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A lot of folks not comparing apples to apples. You can't compare a Harbor Freight basic jack to a Arcan. You need to compare similar models- the Harbor Freight Yellow Daytona and the Arcan XL 3.5 are the models that are comparative- not the regular HF jacks.
It also doesn't matter who has one or the other and how they performed. A guy who uses it 6x a year saying they had it 5 years and lives in Florida means nothing when compared to somebody living in the snow belt who uses it 25x a year and had it 5 years. Good to know its been reliable but really means little in performance.
Harbor Freight Yellow Daytona
-$179.99
-3 ton lift
-lifts from 3-3/4 in. to 23-1/8 in
-Made in China
-Meets ASME – Portable Auto Service Equipment (PASE) 2014 standards
-Made of steel
-Has U-Cups on the pistons & o-ring on the ram (o-ring tend to fail earlier than u-cup)
-3 year warranty
Arcan XL 3.5 -$129.99-3.5 ton lift-lifts from 3-1/2 in. to 23-3/8 in-Made in China
-ASME PALD 2009 standards (superseded by PASE 2014)
-Has O-rings on the pistons & ram (o-ring tend to fail earlier than u-cup)
-1 year warranty
Eventually, all lift equipment regardless of components/brand will need service. The question is how long until that occurs and what the manufacturer/seller is willing to put behind it and cover it. If you are spending between $100 and $200 on a jack, they are about the same, with the HF-YD offering a longer warranty and u-cups on the piston (likely increases life of use). After that, Lazza'r has seal kits and parts for both.
If you want a jack made in the USA, with no question about quality and longevity, the you will need to spend $500 and go with the Hein-Werner HW93652 3 ton jack- but even that only comes with a 2 year warranty.
If you want a jack made in the USA, with no question about quality and longevity, the you will need to spend $500 and go with the Hein-Werner HW93652 3 ton jack- but even that only comes with a 2 year warranty.
From their website...
"Assembled in the US with US and Global components"
That Arcan one above looks so identical to the HF one I have I’d bet they’re made in the same factory. On a side note I’ve had 2 separate Heine Warner jacks fail within only a few years of use. But that’s in a professional shop so not a fair comparison to a home user.
I've used HF jacks for quite awhile, can't recall what the first one cost, it's over 20 years old. First is a 2.5T , second is a 3T. It weights about that much as well. Think the second was $89...maybe 10 years in age.
Haven't felt the need to better the 3T yet or would have. I guess on occasion, a low profile jack may of been better suited for the task. Not often enough. HF carries SOME good products. A few of their FJ's, jack stands and T boxes are built very well. But man, they carry some complete trash as well....I mean really bad lol.
From their website...
"Assembled in the US with US and Global components"
Yeah- exactly what I said.....MADE IN THE USA....just like our Ford trucks!
The parts, come from a variety of places- Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, USA and Taiwan (which is not China). The cast iron is frame is 100% USA materials. The pump is from the Netherlands. Their USA workforce is over 50% machinists.
That is still better than "Made in China with Chinese parts."
