craftsmans.... seems like they suck. The only thing they are good for is wrenches, becuse you can bring them back when they break. So spear the time and buy an expensive one that will last for ever.

 

I'd like to know about a short jack stand. the ones I've seen all require you to flip the car over to put them under the car.

 

Yea the Torin is the one I had that fell apart in less than a year. Maybe 50 uses.

 

You're assuming the guys is married .... how can one afford to keep a girl when involved in this sport. BTW, knock on wood, I've been using Craftsman for quite a while and it seems to be working fine.

 

Excellent jack and a no questions asked return policy

 

seriously, even if you don't have the receipt?

 

I looked at many jackstands and finally settled on these:
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...rd=jack+stands

They're short, small, seem like rugged enough steel, and they're perfect for supporting the front of the Evo by the frame rails.

For the rear, I want a jack stand that has a top like the factory scissor jack. Then I could jack on teh rear diff and support from the factory jack locations.

I bought one of the those Torin jacks from costco and it worked maybe 10 times before spewing its load of oil all over my garage floor.

 

Don't forget your jack stand pads, as many tracks require something under the jackstand to prevent them from sinking into the asphalt. Four 1'x1' pieces of plywood will suffice.

As far as jacks, you can buy a quality racing jack for $500+ and it will last a long time, or you can spend $100-$200 at Sears of Harbor Freight and they will last somewhat less. In the end, it costs the same either way.

 

I was on the craftsman forums... it seems many people are having problems with the craftsman jacks... blowing seals, breaking after one time use etc.

I need a reliable jack

 

I've been using the chepo china rip's avail at harbor freight for some time now, weigh nothing and still support the full weight of the evo at a 1.5 ton rating.

 

is there a return policy on 2-ton craftsman black jacks?

 

As noted in post #15, i have a Torin 1.5 ton Aluminum Big Red jack. Whats ironic is that about 2 months after posting this thread, sometime in May, my jack malfunctioned while i was using it. Even more ironic was that it happened the day before an event.

I was getting ready to work on my car. I jacked up my car, and then something strange happened. I then tried to adjust my jack and it wouldnt go up or down. My car was left stuck up in the air. Whats funny is that what got me out of that mess was my OEM jack!!! The irony. It took a while, but i was able to jack up one side of my car high enough with the OEM jack to pull out my 1.5 ton Torin jack. I was leaving for an event the next day, so i had no choice but to get something. I remembered that i had seen a decent looking 3 ton jack at Costco, so i went and bought it the next morning and left for my event.

I have used this new 3 ton jack, that i got from Costco, for the past 2-3 months and i sort of like it. Its pretty strong, but what i dont like about it compared to my previous Torin 1.5 ton jack is that it takes forever to jack up my car. Its much stronger, but it takes significantly more strokes than my previous 1.5 ton jack to lift my car. Its advertised as being capable of reaching its maximum lifting height in about 5 strokes. But i quickly realized that theyre not claiming it to be able to accomplish that under weight. Under weight its honestly more like 50 strokes to just get the car high enough for me to place some jack stands in place. Deceptive advertisement at its best. In retrospect, i suppose im just lucky that all this happened before i went to my event.

 

I am also on my SECOND Harbor Freight/ "US General" aluminum low profile racing jack, and the orange 2-ton stands, also from Harbor Freight.
Not because the first one/ones broke or got too worn out though! It's only because after I sold my 240sx and got a 4Runner to "quit motorsports" , I had no use for them and I gave to to my friend for a project. He then lent them to someone else, and AFAIK, it's still a freaking workhorse to this day, 4-5 years later!
I think one of the main things with these jacks in not to subject them to too much side-side forces (use nice and square and on a fat surface, or at least flat from side-side, so the jack isn't subjected to too much "scissor"/"rhombus" angles, keep it lubed, and try not to expose it to the elements too much.
so far to me, a jack stand is a jack stand, and either it's the right rating for the the use, or it's not.

 

I have a American Forge & Foundry 200T floor jack and am quite happy with it. Haven't had it long enough to see how durable it is, but there's 300 service centers across the country that can rebuild it if it starts to leak oil, I didn't want a throw-away jack. It's about 100 lbs, so I also have a Summit $90 aluminum jack that's easier to tote around. The AFF jack makes the Summit jack look like a toy.

Here's where I got the AFF jack:
http://www.asedeals.com/automotive_floor_jacks.html

If price is no object, get A/C Hydraulic jacks/stands, also available from the above website. Made in Denmark and as nice/safe as you're going to get. The jack stands are the pin type, so no ratchet mechanism to worry about.

 

Found this last week.

http://www.vorshlag.com/tech_jacks1.php

Be safe under your cars.