Not woodworking, but shop tools for those of us that work on our vehicles.

[dbhost]

This may be of interest to those of us that work on our own vehicles. Particularly if you work on a large pickup / SUV / Jeep etc... with large diameter rims and need to lift up enough to get big tires off the ground...

Without going into detail about the utter failure of common wheel locks and theft, let's just say I suffered some damage due to an attempted wheel theft and needed to replace wheel studs on my truck. I picked up the Pittsburgh 4 ton floor jack, and 6 ton stands a few weeks ago for the ineveitable repairs like this as my old puny Goodwrench trolley jack and puny 3 ton jack stands were just scary to use, safety wise...

The Pittsburgh floor jack operated so smoothly, and lifted with such ease that I would happily and easily compare it to the floor jacks we used at the shops when I was a professional mechanic. Snap On, Mac, etc... The wheel / castor operation was smooth as glass, and the rapid pump did exactly what it was supposed to...

The lift height being over 20" allows me to lift the front end up by the cross member and allow for full control arm droop and still have plenty of room to go after the tires leave the ground and I have the truck on stands...

Overall a great purchase both jack and stand wise. Competitively priced, and with specifications that beat the snot out of much of the competition.



If you'd like to see my writeup of the repair work and initial use of the jack and stands, you can find that on my blog at http://daves-workshop.blogspot.com/2...ted-wheel.html

[JimD]

I use a harbor freight jack that looks something like yours but it's orange. After several years it is harder to get it to come down slowly but otherwise it works great. I also use jackstands from harbor freight. I think their car stuff is amongst their best buys. Torque wrenches too. I'd like to have their super duty 1/2 impact wrench but I don't really need it.

[Pappy]

I use a harbor freight jack that looks something like yours but it's orange. After several years it is harder to get it to come down slowly but otherwise it works great. I also use jackstands from harbor freight. I think their car stuff is amongst their best buys. Torque wrenches too. I'd like to have their super duty 1/2 impact wrench but I don't really need it.

I have the smaller version of the aluminum racing jack. It's not a true quick pump jack but I bought it mainly for the weight factor. My Dodge weighs in at almost 3 tons and I've lifted it several times.

Will disagree on the torque wrenches. After stripping some CRITICAL bolts using a HF torque wrench at about 20 # under the required torque, I tested it against my buddy's Snap-on. Set it at 30 # and tightened a bolt until it clicked. The Snap-On finally clicked at 55#. Took that one and a HF in lb wrench and destroyed them!

[dbhost]

I use an old Craftsman 1/2" torque wrench. As accurate as my brother in laws Snap On best I can tell.

No experience with the HF models.

[woodturner]

After stripping some CRITICAL bolts using a HF torque wrench at about 20 # under the required torque, I tested it against my buddy's Snap-on. Set it at 30 # and tightened a bolt until it clicked. The Snap-On finally clicked at 55#. Took that one and a HF in lb wrench and destroyed them!

That is a problem with all click type torque wrenches. The calibration changes every time they are clicked, and they have to be professionally recalibrated every 6 months or so to stay accurate. In addition, if the dial is turned too far, the calibration is lost and the wrench will not function correctly.

Note also that the 3/8" and 1/4" wrenches for lower torque applications don't "click" in the same way as the larger ones. First time I used the smaller ones, I completely missed the actual "click" and overtightened the fasteners.

The problem is that the click type wrenches use a spring, and a spring loses tension each time it is flexed.

The digital type that use a digital sensor (not just a digital display) are supposed to resolve this issue, but I have not tried them. They are also very expensive.

A split beam torque wrench is the most accurate of the mechanical types, and is expensive but not crazy expensive.

The beam type torque wrench is accurate, low cost $20 or so), and stays in calibration. The Craftsman vesions are guaranteed for life. These wrenchs measure torque by physical properties of the beam metal and therefore stay in calibration. The only problem with them is that the pointer can be hard to read in tight quarters, so a helper may be needed to read the scale while you tighten the fastener.