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| Floor Jack Shootout (1/6) |
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What do you call it when you test several floor jacks side-by-side? The Fastest Jacking Test? A Jackathon? A Jack Off? To avoid homophobic phrasing, we chose this:
What kind of floor jack do you have in your garage? Don't know? Shame on you! Automotive enthusiasts tend to take their floor jack for granted, and they shouldn't - its possibly one of the most safety critical tools in the garage. In this tech article we will hopefully educate you a bit on the available selection of floor jacks that can be used for automotive needs. We shop tested several models and will give the results on this page.
Most car guys we know just go out and buy the cheapest full size jack they can find for their garage. Sometimes, racers will buy a second "small" jack for use at the track. The full size jacks most people get are of the $80-100 variety from Sam's wholesale or Sears, rated at 2 to 3 tons, typically Chinese made, and are usually pretty heavy and ugly. The smaller "portable" jacks are even scarier - they are usually only about 3 inches wide, cost around $20, have a very small saddle [the jack's round head is called a "saddle"] and I have seen these things literally fall apart when loaded. You life is worth more than $20, right? Never use one of these $20 portable floor jacks!
After I had a recent floor jack accident, where the cast aluminum [wtf!?!] saddle broke on my aluminum jack and the car fell off causing extensive oil pan damage, we have thought more seriously about floor jack quality, safety, and replacement options. We took my initial internet research on floor jacks, brought over every floor jack we could find, added some scientific testing, and turned it into this tech article. It has been added to for going on three years and will never be considered "complete".
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the lineup
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Prices for full size floor jacks for typical automotive use can range from $80-400+, and in most cases you really do get what you pay for. Qualities to look for in a floor jack include: minimum lift height [for getting underneath low cars], stroke length, max. lift height, hydraulic ratio/pumping effort, number of pumps to max height, jacking head style, hydraulic actuation feel and style, weight of jack [important when you transport the unit], wheel spacing/width, and handle length. We won't be covering bottle jacks, screw jacks, jacks rated at over 3.5 tons [industrial truck jacks], or air operated jacks.
We initially amassed 4 different styles of popularly available floor jacks for testing, and added more over time. Two of the jacks we tested were low cost [approx. $100] Chinese-made jacks available at discount stores, parts stores, Sears and the like (meaning: crap). The only "high end" jack we could scrounge for our initial tests was a Danish made AC Hydraulics DK20 jack, with its super low minimum height, unique handle and unusual hydraulic release. A popular U.S. General lightweight aluminum "racing jack" [sold by Harbor Freight], and then many other units were tested and added.
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12 models tested
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Larin unit was at least 10 years old when tested. I used to keep these cheap jacks for several years, until the seals started to leak or the joints start to break down, then throw them away and get another cheap replacement. McCall's 3 ton unit was purchased in 1992 and has also been used hundreds of times at test time.
Then we gathered more "high-end" jacks, priced from $130-200 each, to compare the cheap units against. One was my imported U.S. General aluminum "racing jack" I bought in 2002 - its different than a normal shop jack, and you will see why. The only real "high end shop jack" we located initially was a new comer, the AC Hydraulics model DK20 that Dean brought by. Additional high end models were included as we gather more data including the Lincoln model W95642, an imported knock off of this jack made by Norco, the MATCO 3.5 ton "Beast", and the ultra-low and exotic looking AC Hydraulics DK13, among others. I have used both the Lincoln and the MATCO jacks and can give subjective opinions about the action and feel for these units. Dean has used the DK13 and says it worked identically to his DK20. The Norco, by all internet research, is identical to the Lincoln. An industrious Vorshlag.com reader Zenon sent us test data and pictures of yet another jack, this one a steel $150 Central Hydraulics model from Harbor Freight that looks quite nice. We added Zenon's test data, impressions and pictures of this jack in September 2003 and added several more models we tested in the interim in 2006.
| Manufacturer |
Model |
Capacity |
Cost |
Weight |
Min Ht. |
Max Ht. |
Our Rating |
| Larin |
n/a |
2.5 Ton |
$80 |
78.5 lbs |
4.45" (3.95") |
17" |
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| Sam's |
n/a |
3 Ton |
$99 |
94.0 lbs |
5.0" (4.45") |
20-5/16" |
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| Lincoln |
W95642 |
2 Ton |
$199 |
[97 lbs] |
[3-3/4"] |
[20"] |
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| Norco |
71230A |
2.25 Ton |
$147 |
[97 lbs] |
[3-3/4"] |
[20"] |
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| AC Hydraulics |
DK20 |
4400 pounds |
$219 |
67.5 lbs |
3.15" |
19-1/4" |
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| AC Hydraulics |
DK13HLQ |
2900 pounds |
$369 |
[84.7 lbs] |
[3.15"] |
[29.2"] |
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| U.S. General |
47246 |
1.5 Ton |
$139 |
38.5 lbs |
3.4" |
17-5/8" |
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| Matco |
MFJ35 |
7000 pounds |
$193 |
[100 lbs] |
[4"] |
[20"] |
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| Central Hydraulics |
47019 |
3 tons |
$149.99 |
103 lbs |
3.5" |
19.5" |
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Notes: (x) numbers are with saddle removed. [x] numbers are manufacturer's published data.
That is a quick overview of all of the models we are looking at. Go to the next pages to see more detail on each unit and our final conclusions.
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