Threw $400 at a hydraulic jack for my service truck and it already paid off in one call

I got tired of fighting those cheap harbor freight jacks on service calls so I bought a OTC 5 ton low profile a few months back. Cost me around $400 at the local supply house and I thought I was nuts for spending that much. Then last week I had to pull a stuck car at a mall in Tulsa and that jack lifted the whole load without even grunting. The cheap ones always leak down on me after a few months but this thing holds solid. Anybody else bite the bullet on a premium jack and feel like it was worth it?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_sam1mo ago

Man, I feel you. I did the same thing with a floor jack a couple years ago. Bought a 3 ton Hein-Werner for the garage. Felt like an idiot dropping $350 on a jack. Then my neighbor's F-250 blew a tire and I had to lift the whole front end. That jack went right under, no fuss. My old one would have folded. Still feels stupid spending that much on a tool but it works.

casey_barnes1mo ago

Respectfully @the_sam I gotta disagree a bit. Spending that much on a jack doesn't feel stupid to me, it feels like buying safety. A cheap jack failing under a load isn't just an inconvenience, it's a trip to the ER or worse. I'd rather pay $350 once and know it's not going to let me down than save a hundred bucks and hold my breath every time I crawl under something. That F-250 example proves your point perfectly, your old one would've folded but the Hein-Werner handled it like a champ. Peace of mind is worth the money every time.