If you do your own car work at home, you already know the weak link in the setup. It is the little scissor jack that came with the truck. It works fine for a roadside tire change on level ground. But it is a poor tool for a Saturday brake job or a fluid change. You crank it forever, it wobbles on the concrete, and even at full height it leaves you with about eight inches of working room under the frame. Five years ago I got tired of that and bought the ARCAN 3-Ton Aluminum Low Profile Floor Jack. It is the reason I still do my own work instead of paying shop rates.
Before I get into the list, one rule I do not bend: the jack only lifts. I set jack stands under the vehicle before I get under it, every single time. The ARCAN has never let me down in five years, and I would like to keep it that way. Here are the ten reasons it earns its spot in my garage.
The jack that fits under the CR-V and lifts the F-150
Five years of weekends in my garage, and the ARCAN 3-ton aluminum floor jack still does both jobs. Check today's price on Amazon and see if it fits your garage.
Amazon Check Today's Price on Amazon →It slides under a low car without a fight
Marlene's CR-V sits low enough that the factory scissor jack barely fits under the pinch weld, and I always worried I was going to crush the rocker panel. The ARCAN's low profile reaches a minimum height of 3.75 inches, so it slides under the front crossmember with room to spare. That one number matters more than any other spec on the box. A jack that will not fit under the car is just a heavy paperweight, and this one fits under everything I own.
It lifts high enough to actually work
The F-150 needs the front wheels off the ground and the frame high enough to get jack stands under it without me having to lie on my side to slide them in. The ARCAN raises to 18 inches, which clears the tires. I set the stands, lower the jack onto them, and I have room to slide under and reach the oil pan or the transmission pan without shimmying. That working room is the whole difference between a job you do and a job you put off.
Aluminum means you will actually move it
A steel jack that weighs a hundred pounds tends to stay parked in the corner of the garage. The ARCAN is 56 pounds, which is not light, but it is light enough to carry from the corner to the front of the truck and back without a second trip. When a tool is easy to move, you use it. When it is a chore, you reach for the scissor jack instead and make the job harder than it needs to be. I have owned both kinds, and I know which one I reach for now.
It is stable under a load
The reinforced lift arm keeps the saddle planted as the truck comes up, and the base sits 30 by 13.5 inches on the concrete, so there is no wobble. I have had the front of the F-150 on this jack more times than I can count, and it has never shifted or groaned. The 6,000-pound capacity covers the truck and the CR-V with margin to spare. I still do not get under a vehicle without stands, but I trust the jack to hold the weight while I get the stands set.
The hydraulics behave themselves
The ARCAN has bypass and overload valves that keep the jack from over-extending and make the raise and the lower controlled. That matters when the truck is half a foot off the ground and you are lowering it onto stands. You want the saddle to come down smooth, not drop, and you want it to stop when you want it to stop. Five years in, mine still lowers like it did the first week. No sudden drops, no creeping, no surprises.
One jack covers both vehicles
I own a 2011 F-150 and Marlene drives a 2016 CR-V, and the ARCAN handles both. The low profile gets under the car, and the capacity handles the truck. If you keep two vehicles in the household, you do not need two jacks. You need one that sits low enough for the car and lifts high enough for the truck, and this one does both without any fuss. That is one less thing to store, maintain, or argue about.
It turns a two-person job into a one-person job
With the scissor jack, I used to ask Marlene to help hold things or pump while I lined up the stand. With the floor jack, I work alone. I raise the vehicle, slide a stand under, lower the jack onto the stand, and repeat on the other side. For a retired guy who does his own work because he enjoys it, not needing a second pair of hands is the whole point. The job gets done on my schedule, not when someone else has a free hour.
It is quick enough that you will not put the job off
A scissor jack takes a couple of minutes of cranking to get a car high enough to work under, and by the time you are done you are already tired of the job. The floor jack does it in a few pumps. That sounds small, but it changes your behavior. A job like rotating tires or swapping brake pads becomes a thirty-minute chore instead of a Saturday project, so you actually do it when it needs doing instead of waiting until the vibration gets bad.
The footprint fits a home garage
My garage is a two-car with a concrete floor, a tool chest along the wall, and not a lot of spare room. The ARCAN measures 30 by 13.5 inches at the base, so it stores flat against the wall and comes out when I need it. It does not take over the garage the way a shop jack does, but it does the same work for home jobs. For a guy who has one garage and one tool chest, that footprint matters more than any other spec.
Five years in, it still works like new
I bought the ARCAN about five years ago, and it has lifted the F-150 and the CR-V through brake jobs, oil changes, and one transmission pan drop. It still lifts clean, holds steady, and nothing leaks. The warranty is one year. Mine has outlasted that by four years without a complaint. When a tool does its job quietly for five years, you stop thinking about it, and that is the highest praise I can give any piece of equipment.
What I'd Skip
If you only work on one sedan that sits high, and you never get under the car, the factory scissor jack will keep getting the job done. If you have a bad back, 56 pounds is still 56 pounds, and you might want a second set of hands nearby. And because the ARCAN is a low profile jack, on a tall truck you will pump more before the saddle reaches the frame. None of that is a reason to avoid it. It is just a reason to be honest about what you need. For me, the tradeoffs are easy to live with.
The 3.75-inch low profile is the difference between sliding under the CR-V and digging the scissor jack out of the trunk.
Five years of Saturdays, and still the first tool I reach for
If you are tired of cranking a scissor jack on a concrete floor, the ARCAN 3-ton aluminum floor jack is worth a look. Check today's price on Amazon.
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