Over the past 20 years, I have owned ad replaced three Harbor Freight 1.5 ton aluminum racing jacks. The first one weighed 23 pounds, the second; 29 pounds, and the last; 33 pounds. It seems that over the years more parts were replaced with steel. All were bulky and even with the side handle, awkward to carry around. None lasted more than 3-5 years. I finally had enough and purchased cheap Walmart steel Hyper Tough two ton steel trolley jacks in the $30-$42 range. Amazingly, they way only 18 pound each and had an extra 1/2 ton rated capacity. The top one hand carrying handle made them easy to carry around. The only issue with these jacks is the small swivel cup saddle. Finally, I had enough and converted them to a flat top saddle, by removing the saddle and cutting and grinding the cup flat. To which, I machined and added a flat top aluminum adapter showing in the following pictures;
Over the past 20 years, I have owned and used three of the Harbor Freight 1.5 ton "Aluminum" racing jacks. None have survived to this day. Now, I own three of these Walmart Hyper Tough currently $42 two ton trolley jacks. Robot or human? Over the years, the HF "aluminum" jack grew from 23 pounds to 33 pounds as they replaced the more expensive aluminum components more and more with steel pieces. While the jacks had a side handle that was awkward to carry, I usually cradled the bottom with my left hand and held the long handle with my right hand. I was always a struggle with the larger size. Over the years all leaked and failed with 3-5 years. Six years, ago, I decided to purchase the Walmart Hyper Tough two ton trolley jack and found it to be an amazing only 18 pounds and compact enough to carry like a suitcase with the plastic top handle while holding the jack handle in my right hand. The only issue I had was the small hard steel swiveling jack point. Eventually, I removed the swivel cup and discarded it. Still, it was not very usable. I missed the flat top platform of the HF jacks. Eventually, I developed and manufactured an easy "flat top" replacement, that is easily attached with a "hair pin clip". Now the jack is absolutely the best replacement for the Harbor Freight jack. I have uploaded photos of this modification and how it works with my Lexus-Toyota custom UHMW Spectra pinch weld adapter.
