Depending when the last time you were in Harbor Freight, you may think they are just a budget tool company. Tools that won’t last and are quite frankly disposable. This is a common theme I get from most people, but if you have not stepped back in the store in a while, you should. Over the last few years, Harbor Freight Tools has really made themselves a competitor to to major tool brands. This is a great thing for a couple reasons. 1. Competition is good. It helps drive the price down if there are competitors out there making quality products for less and drives innovation up. 2. Harbor Freight still offers a lifetime warranty on all their hand tools, which means you can replace a broken tool at any one of their 1300+ stores. That’s right no more mailing in a tool, or waiting for the tool truck to show up. This perk alone makes it worth to look into their tools.
You may be thinking, well that is great, but if they are always breaking, then what is the point? Well this is where you wrong. Harbor Freight now has 3 tiers of tools which go from a budget to a premium brand. They still carry their Pittsburgh budget tools you have all known to love (or hate), but now have added Quinn, and Icon. Icon is their top tier and from being a mechanic for almost 20 years, I can tell you, its just as good as the big guys who have trucks that come to your shop.
That being said, we aren’t here to talk about hand tools, this blog is about Harbor Freight’s automotive jacks. Now jacks are nothing new to Harbor Freight. I actually have a heavy steel one I purchased back in 2010, and it still works just as good today as it did almost 23 years ago. The problem with that jack is, it weighs about 70 lbs. This makes it quite a job to lug around the shop, load into the truck, or push around the paddock at your local track days.
Later, Harbor Freight came out with their 1.5 ton aluminum racing jacks. These were pretty good, but were single cylinder, and for whatever reason, the seals seemed to leak quicker than usual. Harbor Freight then developed the Daytona series of jacks, which soon became their premium jack brand. They were not only lighter, but seemed to be built to last. They featured a twin piston design to lift your car up faster. We thought this was going to be it, until this happened…
Harbor Freight quietly announced their 1.5 ton, ultra light weight, aluminum racing jack. At first glance it looked like any other jack, but I soon noticed it had a $370 price tag! This is $200 more than the other Daytona aluminum jack they offer!
Curious as ever, I purchased one of these to find out! Let’s dive deeper.
When I received the jack, I could not believe how light the box was. I guess I didn’t do too much research before I purchased it, but the jack comes in at only 36lbs! That is about 12 lbs lighter than the next Daytona jack available, and 20 lbs lighter than the steel jack they offer.
Removing it from the package, I was absolutely blown away. The new Daytona aluminum jack almost looks like jewelry compared to the others. It is so beautiful looking that you may not even want to use it! Each side is powedercoated black with a machined out Daytona logo, compared to the sticker on the mid tier version. The jack features 2 butter smooth casters on the back to make this the easiest jack to move around. You can tell they really paid close attention to stripping out as much as material as possible to make this the lightest jack they offer. There are lightning holes cut out on the main lift, and the base of the handle milled out to reduce any extra material. The handle is extra long to give you the most leverage, and includes a thick foam pad for protection around your car. The jack does not feature any cover plates, to make it the easiest jack to service on the planet (yes you should be servicing your jacks). The lifting pad is only 2.3 inches off the ground making it a great jack for lowered or race cars. The jack can lift up to to 16.2 inches, which is plenty for any car, but may be short if you are trying to use this on a SUV or truck. Finally, Harbor Freight claims this can go from the bottom to full height in 3 pumps! We will definitely be trying this out in our second video. Speaking of video, if you would like to see the unboxing and and first impressions, please check out our YouTube video below. If you enjoy it, please like and subscribe for more content!
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Specifications:
SKU(s)58811
Brand DAYTONA
Model DA15PR
Maximum Lift Height (in.) 16-1/8 in.
Saddle dimensions (WxL)(in.) 3-1/8 in.
Capacity 1.5 ton
Certification Complies with ASME-PASE standards
Handle Length 47-5/8 in.
Material Aluminum
Minimum Height 2-3/8 in.
Product Length 24-7/8 in.
Product Weight 36 lb.
Product Width 11-1/2 in.
Shipping Weight 39.77 lb.
Working Load 3000 lb.
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