Dropped $120 on a cheap hydraulic lift for my garage and it turned my project car into a lawn ornament
So I finally got tired of jack stands and borrowed ramps for my 94 Integra project, and I saw this 2-ton hydraulic lift on a flash sale for $120 shipped. Seemed like a steal, right? It showed up in a box that looked like it had been through a war, but I bolted it together anyway in my garage here in Toledo. First three times I used it, worked fine, lifted the front end no problem. Fourth time, the seal on the main ram let go and the whole thing sank about four inches while I was under there checking a brake line. Scared the daylights out of me. Now it sits in the corner of my garage as a very expensive paperweight and I'm back to jack stands like some kind of peasant. Has anyone else gambled on a budget lift and actually had it hold up, or am I just dumb for thinking $120 could buy something safe?
Those cheap seals are usually the first thing to go since they cut corners on the rubber, and once it blows you're lucky it didn't drop all the way. If you ever want to mess with it again, swapping in a better seal kit might actually get you a few more uses out of the thing instead of just eating the loss.