Craftsman Floor Jack.... lame

Wshift · 03-05-2008, 02:58 PM

So i got this (Jack) Craftsman floor jack a little over 9 months ago at sears. About 6 months in the
little u-joint that lets out the pressure broke. Not a big deal i thought i'll just get
out the vise grips and work around that problem.

Well i was using it yesterday and once i got the jeep jacked up i was getting ready to put stands under it. All of the
sudden oil blew out of the ram and the thing nearly dropped the jeep down on me... Now I'm no expert
on floor jacks but it seems to me that this should not happen. Oh well off to get a new jack

Btw if you look at all the reviews for any of the craftsman floor jacks you'll see
that this is a very common problem. On one page 26 out of 29 reviews said they had a similar problem.

phant0omx · 03-05-2008, 03:07 PM

that sucks. my craftsmen floor jack needs oil. the oil started leaking out of it. i was just gonna add oil and see if that works, but maybe i'll just buy another jack like i wanted to. harbor freight maybe....

CMARJEEP · 03-05-2008, 03:15 PM

just bring back to sears and get a new one. i dont know if the jacks have a lifetime warranty like their hand tools but it should have at least a 1 year warranty. they ususally take it back no questions asked.

**Hesher420** · 03-05-2008, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmarjeep

just bring back to sears and get a new one. i dont know if the jacks have a lifetime warranty like their hand tools but it should have at least a 1 year warranty. they ususally take it back no questions asked.

Sounds like a good idea, but.....

I only give a tool one chance to kill me!

If you get a new one and it blows out, then there's egg on your face.
Or a YJ!

**chadsmeltzer** · 03-05-2008, 07:48 PM

I have heard a lot of bad things about the Craftsman line lately, but you should really have some jackstands under the Jeep too.

I have the Harbor Freight Jack and like it, a little slow but I can only compare it to a top of the line one that I used once. It lifts the Jeep plenty high enough, I think 21" and havent had it drop or anything weird in the ~year I have had it.

**95BadBoy** · 03-05-2008, 09:11 PM

Recently there was a post about someone with a failed 4 tn Sears jack that was recently purchased. I've have one of those (2 yrs old though) that works like a champ. This would make me believe that Sears has had an even lower bidder in China making these newer units. That scares the crap out of me, no one needs there rig crushing them due to the newest round of lowest price China bidding wars.

Man thier stuff used to be a hell of a lot better. The post that I'm thinking of also quoted the bad reviews posted on thier site. I'm really hopeing that mine was purchased B4 this newest round of a company selling total ---- made in China. Damn sad.

Glad you did not get injured.

Ofsthun · 03-05-2008, 10:31 PM

I used to buy only craftsman but I've moved to harbor Freight tools and my Harbor Freight 3 ton jack has lasted me 5 years now and it has never leaked or stopped working on me.

CMARJEEP · 03-05-2008, 10:42 PM

1. no one should be under a jeep with just the jack supporting it. thats just stupid. the jack is meant to lift it up and then you put jack stands under they vehicle to support it. jacks arent meant to have that much weight on them for that long.

2. harbor freight does make some nice stuff. i have used one of their jacks and while slow it works and takes abuse. its not like any of us are using it to change a nascar tire so speed really shouldnt be an issue.

Crashnburn80 · 03-05-2008, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TwoShoes

I used to buy only craftsman but I've moved to harbor Freight tools...

Craftsman hand tools are made in America, Harbor freight in china by the lowest bidder. If your craftsman hand tools EVER break you can swap them out at any Sears no questions asked, no paperwork. When your harbor frieght tools break your SOL. This doesn't really apply to Jacks, but hand tools, I'll only buy craftsman.

My 3 Ton Craftsman Jack has worked great for 8 years untill my brother left it supporting an engine/tranny up overnight in the rain. Didnt operate as smoothly after that but it still worked.

Ofsthun · 03-05-2008, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crashnburn80

Craftsman hand tools are made in America, Harbor freight in china by the lowest bidder. If your craftsman hand tools EVER break you can swap them out at any Sears no questions asked, no paperwork. When your harbor frieght tools break your SOL. This doesn't really apply to Jacks, but hand tools, I'll only buy craftsman.

My 3 Ton Craftsman Jack has worked great for 8 years untill my brother left it supporting an engine/tranny up overnight in the rain. Didnt operate as smoothly after that but it still worked.

All of my hand tools are Craftsman that I've had for over 10 years now and they've been fine but when it comes to Jacks, Airtools, Powertools i don't buy any Craftsman due to past issues I've had with them. I do own a lot of harbor Freight tools and they also replace any broken items purchased from them just like Craftsman and you can find some really good deals on rarely used tools there.

Wshift · 03-06-2008, 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmarjeep

1. no one should be under a jeep with just the jack supporting it. thats just stupid. the jack is meant to lift it up and then you put jack stands under they vehicle to support it. jacks arent meant to have that much weight on them for that long.

For sure, but i only had it up on the floor jack for maybe 30 seconds and as i was moving in to put the jack stands in place it let go. Scary stuff

chutta · 03-06-2008, 09:39 PM

I've known two people that've died just having a tranny fall on them, let alone the whole chassis.
Never take things for granted or rush lifting or recovery.

jeepcj-7 · 03-07-2008, 11:49 AM

My dad bought a jack pack in the 80's and its still great but he bought a new one about a year ago and its junk. I guess you cant sell stuff if it dont break

1 ton yj · 03-07-2008, 01:24 PM

My dad bought a Craftsman floor jack with the jack stands, it started leaking a couple months after buying it. Returned it, got a new one, wouldn't lift anything after 6 months. They are junk, we now have an OTC jack that's probably 10 years old and works flawlessly.

Craftsman, in my automotive proffesional experience, is total junk these days. They should just merge with Harbor Freight.

cooltc2004 · 03-07-2008, 02:24 PM

I would never buy a newer Craftsman jack. When I worked there, they were coming back all the time from leaks and/or not working.

Hand tools, like said, and top of the line. If they fail, just bring it back and get a new one.

As far as power tools: They use to suck, hardcore. Now, with the 19.2 and the newer 20v Lithium, they are actually really good drills. I bought a pack of the 19.2 drills, and after 2 years of service, this thing still runs strong, and the battery's shelf life is still about a year (fully charged).