"McLarry" (McLarry)
06/20/2014 at 18:38 • Filed to: None
0
25|
"McLarry" (McLarry)
06/20/2014 at 18:38 • Filed to: None | 0
| 25 |
...so now I need some tools. Since I've always been an apartment-dweller until now, I did most of my car maintenance in various family members' garages and driveways and now I need to invest in some tools of my own. First up I'm thinking I'll need a reliable jack and some jackstands - is there much variance in quality? One side of my says just get something from Pep Boys or Walmart (or Amazon even...yay for free shipping on heavy stuff), but then again the jack and jackstands are rather important from a safety standpoint, so I don't want to skimp on them. Any thoughts?
Textured Soy Protein
> McLarry
06/20/2014 at 18:44 |
|
I got a Crafstman floor jack and stands set at Sears for like a hundred bucks or something.
Crocket Bernet
> McLarry
06/20/2014 at 18:46 |
|
Buy a quality jack, as someone who has a nice jack at home and who helps his friends with their cars at their homes there is nothing more aggravating than using a shitty jack. If you don't I promise that you will regret it.
|
Crocket Bernet
> Crocket Bernet
06/20/2014 at 18:47 |
|
Oh ya, as for stands it really doesn't matter anything made of hard metal will do.
Saracen
> McLarry
06/20/2014 at 18:48 |
|
I would get a floor jack from Craftsman. Do it right and get a 3 ton jack.
CAR_IS_MI
> McLarry
06/20/2014 at 18:52 |
|
When I first bought my house / garage and needed to obtain an large number of tools on the cheap this is what I did:
Step 1: Craigslist search for a decent sized tool box on the cheap, the one I got was in rough condition (paint wise) but for $70 I got the roller cart, top box, and 3 pneumatic tools (500 ft/lbs torque / ratchet / butterfly). Then I took the drawers out, sanded it all down and painted the whole thing, and regreased the slides.
(lost the before and after pics but you get the idea)
Step 2: Harbor Freight. The jacks and Jack stands they sell are about the same quality you would get at a Sears or Walmart, but they almost always have deals going on ( I once grabbed a jack they normally sell for $230 for $50...). Also, grab any tools that would have no internal movements, so sockets, screw drivers, pliers, wrenches. The quality is fairly decent and its cheap enough that you could buy two should you need to.
Step 3: Anything you don't yet have from this shopping spree (ratchets, power tools, etc.) buy from reputable shops with warranties. Lowe's, while a bit pricier, often offers good warranties with their stuff, which could make spending $17 on a ratchet there better than buying the $10 one at Harbor Freight and then having to buy another $10 one at Harbor Freight 3 months later.
|
McLarry
> Saracen
06/20/2014 at 18:54 |
|
My dad's had a Craftsman floor jack for years, so that was one of my first thoughts. It doesn't do real well nowadays if you need to lift fairly high, but I suppose it's already earned back its sale price.
revrseat70
> McLarry
06/20/2014 at 18:55 |
|
I'd do a lot of your shopping at sears. Craftsmen is a medium-grade tool, but they are the most no-questions-asked dealer of "lifetime warranties". They actually stand behind their statement and will replace your tools without even a judgemental glance. Some ramps could come in handy too, as they are easier to use, safer, and quicker for the majority of jobs you would be using a jack for. Plus, you prolong the life of your jack-points. As far as getting tools. You'd be hard pressed to beat their massive 300+ piece tool sets. I think Jalopnik has a deal for that in their daily-deals section. Only thing missing from those is screw drivers and power tools. Get yourself an affordable box and drill from Sears or Home Depot, and you're golden for the majority of your projects for the rest of your life.
ReallyColorful
> McLarry
06/20/2014 at 18:57 |
|
I bought a toolset from Harbor Freight Tools recently. 301 piece kit in a nice case. Retails for $189.99 and I used a 25% coupon to take it home for about $145 bucks! The tools are chrome vanadium from mostly Taiwan I believe and the only complaint I have is that it lacks wrenches... Will be buying a separate set eventually. Anyway, read some of the reviews on the site or check it out yourself personally at a HFT store. Can't speak too much on durability since I've only done a couple of things with it but everything has lifetime warranty so its all good! Check it out.
lone_liberal
> McLarry
06/20/2014 at 19:01 |
|
My rule of thumb is quality brands for everything that I will use a lot, like sockets, wrenches, whatever, and Harbor Freight for specialty stuff that will rarely get used. I'd go quality name for the jack and HF or Walmart for the jackstands, but be sure they are sturdy and built relatively well. Basically, the more moving parts the better quality I want.
|
McLarry
> revrseat70
06/20/2014 at 19:07 |
|
I saw that toolset in the daily-deals section, but didn't jump on it. Probably should have! I've got a Craftsman drill, which isn't great but does the job...My impression is that their power tools aren't great but their hand tools are top notch. Thanks for the advice
|
McLarry
> lone_liberal
06/20/2014 at 19:08 |
|
What would you say is a quality name among jacks? Got a few recommendations for Craftsman so far, but I know them more for their wrenches and such.
|
lone_liberal
> McLarry
06/20/2014 at 19:13 |
|
I have a Craftsman 3 ton floor jack that works great for me. I'd recommend it and you might be able to get a deal on a set that includes jackstands.
|
lone_liberal
> McLarry
06/20/2014 at 19:47 |
|
You might look at a set like this http://www.craftsman.com/craftsman-3-to…
mcseanerson
> CAR_IS_MI
06/20/2014 at 19:56 |
|
I got a HF floor jack and it out does my buddy's Craftsman. At the end of the day you shouldn't rely on a jack to save your life anyways. That's what jackstands are for.
|
mcseanerson
> CAR_IS_MI
06/20/2014 at 19:57 |
|
Also if you lose kobalt sockets and keep your receipt and stuff lowes will ship you a new one if you pay for shipping.
|
mcseanerson
> lone_liberal
06/20/2014 at 19:59 |
|
The jack just gets the car up, the jack stands prevent your from being crushed to death. Sounds like someone has his priorities backwards.
|
mcseanerson
> McLarry
06/20/2014 at 20:02 |
|
I bought this one for less than $80 on sale if I recall correctly. Love it. I would've bought a racing jack if it weren't for the wife's Jeep.
|
lone_liberal
> mcseanerson
06/20/2014 at 20:08 |
|
What's a few thousand pounds on your chest? Nah, it's just that as long as the welds and everything are good there isn't much to go wrong. I do have Craftsman 3 ton jack stands now, but I still have some HF ones that are perfectly fine also.
Chase
> McLarry
06/20/2014 at 20:09 |
|
For future reference on the drill (and power tools in general), Milwaukee is the king. I work construction during the summer (barns, houses, remodeling, that kinda stuff), and its by far the best stuff out there. It is expensive, but my god can they take a pounding. They get dropped regularly, often from 20-30 ft, without problem. The battery life is excellent (although the batteries themselves are pretty expensive). Hell, one of the impact drills got run over by a 15,000lb JCB Loadall last fall, works like new.
|
Chase
> lone_liberal
06/20/2014 at 20:11 |
|
I went to HF for my jackstands, I just opted to go up a size (from the 3ks to the 6ks) for the safety factor. I used them to hold up the front end of my ranger for a little while no problem, and most of the use they're gonna see will be with a Sonett, which will hardly stress their capacity
|
mcseanerson
> lone_liberal
06/20/2014 at 20:12 |
|
I'm sure their jack stands are fine, a lot of their stuff is better than people give it credit for. I have a HF 3 ton jack and it actually holds fine. I leave it jacked up just to see if it drops while I'm using my jack stands and it's been solid.
|
Chase
> revrseat70
06/20/2014 at 20:14 |
|
Oddly enough, with HF (depending on the employee you ave to deal with) any of the basic Pittsburgh branded handtools have a lifetime warrantee. I was in the one in Worcester at one point, and some guy had broken a socket adapter. Employee walked over to the rack, yanked one out of a 4 piece set, and handed it to the guy, and walked away.
|
revrseat70
> Chase
06/21/2014 at 09:02 |
|
This.
|
McLarry
> Chase
06/21/2014 at 18:41 |
|
I used to work construction during the summer when I was in high school and college. There was one guy who swore by Milwaukee and another who would use only Makita. The company supplied DeWalts, but they liked the others so much more they bought their own tools. I thought the DeWalts were pretty nice, but the batteries would not last long. I bought the Craftsman because it was cheap :P Also my dad and brother-in-law had the same drill, so if we were working together we could swap batteries and such.
|
McLarry
> lone_liberal
06/22/2014 at 22:27 |
|
Precisely what I was looking at! Went to Sears yesterday and they had that kit for $109 but it was out of stock...