There are certain tools for which cheap cannot be an adequate substitute for
quality. A garage jack is one of those tools. Since I started working on
cars ~20 years ago, I've run the gamut of jacks from the typical Craftsman
stuff that everyone starting out buys, to Harbor Freight stuff, to Norco, to
American Forge, to Lincoln and finally to AC Hydraulics. IMHO, the AC
Hydraulic DK13HLQ or DK20HLQ are simply the finest jacks I have ever used.
They have a very low saddle height and very high lift, a wonderful
combination. Also, you want reliability? These have a 5 year warranty and
are NOT manufactured in China.
I've got 3 full-size operational jacks in my garage now; additionally I've
thrown away 4-5 jacks in the last 20 years. Price has always been a factor
in my purchases of tools, however now that I have the 'ultimate' jack, there
is no going back. I've thrown away a lot of money that would have been
better spent in buying the right stuff up front, enjoying its use, and never
having to worry about failure. For years I've had to use two jacks in order
to put stands under both my lowered Sprite and my lowered BMW track car.
Many of you with track cars know the drill; jack up from the side until the
front spoiler is high enough to stick a regular floor jack under the car,
what a PITA. Same deal to remove the main jack. No more.
It is true that these are not very portable, so at the track or away from
home an alterative choice may be better. Maybe the aluminum jacks from HF
would be a good choice for occasional use at the track (assuming that you
wouldn't mind a failure at the wrong time). I'll continue to lug my ancient
and heavy Norco around 'cause I know it'll work when I need it.
Anyway, here is a plug from an extremely satisfied AC Hydraulics customer.
If you use a garage jack much, spend the $300-$400 necessary and get an AC
jack, it is one purchase for which I have no regrets.
Jackson Zimmermann
'64 A-H Sprite (1275, quarter-elliptic with 2 fewer leaves, 320 lbs lowered
front springs, 5-speed, etc.)
'85 BMW 535i (5-speed, mostly track car with 350K miles of very hard life,
still outruns most 'faster' cars on the track)
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