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What brand/kind of hydraulic jack are you using for your 996?
I have a craftsman 2 ton (~4.5 inches min height) which worked before I install tech art suspension. Right now car sits at 3 7/8" from the ground and I need to buy a new low profile jack.
Most of the racing jack has 3.5" min height which is cutting it close to the car clearance. Found one from harbor freight with min height of 2 7/8 but I'm not too sure about harbor freight quality. ( http://www.harborfreight.com/3-ton-l...ump-61282.html )
I know that I'm supposed to have jack stand while working on the car but I hate for the jack to fail while I'm setting the jack stand.
Anybody has any experience with this jack or any suggestion would be appreciated...
Don't have experience with that particular one you're looking at but I'm on my second one of these. Small, lightweight, easy to carry around...handy for when you're always swapping wheels/tires (autocrossing).
For the price, the HF ones are no-brainers. The first one lasted 8 years and when it crapped out, I just exchanged it for another one thanks to the lifetime warranty. And when I say "crapped out", I mean that it slowly leaked the fluid, a few drops at a time, not that it just gave way while I had the car jacked up.
I'm currently using a 3 Ton "Aluminum Race Jack" that I got from Harbor Freight for around $150... It's low profile and has worked well for the past year. For my type/frequency of use, it has performed flawlessly. **I only use my shop on occasion - Far, far, away from a "professional" day in/day out type of use. If you expect any tool to perform under constant use, you have to spend the money.
I believe thats the one I have... I can barely fit it with my suspension as it is set up. But I can get to the 4 stock pick up points if I wiggle it a little bit.
(2001 C2 with a GT3 coil over setup) Shes really low.
My only suggestion would be to check out the Low Profile jack thats a little bit longer... I wish I would have gotten that one since I cant reach all my lift points in the rear with out hitting the body of the jack on the car here and there... I hate lifting it up just to place the wheels on some 2x10s just to pick it up again.
I have this one: http://www.harborfreight.com/15-ton-...ump-62160.html
It fits under my '01 with H&R springs with no problems.
I've been using it for a few years and have been very happy with it. I also ALWAYS use jack stands so I figure the risk of an inexpensive jack is minimal.
Another vote for harbor freight low-profile. I use a hockey puck as a jack pad. Turns out that hockey pucks are useful for about 900 various jobs in the garage - pick up a 5-pack on Amazon.
I later bought a second set so I have two jacks and four jack stands - cuts down on dragging the jack back and forth across the garage around all of the tools, air hose, etc.
If you jack from one of the rear jack points, that side of the car lifts, front and back, allowing you to place jack stands under the front jack point and under the rear support point of your choosing, and you can do this without getting under the car and exposing yourself to danger in case the jack fails unexpectedly.
I'm also a rhino ramp fan - my 996 has no trouble getting onto the ramps, but the long Corvette nose requires the use of a couple of pieces of 5/8" plywood...
The jacks, stands, and ramps have been everything I needed to do most of the work on my 996 (oil, filter, fuel filter, brake fluid, r/r mufflers, r/r water pump, r/r catalytic converters, remove front wheel drive components, motor mounts, repainting the underside of the front lip once a year, etc. etc.).
Thanks for all the replies. I guess if that many of you are using harbor freight jack without issues, they should be fine. I am not professional (just home mechanic) and not using it once in a while only.
I bought the low profile 3 ton steel harbor freight jack. Very heavy ~80lbs but can't complain for the price. Lets see how this holds up overtime.
I bought a name-brand jack prior to the HF jack; it started leaking hydraulic oil about a month afterward. The HF jacks may be crappy pig-iron construction, but they are stout and neither has leaked after a few years of ownership...