jacks originally talked about..... find the local metal salvage yard and ask them for a flat piece of steel a half inch thick....if they do not have it in stock... leave your name and number...
Bargains go fast... so once you study the floor jack situation enough to know what you want.. and what repairs can be found... keep enough cash on hand for getting the best bargain...

David Wilson · #26 06-13-2017, 08:37 AM

HF has a 4 ton jack on sale this week for $105. Use the 20 percent coupon on the website.
They also have a 3 ton for about $70 with the coupon
Hard to beat that deal