Quote:
Originally Posted by barry12345
There to me on occasion is nothing quite like a large heavy floor jack from long ago. They are still out there. Of course you would not use them for everything today. You just cannot beat the lift they give you. You are pretty much limited to using them on a concrete surface as well.
This theory that you cannot have enough jacks is semi true. I do a few yard sales at the early part of the year. Partialy because I run across people I may not have seen for a long time. Last Saturday there was your typical cheap hydraulic jack and two jack stands for 11.00. So into the trunk they went.
I am not chicken little in life. I just will not get under a car with any part of my body. With the car on jack stands alone. Never have. Something in my mind tells me it is not totally safe. Block the car as well as it only takes a minute or two.
Along with yet another 5 gallon plastic gas jug. I kind of get pissed off at what they normally retail for now. For what they are.
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Jacks do last a long time unless they are destroyed by using the wrong type of fluid.
In the old days, people used latex or EPDM O-rings and a vegetable-based fluid.
Later, mineral oils were developed that did not collect water and lasted longer. Mineral oil destroys the old seals. On real old jacks, you would be better off putting Wesson oil or Mazola corn oil in the real old jacks, the seals were compatible.
Any jack made after about 1968 will use Buta-N or Nitrile O-rings and mineral oil. In some you can use non-detergent SAE 30 as long as you don't use it in sub zero temps. Thinner non-detergent oil will work ok in those.
The big issue is cleanliness and sealing. That's why the super old jacks were made with plates on the bottom users can unscrew, clean, re-seal and refill for another 200 years of use!