best compact lightweight Al floor jack for track?

[DanB]

I stupidly bought a heavy and bulky steel/aluminum jack from PepBoys. Funny, the box seemed small and light, but jack itself big and heavy!

Is Harbor Freight still the best for reasonable-$$$, compact, lightweight jack?

TIA!

[billrice]

I had a heavy steel one. I got an Arcan. Aluminum. Easy to move around. I’ve had no issues in 4 years

[Mick]

I have a US General 1.5 ton jack that I got from Harbor Freight like 15 years ago, it's light and has held up great. I think the equivalent is this one by Pittsburgh. It looks exactly the same except for the branding.

https://www.harborfreight.com/automotiv ... 64545.html

If you go with something else, I wouldn't get anything over 1.5 ton or you'll be carrying around more heft than you need.

[Stamanti]

Your post is for a compact and lightweight jack, so Mick's recommendation is probably best.

I have used that harbor freight 1.5 ton, and it works fine on concrete, and maybe fine on tarmac with a lighter car. With my vette changing tires on tarmac it felt a bit unstable, so I switched to a jack with outboard front wheels instead of the single front roller. This significantly improved stability -particularly at Palmer. Basically went with this jack, which is less compact, and less lightweight than the 1.5 ton: https://www.harborfreight.com/2-ton-alu ... 64542.html

[962porsche]

I bought that harbor freight jack a few years ago it works fine for our 5 meats NA NB and NC's but not so good for our two STI's.
when lifting the blue STI the jacks front roller stripped the bolt out of the aluminum roller and the jacks framing bent.
it was being used on the garage floor flat and level.

[gcranston]

It is quite a bit pricier than HF, but I have no complaints using the Summit Racing jack: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-917072

It's stable enough to use on my sloped driveway (yes, I know I shouldn't), it can get under the BRZ front and rear at stock height and reach the subframe/diff (front lowered could be a problem), and it's strong enough to lift my E91.

[boltonite]

I'm addicted to HF for some stuff that I don't care if it breaks after one use (e.g. a come-along to drag a broken car back into the trailer) or that I won't cry if it goes missing at the track. I own several HF jacks (bought on sale for under $70) and still like them, I would DEFINITELY snug up all the allen bolts and use a piece of plywood under the jack. Also make sure you're on relatively level ground, those jacks do NOT support any lateral loading.

[DanB]

Tanks for replies erry body! I have a jack at home (the big/heavy Al/steel thing I bought), so a low-$$ small lightweight HB jack is what I need for trips to the track. See y'all in 10 days!

[brucesallen]

I stopped bringing my 1.5T jack to track. My 3 ton aluminum jack can lift my fully laden trailer to fix a flat on the way to/from the track..