Seeing on how many of us here are working on our cars and that includes jacking them up and getting under them I figured I would share.
I have been using a 1.5 ton Jack for a while now. It’s a great Jack no real complaints but, it’s a bit under powered when I use it on my Boat & trailer & Truck & the lift height is not the best. So once I got the bug for a Higher Lift Floor Jack look out! 
I decided to break down & buy a new floor Jack. (No shortage of you tube reviews on floor jacks to spend your time)
This time of year Harbor Freight has pretty good deals on jacks so on my last trip I could not resist. These were staring right at me in the checkout line brilliant marketing.
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but they look like they’ve already been bent. 
Kind of funny, of all the sketchy stuff that Hazard Fraught peddles, their steel floor jacks are actually surprisingly solid performers for non-professional use.
I’ve had one of their older, low-profile, extended reach, “not-quite a high-lift” jacks for what seems like forever. It’s been through a lot of use and abuse and it’s still holding up with just minimal maintenance. One thing I really regret is not buying two of them at the time, so I would have identical jacks for doing tandem lifts. At this point though, this model is long since out of production, so that’s never gonna happen.
Grant, did you catch this one? 30" lift, 6000 lbs 
I just noticed it online,
Yes I saw that Jack. Just like the Daytona Jack I got that’s a copy of a $1200 Snap On Jack. the Off-road Jack you posted is a Copy of another expensive off road Jack called called a Pro Eagle. Again many side By side tests of one Vs another on You Tube. Besides oil in the grease fittings what kind of Maint needs to be done on a Jack like this
I actually bought one of those Badland HF jacks, It came highly recommended in some of the forums.
I like the solid plastic tires for some of the places I am working and that they are quieter when rolling it around. I’ll see how long they last.
It is a very well thought out unit. The handle has a position lock that allows me to tilt the unit up on it’s back wheels like a hand truck so I’m not fighting it when rolling it long distances (like over to the neighbors). This jack is heavier than the other aluminum framed jacks which are good for throwing around, but they seem like they don’t really like lifting up the corners of my truck.
Since buying this Badland unit, I noticed that HomeD is advertising a copy of this off road jack now. I guess it must be good.
You’re right Grant, there isn’t a whole lot of service maintenance to perform on a rolling floor jack that is mostly used for it’s intended purposes. For most residential uses, probably never need to do anything to it. Even in a tire shop there isn’t all that much.
Going beyond the it was sliding around in the open bed of a pickup truck, and you periodically beat the snot out of it like I have that inspecting and taking care of little things at a more frequent interval than I have can start to become a good idea.Check for leaks / pressure fade on the hydraulic lifting mechanism, damaged seals, that the sections of the lif piston rod that contact seals haven’t developed a rust or scale coating, don’t have other material imbedded in them, no bent linkages, linkages are not bent or damaged, cotter pins and similar wear parts haven’t worn to the point of where they can snap when its under load… and so on… I’m periodically in that tiny percentage of users that are outside the normal use patterns. Stuff like lifting up equipment, tanks, piping etc so you can use an oxy-acetylene cutting torch to blow molten metal slag directly at it. Or dragging it thorough a puddle or acid and not being able to hit it with a water hose for a number of hours .
While they may have copied the shape and dimensions of the other premium brands, but how close is their precision, tolerances, metal composition & quality, how was the assembly, was heat treating done properly, what testing was done, QA dept, etc… I own stuff from them, it’s ok to good for it’s intended market space. Without verifiable test results that backup their marketing claims (just for starters) I don’t buy into the "equivalent to S-K / Snap-On / Proto / Georde / Metabo / DeWalt / Pasalode / Hanson / Harris / Víctor / Fluke / Greenlee / Knopp etc… " one damn bit. They look the same though. And the average shopper at their stores, home mechanic for example, they don’t typically need the durability and resistance to the constant daily use, wear and abuse that s Snap-On wrench in the hands of professional mechanic for example will be subjected to 5 days a week.
HF isn’t bad, it fills it’s lower tier market space well.
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Several videos on YT that show the HF Vs the Snap-On. So you’re right it’s not a 100% perfect copy of the snap on Jack. But I guess it’s made In the same factory or by the same company & it got snap on mad enough to Sue HF to stop making them. Question, I wanted to Store my Jack in my garage. I wanted it off the ground and was thinking of making a mount so I could store it Vertically (hang it on the wall) Jack handle Up. Do you see a problem with doing something like that? One friend said the Jack needs to be stored flat or it could/would mess up the Hydraulics
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I would think it is ok to store a jack little end down just as long as it is not cycled in that position.
Even if so, it just gulps a little air into the system. Nothing that a few pumps and cycles wouldn’t clear out. I doubt it would permanently damage anything.
If anything getting it up on the wall and securing it on a hook might be a PITA issue. Maybe rig up a ramp/platform to run it up onto, then hook the handle to the ramp when it is all the way down, Then lift (via handle) the whole platform and it would lift the whole unit up flat against the wall (jack top to the wall). Pin handle to the wall to keep it from falling down.
Want me to sketch this out for better clarity?
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Grant, I know you do your research and homework on things before you get into them. It’s evident in your posts and, the the consistent and quality of your results supports that. I have no argument against the HF jack vs Snap-On. My 3rd paragraph was really a generalized observation and comment on the new & improved tools / merchandise and marketing campaign from HF. I just didn’t do a good job of making it clear that was my comment.
Snap-On is not floor jack manufacturer. They never have been. They are a hand tool manufacturer and distributor. They make wrenches, screwdrivers, ratchets, some precision measurement devices. They do make quite a number of their own electronic diagnostic devices. They used to make all of their own pneumatic tools (I have no idea if such is still the case). They don’t make floor jacks, battery operated tools, work lights, ladders, HVLP sprayers, power washers, generators… all that crap is built by someone else for them. So, yeah, it’s possible that the HF jack in question is 95% same or even identical except for the paint and chrome trim.
But an ICON box end wrench equal to Snap-On… Yeaaah, that I really doubt. or something like Predator = Honda GX, no, just, no. Or this HVLP airless paint sprayer is same as Graco, just $800 less… there’s a reason why most commercial painters run Graco rigs and not HF. Because Bauer (MIC) is also blue in color, don’t make it comparable a Makita.
As for the jack, hydraulic systems are generally sealed. As long as the oil is given sufficient time to run back into the reservoir and drain back from spaces where it might not supposed to be during operation, so as not to be pumping air or pressing into a a fluid barricade, I would think that it’s probably ok.
Two other thoughts: those rubber plugs with the tiny hole in the center, that’s a vent (yeah, the one they typically paint right over and plug up … lol, that one) I would not have that at the low point of the system and I would make sure the pressure bleed off valve for lowering the head is not left in the open position when you hang the jack up (make it a little bit past finger tight) and that once the jack is back on the ground you open it, let it sit and and then close it and start pumpiung.
Sounds like you need a little jack to help put the big jack up on the wall…
I’ve seen wheel lift tow trucks, aka:“spear trucks” where service bed bin space is at a premium have multiple jacks stored vertically. /shrug
$79 racing jack from 7rivers
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50 year old craftsman from when things were built to last.
Both only 1.5 ton though.
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Free shipping?
JarJar good post! I agree 100% about your thoughts on the HF stuff. If anything I feel guilty
Buying HF cause it’s not all American but I’m not gonna sweat it. my friend that ran a large successful fab shop & produced some real high end & unique stuff. He bought mostly HF tools for around his shop. He used to say that his guys were not so hard on tools he would buy good ones. He said “If they didn’t destroy” them, they lost, if they didn’t lose them they walked away. So his way was he just bought HF
I wouldn’t feel too guilty about buying HF tools, they may be made in another country, in this case China, but few things aren’t these days. A number of these foreign countries with lower prices and lesser quality of production were created by us. A number of countries, including us, went looking for a place to have lower per item production cost and less regulations. China obliged, same as how Taiwan did for Japanese manufacturers 40 years ago.
Hard to get around the global materials and manufacturing web. For most produced objects, there are a lot of sources and hands on it. It’s almost inevitable that there will be some place or materials in there that somebody doesn’t like.
Is it Craftsman or Stanley, I forget, maybe both, that have lines of hand tools that are " Proudly Made in USA** " where ** is the fine print “with globally sourced materials and components” . If the foundry is here, the steel might be recycled steel coming from China. Or the ball bearing in a USA made ratchet is actually from Mexico.
You pick the one right tool. If HF is it, then why pay three times more for something that will get used twice and never get pushed to anywhere near it’s breaking point? Or, if you are going to push the limits every day, HF ain’t for you, Largely, this is my situation, but, I’m not going to take a Proto or S-K wrench that came from a $450 set of 13 wrenches to go work a fitting that is leaking sulfuric acid, I’ve got a drawer full of rusty & random no-name, low-name, mismatched junkers to pull from for that job.
Here is my Original No Name Jack (it says it’s 3 ton) but I bet if we tested it it would not stand up to that. Compared the the HF 3 Ton my Original looks like 1/2 the size. It’s max height is 18-3/4
Compared the the almost 24 inches it’s a big up grade
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When it comes to jacking, sometimes 5 inches is all you need.
Use jack stands too if you are working anywhere under the GEM , they are heavy enough to hurt like crap if your floor jack releases the load. Easy to happen if other people are near the handle…)
I agree 100% I don’t get under the car unless I have a stand under it. (Heads up) HF has “up to” 30% this week. Im in the market for some new taller stands. Looks like the 3 tone are the traditional smaller lighter stands and the 6 ton are the bigger taller wider more stable stands turns out the stands are only $8-$10 off
