All jacked up!

[Los_Control]

Been wanting to buy a decent 3 ton floor jack, been kinda hesitating, because I also need to get a bit of concrete work done to really use the jack properly.

I only have a bottle jack and the factory scissor jack for my wife's car at this time ... I need a decent jack.

 

Today on facebook market place, a garage sale was posted just down the street from my house, they listed a jack for $50.

Figured I would just go grab it for the price.

When I got there, I was a bit surprised, it is a 4 ton Napa jack. You can lift a big truck with this thing.

He has a shop and claimed for awhile it was all he had, now he bought a 3 ton and the big one just gets in the way. Give me $40 for it.

I suspect it will be the same for me, cant beat it for $40, but the size does make it awkward in my small space.

 

 

[Dodgeb4ya]

Nice quality H-Duty jack. Stable and safe.

I love good old quality tools!

[Los_Control]

46 minutes ago, Dodgeb4ya said:

I love good old quality tools!

Just got to love good tools.

What was also fun was meeting the guy, He advertises a paintless dent removal on his shop where I picked up the jack.

But in the shop, looks like he does a lot of painting and detail work. He also has a few nice cars he built. A 29 ford sedan pure hot rod, sbc no fenders etc, a late 60's Ford of some sort, 351 Cleveland motor both 100% finished and beautiful. Then a 70 boss mustang fast back that needs everything.

Has a extra Cleveland motor for sale ... obvious he is not trying to beat people up to get a dollar.

Just happy to meet a fellow car guy that lives close.

[Dodgeb4ya]

That was a steal of a deal on that old jack...as long as no leaks and it works well....ten times the value of any new modern offshore jack.?

[Los_Control]

19 minutes ago, Dodgeb4ya said:

as long as no leaks and it works well

good point, I checked it earlier and it jacks up the chevy with no effort. Then let it down.

Just did the same and then let it sit, and it did leak down within 5 min or so.

Then I open and close the valve a few times and tried again, seems to be holding now. Let it sit over night.

Think I will probably drain the fluid out of it and replace, then clean it up, replace seals that look like they need it.

 

Maintenance seems to be a lost art any more.

I admit to being dumb enough to change the oil in my lawn mower and sharpen the blade twice a year.

I even change the oil in my worm drive skill saws ....

Most people today just run things til they quit and replace them  

[Dan Hiebert]

I, too, like to maintain my stuff.  The pride I get in finishing things well also comes with keeping my equipment and tools maintained and in good working order.  Sometimes that's all it takes to have even "cheaper" tools and equipment last a good long time.  A few years ago, my son was doing a brake job for someone with my tools.  He was beating the heck out of a wrong size SAE socket to get it to work, without asking me for the right size socket that was in the metric drawer.  He said "it's just a socket", an attitude he got from auto tech co-workers in NY, and certainly not from me.  Their culture seems to be to break tools whenever possible and replace them as a measure of how good a mechanic they are, rather than take good care of them so they'll take good care of you.  I reminded him that it was among the first tools I bought, and significantly older than him.  It registered, but he quit using my tools after that.  Good score with that jack, the only problems you'll have will be those small wheels on the loose ground, otherwise you'll find it's hard not to have one from now on.