I just bought a HF Al jack. I've had it for about 3 weeks and have used it about 10 times. It's already making noises when I jack the car up. And it takes a lot of effort to lift the car. It might have to rebuild it soon. I also don't like that the screw that holds the handle in place sticks out way too much. A few times I couldn't get enough travel to pump it because of that stupid thing hitting. A few of my friends have the same jack and theirs quit on them pretty quickly.

On the plus side, it's super light. I no longer have to lug around that heavy steel jack to the track.

 

You can take off the screw when necessary to get into tight places. As long as you don't pull out on the handle (only up and down), you'll be fine. I drilled and tapped a hole on the backside of mine to correct this. Also, it takes a lot of effort because it's a quick-lift race jack (it's something like 6 pumps to bring it to full height). This quick action requires more effort (also why they give you a long handle).

As for the noise and the other problems you're seeing: Sometimes air gets into the hydraulic system. You have to periodically purge the air from the system, which can easily be done by releasing the valve and pumping the handle several times (you can also install a check-valve to do this automatically. The check valve should have come with the jack). This should solve your problem.


With that said, I have a Harbor Freight Al racing jack that I have been using for almost a year. I use it daily in my garage, and I beat it to death on the track. I have had ZERO problems with it.

Rob

 

I got this guy
I love it

 

Thats the same as the HF jack.

 

argo makes the best race jacks if you ask me.