05-23-2025, 05:53 PM
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#1 (permalink)
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High Altitude Hybrid
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Why do jacks last only 3 to 5 uses?
I went out to change the winter tires out for my summer tires and guess what, after a single year of use now my jack no longer works.
I had already ruined the jack for the spare tire, so I had bought another one and got a bottle jack.
Well, that bottle jack ended up dying, so I got a better brand one that was much larger. Now it stopped working too.
I can't use a floor jack, my driveway is made of dirt.
I'm getting kind of sick of having to buy a new jack every time I need to rotate tires or change summer rims and tires in and out.
Any suggestions of what jack to get?
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05-23-2025, 06:01 PM
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#2 (permalink)
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Human Environmentalist
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I used a floor jack outdoors many times. You can either allow the wheels to burry into the dirt, or put plywood under it.
With the plywood method, that allows you to use a creeper too.
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05-23-2025, 06:42 PM
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#3 (permalink)
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High Altitude Hybrid
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Quote:
Originally Posted by redpoint5
I used a floor jack outdoors many times. You can either allow the wheels to burry into the dirt, or put plywood under it.
With the plywood method, that allows you to use a creeper too.
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Thanks! I might go that route. But I'm also trying to find tools that fit in my practically "tiny-house" life style. So not a lot of storage for things as large as floor jacks, much less for plywood.
But if a floor jack will not need replacing every season, that's probably the route I should go.
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05-23-2025, 07:17 PM
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#4 (permalink)
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Master EcoModder
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05-24-2025, 12:30 AM
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#5 (permalink)
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aero guerrilla
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I had the same!
Pulling the spare wheel jack from the car is hassle, so I bought a dedicated jack changing wheels 2x per year on 2 cars. Nope. After the third wheel it gave up. 
And it wasn't the cheapest jack I could find, I made sure I got something a bit better than minimum, but still 
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05-24-2025, 08:13 AM
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#6 (permalink)
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Tire Geek
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I have a dedicated piece of plywood, and a Harbor Freight Aluminum 1 1/2 ton racing jack. Many years of use. The only thing I've done is grease up the roller. That really reduced the amount of noise is makes when rolling.
Oh and I also made some wooden blocks that fit the pinch welds so I'm lifting at the right location using a large flat surface.
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05-24-2025, 10:05 AM
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#7 (permalink)
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Somewhat crazed
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20 years of the biggest floor jack from harbor fright, but replaced the pump o rings couple of times
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05-24-2025, 10:36 AM
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#8 (permalink)
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High Altitude Hybrid
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Piotrsko
20 years of the biggest floor jack from harbor fright, but replaced the pump o rings couple of times
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I wonder if my DieHard bottle jack is fixable. All I know is it died hard.
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