Great value floor jack for Mustangs
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Joined: February 13, 2011
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From: Southern NH
Great value floor jack for Mustangs
When my old faithful 25 y/o Sears floor jack finally stopped working, I searched around for some place that I could get it rebuilt or repaired. Having no luck, I started searching for a new one that I could use for my Boss Mustang. The Boss is even lower to the ground than my wife's 11 GT with 18" wheels. The height difference isn't a big surprise given the taller sidewall of the tires on the regular Mustang, so a Brembo or Track Pack Mustang would be closer to the ride height of the Boss.
The old Sears jack I had no choice but to try using the jack points at the pinch welds, but these are designed from the factory to use the lame scissor style jack, and not a hydraulic jack with a round saddle. I didn't want to bend the pinch welds or weld in a jacking puck either, so I started shopping for a low profile jack. One that would reach the green area shown in this picture.
Low profile 'racing' jacks that are either aluminum or designed for professional use are $300 and up. Not what I was looking for, so I checked out the local Harbor Freight store. They had just what I was looking for in a well designed, low profile jack, that fit my budget. I realize that you are taking a risk with anything you buy from HF, but just about everything these days is imported from China, and the design of this jack was ideal for my needs. I know that your have to really be careful with stuff you buy from HF, and they do offer an extended warranty for another $20 on this model. But for a hundred bucks, this jack looks to be just the ticket for our low to the ground Mustangs.
The $79 jack is actually the one on the left in the above picture. I had a coupon to the the one on the right for $99, and the T design handle with the **** release was just what I wanted.
The model I bought is the low profile steel one in front of the red jack, and the more expensive aluminum jacks are on the other side. As this jack is for my garage, I don't mind that it weighs about a 100 lbs. This was part of the reason why I wanted the T handle model, makes it way easier to maneuver it by the handle. This model also has a foot pedal for rapid pumping to reach the jacking point.
Here you can see that you have a full 16" of low profile clearance to the center of the saddle, which should be ideal for lowered Mustangs with low profile tires.
I measured the distance to the 'safe green jack point'
From this shot you can see that this jack gets you exactly 16" from the edge of the body to the desired jack point.
Here's the clearance on my '13 Boss.
Now the wife's GT with 18" wheels.
Specs from the box.
The old Sears jack I had no choice but to try using the jack points at the pinch welds, but these are designed from the factory to use the lame scissor style jack, and not a hydraulic jack with a round saddle. I didn't want to bend the pinch welds or weld in a jacking puck either, so I started shopping for a low profile jack. One that would reach the green area shown in this picture.
Low profile 'racing' jacks that are either aluminum or designed for professional use are $300 and up. Not what I was looking for, so I checked out the local Harbor Freight store. They had just what I was looking for in a well designed, low profile jack, that fit my budget. I realize that you are taking a risk with anything you buy from HF, but just about everything these days is imported from China, and the design of this jack was ideal for my needs. I know that your have to really be careful with stuff you buy from HF, and they do offer an extended warranty for another $20 on this model. But for a hundred bucks, this jack looks to be just the ticket for our low to the ground Mustangs.
The $79 jack is actually the one on the left in the above picture. I had a coupon to the the one on the right for $99, and the T design handle with the **** release was just what I wanted.
The model I bought is the low profile steel one in front of the red jack, and the more expensive aluminum jacks are on the other side. As this jack is for my garage, I don't mind that it weighs about a 100 lbs. This was part of the reason why I wanted the T handle model, makes it way easier to maneuver it by the handle. This model also has a foot pedal for rapid pumping to reach the jacking point.
Here you can see that you have a full 16" of low profile clearance to the center of the saddle, which should be ideal for lowered Mustangs with low profile tires.
I measured the distance to the 'safe green jack point'
From this shot you can see that this jack gets you exactly 16" from the edge of the body to the desired jack point.
Here's the clearance on my '13 Boss.
Now the wife's GT with 18" wheels.
Specs from the box.
Mach 1 Member
Joined: October 6, 2012
Posts: 560
Likes: 1
From: Pittsburgh, PA
I have had great luck with my sears 2.5 ton jack - about 13 years old & lots of use with no problems. However it is not low-profile. Once my '14 gets here I will probably go the HF route. The last post is correct in that jacks, compressors and generators are typically excluded from those big discount coupons. Thanks for all the pics, measurements, & effort OP!
Last edited by PaxtonShelby; Feb 18, 2013 at 06:11 AM.
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Joined: October 15, 2008
Posts: 1,373
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From: Brew City
I am long overdue for a jack upgrade and keep coming back to something like this one as the lighter weight aluminum versions just make me nervous. I need to watch for a similar deal as they are showing up right now for $139. Where did you find the coupon for $100?
Last edited by Doogie; Feb 18, 2013 at 11:04 AM.
Thread Starter
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From: Southern NH
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