I swapped my Goodyears this weekend for a set of Viking Snow Techs mounted on a set of take off wheels I bought on ebay. My wife gave me a new jack, which I picked out, and I just wanted to let everyone know how happy I am with it. I have absolutely no affiliation with the manufacturers or vendors I mention below. Having looked at the high-end AC Hydraulics units, like the DK13HLQ, I was concerned about the durability of the plastic front wheels after seeing some pictures on the web where even a smooth floor had let to significant wear. My garage floor is anything but smooth from years of road salt damage. I finally settled on the American Forge and Foundry (AFF) model 200T. It has a very low pickup point, two pumping cylinders for quick lifting, and comes with a padded saddle and padded handle. Even though it is made in China, the fit and finish was superb, and the front wheels are steel. It is also quite heavy (99 lbs shipping weight). The entire jack easily fits under the front of the car to reach the correct front jack point, which is waaaaaay back, and you still get some swing in the handle to lift the car. The best price I've found is $138.98 plus shipping, which was quoted as $42.00 to my address. A cross beam adapter is also available for $38.86 + $23.97 shipping. The web site where I found the best price is AmericasPrideOnline.com. This site has it for $205 shipped, which might be a better deal depending on where you live, and they also match competitors prices: ASEDeals.com. The manufacturer's PDF catalog is available here (the 200T is on page 4 of the file): AFF 2005 Catalog Incidentally, the Viking tires seem pretty good, but we haven't had any major snow to give them a real test. These were the 2nd best rated snow tires in the latest Consumer Reports tire review. They were manufactured in France. The thing that really impressed me was that two of them used 0 weight to balance, and the other two used a single very small weight (.5 oz?). The only downside was a max inflation pressure of 40 PSI, so I'm running them at 38/36 for now. The tires were $46 each online from Mavis Discount Tire.
Lee Thanks for the info. I was looking for a jack and discovered your e-mail. I have one on order. It sounds perfect for my applications. Do you think that the cross beam adapter would be useful? Steve
That looks very similar to the used commercial service station trolley jack I picked up at an auction 6 years ago. For such a low saddle height, it can really lift high, is *very* sturdy, and a nice heavy thing to keep around. One thing I did do was drain out the old hydraulic oil and put fresh oil in. I went somewhat lighter than recommended as the my detached garage at my hobby farm isn't always heated.
I haven't purchased the cross-beam adapter, yet, so I'm not sure. I was able to lift both ends of the car successfully without it. For the front end, I rolled the jack completely under the front of the car and past the drivetrain to reach the center of the cross-member shown in the owner's manual. There's just enough clearance left to pump the car up. For the rear, there's a special built-in jacking point. Assuming that you were going to place jackstands once you had the car up in the air (I didn't because I was just changing tires), you shouldn't really need the cross-beam adapter. The car was quite stable when being jacked from the front end without it. I'm not sure where you could safely place it when lifting the back. I'd love to hear your feedback about how you like the jack and how well it works when you receive it.
I use the cross beam adapter for doing tire rotations all the time. I spead it as wide as it'll go and lift the car on the jacking points on the rocker panel. Works ok. I use it also for doing services when I'm checking brakes and axle boots and tranny inspections etc. I alwasy use jackstands when I'm working under the car. As my jack is a 3 ton unit what I have to do is get the car up about 2 inches to get it under the car, what I use for that is a couple of scrap 2x10's about 15" long with a piece of rubber belting on one screwed onto one end also that end I've cut off at a 45 degree angle to provide a bit of a "ramp". I also use them if I'm just doing an oil change as it give me just enough room the get the drain pan under the car and lets me have a quick look at the axle boots.
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?...dsite=CRAFT#tab I have this one. It hangs on the wall. (Quite Awesome). Don't forget to ALWAYS use jack stands. Jacks are lifting devices, jack stands are load bearing devices. Nate
Good general practice, hydraulic cylinders can develop leaks past their seals and control valves at anytime. I'll have to see if my lift can make it underneath to the main cross member as shown in the owner's manual as others have done. When I was at a Prius workshop at the local dealer here, I was able to see where the lift points they use on the car when they raise them. They use the points identified for the supplied tire changing jack.
