Discussion Forum - Northstar Chevelle Club

Chris S · Active Member

Floor Jack Shopping

Tony Hoffer · Moderator

Ive had good luck with my OTC jack.. Looks like the product line has changed some since I bought mine though.

-- Edited by Tony Hoffer on Tuesday 25th of August 2015 10:02:56 PM

Dan Williams · Active Member

Try bleeding the old one first. I have a 10 year old NAPA floor jack that wouldn't hold up an empty gas tank so I grabbed the aluminum Craftsman that I inherited somehow and it wouldn't do it either. Went back up to NAPA figuring I would be spending a couple of hundred bucks and some old guy asked if I had bled them recently. Went back out to the shop and googled "bleed floor jack" and spent 5 minutes and picked up the Chevelle from both ends and the next day they were both still holding strong and both still work a year or so later. Worth a shot, cost me nothing.

Lost in the 60s · President

Dan Williams wrote:
Try bleeding the old one first. I have a 10 year old NAPA floor jack that wouldn't hold up an empty gas tank so I grabbed the aluminum Craftsman that I inherited somehow and it wouldn't do it either. Went back up to NAPA figuring I would be spending a couple of hundred bucks and some old guy asked if I had bled them recently. Went back out to the shop and googled "bleed floor jack" and spent 5 minutes and picked up the Chevelle from both ends and the next day they were both still holding strong and both still work a year or so later. Worth a shot, cost me nothing.

That and lube the u-joint for the lock shaft. They can get rusty and don't lock tight unless you really crank on it.

I have a 3.5 ton ARCAN that I bought at Northern Tool several years ago and it has worked perfect, except when the u-joint would bind up... That reminds me to lube the wheels also..

bowtie · Secretary

reminds me.... I need to bleed mine. It's slowly dropping.

67ss · 1K+ Club

http://www.omegalift.com/ProductDetails/Omega/3TonMagicLiftServiceJack/25030B/360

I have this one and has worked great. I like the quick pump feature that gets it up to height fast when unloaded. It did start leaking a few years back but I was able to purchase an o-ring kit for it locally and fixed it right up. I swear and bought it from Northern tool but I see they don't carry it anymore.

cooz65 · Webmaster

I can tell you what not to get. Big Red Pro series. Got it from Northern. When the handle is in the down position, the gears at the bottom come free of each other, not allowing you to twist the handle and lower the vehicle. Makes it very annoying when working in tight places and you have to go underneath and twist the gear with a wrench to release the pressure. Just my thoughts.

Chris S · Active Member

Thanks for the input guys. I'm going to try the bleeding idea first chance I get. It would be nice if that is all it took.

Chris S · Active Member

Bled the jack tonight. WOW there was a lot of air in there! Rotated tires on the Chevelle and it worked fine. Seems my Brainerd run last month scrubbed some tread, but well worth it.

Thanks again for the info Dan.