[Irelands child]

My "love" for Harbor Freight isn't everlasting, but sometimes you just do have to consider their offerings .

I'm looking at either a 12 or 20 ton low profile bottle jack to carry in my camper. It is overkill, but sometimes the prices are too good to go smaller plus are about the same height down and extended. I have also looked elsewhere - and those jacks are all made in.....China. I'm not sure that any consumer level hydraulic bottle jack is made in the Western World so price will dictate that I consider these. Has anyone here had experience with these jacks?

(I don't want to get into the pros and cons of most of their crap tools - that's well documented elsewhere )

Dave W

[boatbob2]

HI,i dont have a HF bottle jack,but,i bought their large floor jack (about $100.00) if i remember correctly,it works GREAT.have had it about 1 year,never left me down,,(pun intended)

[302 Z28]

Go for it Dave, I have one of their light weight aluminum racing jacks and it has been going strong now for six years.

Vince

[oldred]

Don't know if you have bought that jack yet but those HF jacks are a really good deal, however just a couple of things I have found about them (I own 6 of them in various sizes). I have found them to be a bit optimistic in their ratings, that is they usually start to by-pass below their rated tonnage so a 20 ton for example MIGHT lift 15 tons. Not usually a problem because they are usually used at well below the rating anyway and if one don't have enough "umph" a bigger one is just a few dollars more. If they have one real fault it is that they rust very easily! DON'T let one get wet or store it in a damp area the ram and pump stem WILL rust! Those parts are just simi polished steel with no plating at all, unlike a better pump, and exposure to moisture will ruin one of those jacks PDQ. When storing I always make sure the ram is all the way down inside the bottle and the pump lever is all the way down but especially in the case of the pump stem this will not provide 100% protection and if the pump stem gets rusty it will leak and the pump will lose efficiency, it does not take much to junk one out completely.

[Irelands child]

Yep - bought a 12 ton low profile - and as with anything from HF, figured it was optimistic as far as rating. I really only need about a 4 ton for my 11,000 camper to raise one wheel at a time, but figured a 12 would work better as it is about the same depressed height plus would raise about the same as anything smaller.

The other info - good to know and will take care of it per your suggestions. In fact as soon as I can find a few minutes in my shop am planning to build a wood carry/storage box

Thanks,
Dave W