Hey all. I need to buy a jack for my stock ride height AP1 and need some recommendations for jacks that will reach the front center jack point with or without wood ramps. Ideally, I'd need no wood but as far as I know, the AC and Omega are the big ones that reach with no wood. I'm not looking to spend as much as these cost or have a jack that big and heavy.

Please post up some recommendations and how much wood, if any, it requires to use your front central jack point. I'd also really like to hear from anyone who has the Harbor Freight Daytona Long Reach Low Profile jack and how much wood is required to reach the front jack location. Link below.

https://www.harborfreight.com/3-ton-...ack-64781.html

PS sorry for another jack thread. Unfortunately, links in the old threads I searched often have dead product links so it's hard to see which jacks they're actually talking about.

 

I have the Pittsburgh low profile jack from Harbor Freight:

3 ton Low Profile Rapid Pump® Floor Jack (harborfreight.com)

Less expensive than the Daytona ones, but those are good also. I have a stock height and it just makes it under the front bumper, but the first few pumps are shallow as the neck is under the car. I do need to lift twice with it - get the front up on stands, then the back, then lift the front higher to get the stands up a few notches and repeat on the back. Reverse for lowering. It works, but it's tedious, which is why I sprung for a QuickJack BL-5000SLX this summer. It's on sale at the moment for $250 off, and it's SO WORTH IT. Lifts it higher than I was able to on jack stands and just as secure, but I don't have the pucker factor when jacking up and down as I did before.

QuickJack BL-5000SLX Portable Car Lift - 5,000-lbs. Capacity

 

@datadr can you clarify which jacks you say go under a stock S2000? I have both the 3 ton low profile Daytona one from Harbor Freight and also their 1.5 ton and neither one work with a stock height. I have to drive up onto 2x4 to get the extra couple inches clearance. I didn't think the Dayytona fit clean without a bunch of jiggering.

So I have the Daytona and this is what I do (I don't claim this is the best method, but the best I could figure out):

1. Drive stock S (never lowered, stock shocks) onto 2x4 (all 4 tires)
2. Using the 1.5 ton harbor freight jack I jack up one front corner a few more inches (using the pinch weld) because the Daytona STILL can't reach the front.
3. This gives me enough room to slide the 3 ton jack under the front, then I jack quite a bit, depending on how much room I need under the car, usually you can't jack the front to the max because the rear will be to tight to fit the 3 ton jack in there.
4. Move to the back, jack up the rear, which I will then jack up higher then the front (because you couldn't jack the front to the max as stated in step 3).
5. Move back to the front and jack it up a bit more.

a. I looked at the quick jack and it takes just as much time and effort to setup and it doesn't get the car as high as the 3 ton. Also you can't slide under the sides if you use a creeper with the quick jack.
b. If someone has a faster method I'm all ears.

 

There are some jacks out there that are extremely low profile that some have found will work with the stock S. There are expensive IMO. I have two pieces of 2x6 that has a bevel cut on one end so I can just drive up on the wood and then my Costco/HF jack for $100 will reach all the way to the center lift point under the engine and away I go. I just leave the two pieces of wood (about a foot and a half long) up on the side of the garage until I need them. Not a big deal.

 

The Harbor Freight one I have is part number "61282" purchased in Oct 2018. It's gray, and it looks like that specific model/part number isn't available. But it looks very similar to the one I linked (except that one is red). I have a stock height with no lip on the front bumper and it just slips under. It does just catch on the underside of the bumper (the black plastic shield under the radiator). First few pumps are just inches on the handle until it starts to lift.

True, the QJ you lose the sides, but if you pull a wheel, you can get under those, so you don't lose the side entirely. But yeah, it does change how you get under there.

 

I have a Harbor freight Daytona. No complaints except for the typical MASSIVE weight of a steel jack.

It reaches my agressively lowered (with lip) S2000's center jacking point by using cusco drive on ramps. So...it should reach a stock S2000's jack point with a peice of wood.

The Arcan XL2T is a loooong reach jack that's sometimes on Amazon for under $200. Insane at that price. Idk how TF they're shipping it so cheaply.

Harbor freight also has a $200 extended length, long reach jack. I wanted this...but went with the regular Daytona due to space constraints and practicality. My garage is underground. So...that bigass jack would put my car thru the ceiling.

 

I do the two jack method, no wood.

Initially I made wood ramps. Found it too tedious and time consuming to position them, drive up without them moving or beating on my clutch, while being careful not to overshoot them.

I have the smallest aluminum HF jack that I use on front pinch weld, which easily allows the larger aluminum HF jack to reach front, center jack point.

I'm lowered .5". Not sure why anyone would still need wood ramps using two jack method, unless hella low.

 

I have two jacks, but never use both. I use race ramps to drive the front onto (lowered about 1") and put my larger Pittsburgh jack under the center jack point to lift. Set the front on stands, and that jack fits fine under the rear without any ramps.

I have a smaller race jack as well. It was a Torin but looks identical to the pittsburgh and is probably the same jack. Good for taking to events, but I really do not like it as I cannot lift high enough for using my better Esco jack stands even at the lowest height. It works ok with some slightly shorter stands that I take to autox events though.

I will point out one caution if you take a jack to events and such. A lot of these have very small wheels. If the pavement in paddock is rough enough to hinder their movement, the jack will pull itself out from under the jack point while lifting if you leave the ebrake engaged or car in gear. You should always leave the car in neutral with brake off while lifting it with a floor jack for this reason. I do the same in my garage out of habit, but at least there the jack can roll as it lifts. I also typically put the jack at an angle if lifting from the pinch welds vs straight in for this same reason. Especially on rough surfaces.

 

I happen to have a carpeted garage and shop. It is a very tight weave but the 2x6 pieces of wood can slip occasionally as Car Analogy mentioned. I rolled a couple of pieces of duct tape and they won't move anymore. I marked the position with permanent marker so I know where to place the wood before I drive into the garage. Just drive up over the leading edge and you are done. So easy.

 

I have the Omega 29023B that I purchased online from Autozone a few years ago. It's big and it's heavy. I can confirm that it can reach center jack points both front and rear. It takes every bit of the jack's reach to make this happen so I don't see how anything shorter will get to those jack points.

The jack overall is decent. I do which the caster wheels swiveled a bit easier. I tried greasing them but it didn't help.