Should I look for this type of floor jack?

Here's one that raises the car about 23" and raises the car smoothly and quickly:

Harbor Freight 24" Jack in Action

I've seen this one in action.

It gave me "floor jack envy".

 

My last jack purchase was Summit Tools Sonora Brand 3 ton: no-name made in China, $69 on Boxing Day, maybe a decade back. It's 3 ton, steel, just regular dimensions, not low profile, but fits under the front bumper just fine. Lift is maybe 21" with load, I can just sneak my 6 ton safety stands under my usual front bearing points. Pressure is released by rotating the handle counterclockwise. My only real quibble is the pressure release is on a bit of a hair-trigger, but you get used to feathering it, it's doable

 

Harbor Freight has some very nice floor jacks. Get one good floor jack and you'll never buy another one again. That yellow jack is $200 and discounted often. There's an nearly as good model for about $150. Buy one of those. It makes repetitive jacking very pleasant; very little exertion, fast, well-padded, thick rubber pad that doesn't scratch your car and thick urethane wheels that roll smoothly as the car lifts up and down.

The first time you do brake work or a tire rotation, one of these jacks will prove itself. You'll appreciate it for years.

 

Costco sells a 3-ton Arcan jack, which meets all of your criteria, for $99. I've used it for a number of years and love it.

 

This one is low profile, which is important on a Prius. And it's robust and will lift your car with three pumps of the handle. I'm telling you, the little extra is far worth it.
3 Ton Aluminum Racing Floor Jack with RapidPump®

 

That's the one I have. It's great!!

 

That's what everyone's saying, but I don't find the clearance any worse than the parade of Honda's we've had over the years, and I've had no problems with a very ordinary dimensioned 3-ton.

Low profile doesn't hurt I guess, as long as it doesn't impact your wallet too much, or compromise lift height.

 

Prius is a pretty low car. It hits if you try to drive it up Rhino ramps.

The low profile doesn't affect lift height; it has to do with how thin the front of the jack is.

 

Here's the one @Raytheeagle referenced.
3 Ton Daytona Professional Steel Floor Jack - Super Duty
And it is on sale for $20 off.




Yesterday I got a cheaper ... errr ... more frugal one there, also $20 off.
I think it was this one, but I don't see an on line coupon for it. I got it for 79.99 with a coupon that came in the mail. Weighs a ton, but I don't often need to pick up a floor jack. The lift height isn't quite as high, but still looks like plenty.
3 ton Low Profile Steel Heavy Duty Floor Jack with Rapid Pump®

 

I have the 10+ year old version of the jack you just bought. It's a good piece of equipment to have around and will serve you well.

When disengaging the lift to lower, the gears are tightly meshed, so it is rather sudden, but slow and steady works.

Enjoy your late Birthday gift.

 

Thanks!

They may have changed the valving since you bought your old jack. I just used it for changing the oil & transaxle fluid in my PiP. It lowered fairly quickly, but nothing alarming. I'm always super cautious when starting the decent, so it was no problem at all. Going up was slower than I expected with a jack labeled "rapid pump." But I guess at three tons, "rapid" is a relative term. All in all, it worked about a billion times better than the old jack.

Finding replacement fasteners for the big plastic shield is another matter. Lots of them were un-reuseable. I found something close enough at NAPA, but I plan to order a whole new set. The local Toyota dealer only had four of them. Also, the farthest right mud guard bolt was so rusted that it broke. (The car came from New England.) I had to drill and tap it. By then the temperature was over 95. Can't say I really enjoyed that part. No malfunctions on the test drive.

Transaxle oil was pretty black at 59,083 miles, but still streaked with red. Hopefully I can change it in my wife's '07 next weekend. We'll see what it looks like at 118k miles. I assume it's still original. Also planning to recondition her battery because I haven't done that since October.

 

This attachment has the fastener numbers. It's mainly #3 and a couple of #5.

Must wait 7 seconds...

 

Here's a pic of the 10+ year version:



Sounds like a good Memorial Day plan. I have a similar reconditioning plan, but with out the use of bulbs !

Good luck next weekend

 

Thanks. I found that this morning before I went on my fastener search. I actually printed it out to keep in the car in case I drive past a dealership and feel like meeting the parts people. I NEVER print stuff. LOL!

I also have it in my iCoud folder.

 

Yours looks pretty different from mine. It has two parallel cylinders at the base of the handle.

 

I have the $29.99 variety jack from Harbor Freight and it works great for the Prius. And it is small. 2 ton Compact Trolley Jack

 

That's good to know. My old jack supposedly has the same lift height, but won't go that high unless it's empty. Been that way since new. Goes just high enough to squeeze a jack stand under the car without its center saddle. It's like it's low on oil, but it isn't. Apparently, the one at HF is a lot better than the one I got from Advance Auto.