Do you need an engine lift???????

[NewIronRats]

I have an old HF lift that a friend bought new years ago and his wife gave me when he passed away. I have never had any trouble out of it.I have used it to lift motorcycles, engines and to lift cars from time to time {one end or the other,not the whole car}.[P[

 

[sgtpontiac]

HF tools have their place....

If I was back to wrenching for a living... I'd go back to buying the "good" stuff, but with 30 or 40 thou in hand and air tools, some being 40+ years old, I don't need those, but I buy and use a lot of HF stuff now like angle grinders and some of their cut off wheels and disc's and such..... only had one issue with a grinding disc which came apart and that was my fault....wasn't seated properly... and cracked when I tightened it...or so it seemed.... payed for it with a cut in the jeans, nice skid mark down my leg and one heck of a bruise..... luckily didn't hit anything when it exploded into about 10 pieces....other than that, the tools and such work well for the weekender.... and you're right... half of the "good" tools are designed in the us and made in china, or other place anyway......

 

[ratdog]

Since I always have a lack of space I didnt want some big heavy lift ,so I bought a used medical cherry picker for $50.Rated at 500 it pics up a small block chevy easily. And the valve is way better then anything on those other ones, you can turn it to drop like a 1/16" in half an hour if you wanted ,very precise and easy to line things up.I know its to small to drop a big block into a big truck or anything like that,but to put a small block into an open hot rod is no problem.

 

[Torch]

engine lift

I had a brand new cheepo lift from cummins tools that would list off to the side a little when it was loaded...not so bad on a 350 but dangerous with a big block.

I traded it in at the pawn shop for an (i think) excelsior? or somethign like that. It's noticably better built but the lift cylinder shaft wasn't chromed and it rusted in storage.
I just bought the harbor freight 8 ton pnumatic lift cylinder and am completely satisifed with it.
The shaft IS chromed on this one.
I picked up a load of chinese made tools in city of industry CA one time. After looking around the warehouse I remarked to the chinese gent running the place "wow you have some nice equipment here it's not crap imported like i'm used to seeing"
He said well as they say you get what you pay for we make good stuff too it's just the places you go to buy cheap Chinese tools don't buy any of the good stuff we make. alot of our higher quality stuff ends up being rebranded with an American name.
Such is the case with much "American Brand" product. it's made oversees and branded american or its assembled her out of imported components.

The difference in labor costs vs the transportation costs is not the full factor in making something overseas to sell here... Taxes and regulations are the factor.
The main thing that's keeping companies from building things here or making them move out of the country is our renegade off the reservation federal government.

 

[sgtpontiac]

Off the Reservation....

Never heard it put that way, but right on target..... we could have still been producing this stuff right here on our soil had the government not seen fit to fly with the trade acts.... was the begining of the end of things as we knew them..... do I think that wages and such got way out of hand? Yep..... did prices get way out of hand...yep... and what do we have to show for it? I remember making 95 bucks a week and had no problem covering my debts.... Renegade government..... what ever happened to common sense and logic??? but once again.....I ramble...