fasted1953

I need to buy a jack for my 99 GS400 and it will be used on my wifes Sienna van as well. It looks like the GS400 weighs under 4000 lbs, so can I get by with one of the 2 ton aluminum "racing" jacks I've seen? And, is the rule that the jack needs to be able to lift the whole weight of the car, or does it need a margin beyond that?

Saw an aluminum jack at Costco. Anyone have experience with it?

Lex_Fnatic

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...highlight=Jack
















Got to to search unfortunetely...

fasted1953

I always search first. Still trying to learn about whether the jack capacity needs to equal or exceed the weight of the car, though. Sounds like people are using 3000 lb jacks on their gs's without a problem. Thanks for pointing out that thread. I read it in detail and learned a few things.

RMMGS4

iTrader: (5)

I use the 2 ton aluminum jack. You know you are not raising the entire weight of the car when you jack it up.


The aluminum jack with the a short stroke can lift the car in a few strokes, but the trade off is you have to exert a lot more force to lift it. If you weigh say less than 130lbs, you probably have to use your whole body weight to get the car up. The lightness is great though when it comes to moving it around.

Costco used to have a blue steel jack, that I won't recommend. Both myself and another member had that one of these die on us. I use my jacks regularly, so a regular person might not find out very quickly.

I don't know if the new aluminum jack from Costco is the same brand as the blue steel one that died on me, but you know you get what you pay for.

If I had it to do again, I'd get the aluminum jack from Craftsman. Guranteed and is a much better build quality and design than most other jacks I've seen. This is one nice jack.

fasted1953

The alum one at costco looks identical to the sears and griotts garage version. Has a two piece handle, padded lower section, same loop handles around the outside, two pistons/springs. And with Costco, you can return it any time. Thinking it might be worth a try.

RMMGS4

iTrader: (5)

Most jack designs look really alike. Griots does not make the jack they sell so it could be the Costco.

Did you really look closely at the Sears?

I'm gonna have to check this for myself.

You could be right, so this would be interesting to verify.

How long is the Costco warranty??

Sears is lifetime.

Neo

iTrader: (3)

Glen, did you return it to CostCo? They would probably take it back.

I use the same blue one but not as often as you do. I've also had it longer than you did and it still works fine for me.

If I had the money, I'd look into one of these

http://www.ac-hydraulic.com/division_uk.htm

JellyBean

Oops. I was just about to recommend the Costco blue steel jack because I've been using it for our Gs430 and Honda Odyssey for over 1 year. I won't recommend it after reading about those bad experiences.

RMMGS4

iTrader: (5)

Well I don't have a receipt and I was going to do some failure analysis to see if I could repair it or determine if it is just a crappy item and not worth it for me or anyone else.

I'd say 4 of us locals bought the same unit. I'm not ready to say it is a poor quality unit, but given two out of 4 locals break ours within months of buying them, that's not very good.

Neo

iTrader: (3)

Even without a receipt, I'd try. They are pretty good about that. I have not found any local or even popular online store that sells it so Costco probably knows it came from them. I have not had any problems returning stuff at Costco.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

yeah glen, try to return it. that's stupid

imho get a good brand. get craftman.... i have their 2 1/4 ton jack with stands for 30 bucks and it's been doing an super awesome job