The main reason to start working on your car yourself is to save money on labour. While long term, you’ll save a lot of money, there is an initial startup cost.
Buying the equipment and tools required to work on a car can be expensive, but it doesn’t need to be.
It’s no secret that spending more money will get you a much better quality floor jack. However, there are some that are cheap and good enough to get you started.
Lifting your car is key to performing basic repairs and servicing.
Get your car off the ground and start fixing it on a budget using the best floor jacks under $100.
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Best Floor Jack Under $100
Since we’re looking at budget jacks, I don’t expect too much. We’re not looking for some high-quality feature rich jack, rather something that will get your car up in the air and back down safely.
The biggest difference between cheap jacks is going to be their safe working load, and whether they’re low profile or not.
I’ve compiled many hours of research below, making it easy for you to find the 5 best floor jacks under $100.
Torin AT825010B Low Profile Jack
When it comes to buying a jack, I’d almost always buy low profile. This is because the majority of cars are getting lower and/or have ridiculous sill mouldings.
Using a low profile jack guarantees that you’ll be able to lift absolutely anything, whereas using a regular one, you may run into some trouble.
Torin’s hydraulic low profile trolley jack is made out of heavy duty steal and weighs in at 33.5lbs. While it is one of the heavier floor jacks on this list, It’s not any harder to move than the rest.
With ground clearance beginning at 3 1/2″ from the ground, you’ll be able to lift your car as high as 14″.
The maximum capacity is 2.5 tonne, or 5000lbs. Meaning that you’ll be able to lift most, if not all vehicles you come across.
And thanks to the single piston quick lift pump, you’ll be able to quickly raise the jack to the desired height, and smoothly let it down when you’re finished.
While it is still a budget jack, it’s of good enough quality to last you a couple of years.
The last thing you want to do is a buy a trash floor jack, and then have to go out and buy a more expensive one anyway.
Buy The Torin AT825010B Jack From Amazon
Big Red T820014S
For those that are seriously restricted by budget, this Big Red floor jack is probably the cheapest I’d be willing to go.
With a minimum lifting height of 5 1/2″, and a maximum of 13″, this jack will give you just enough room to get underneath and do what you need to do.
Using this jack will allow you to lift almost any vehicle that you want.
The safe working load is 2 tonne, so you’re perfectly safe working on small trucks, SUV’s and bigger sedans such as the Audi A7.
Despite the fact that it can lift massive cars, this jack is incredibly lightweight, coming in at around 19lbs.
Being so light makes it easy to move around and take wherever you go. However, you don’t have the same confidence as you would working under a heavier jack.
That’s not to say this jack isn’t safe.
It’s 100% safe as long as you use it properly and lift cars within its capabilities.
BIG Red has even equipped it with a safety bypass system that prevents overloading and ensures safe operation.
Overall, this is a great jack for those that want to get started working on cars. After a while, you’ll definitely be looking to upgrade, but, until then, this is a good starting point.
Buy the BIG RED T820014S Hydraulic Trolley Jack from Amazon
Best 3 Ton Floor Jack Under $100
While it’s not always priced under $100, the K Tool International Service Floor Jack is the best 3 ton floor jack that’s priced near $100.
Admittedly, if you’re looking to lift cars that weigh over 2.5tonne, such as Mercedes G-Wagons or Rolls Royce Phantoms, you probably have more than $100 to spend on a jack.
What I love about this jack is that it will lift any car with ease. It’s built to support up to 3 tonne and makes light work of your average vehicle.
Weighing in at 66lbs, it’s almost double the weight of any other jack on this list. Offering much more heft and stability.
Everything about this jack screams safety and quality. The wide track front wheels provide stability for when you’re moving the jack under a vehicle, and the rear wheels rotate in a full 360 degrees fashion.
You’ll also never make the mistake of trying to lift a vehicle that’s heavier than its capacity thanks to the built in safety valve. This safety valve prevents over extension and will prevent use beyond the safe working load.
The only downside is that it’s not low-profile, but you can’t have it all. Odds are, if you’re looking for a 3 tonne jack, you’re not lifting a car that’s been lowered anyway.
K Tools 3 Ton floor jack has a lift range that starts at 5.5″ and finishes as high as 18.5″. This jack can lift cars a lot higher than most of the other budget options.
If you can afford the slight extra cost, this is probably the one that I’d choose overall. At the time of writing this article, it’s sitting just under $100, but it may increase in price in the future.
Buy The K Tools 3 Ton Floor Jack From Amazon
Budget Car Lifting Kit
Whenever you’re working under a car, you should always use jack stands.
These are an almost fool proof method of supporting a car. If your trolley jack was to fail, the jack stands would be there, supporting the car, preventing you from being squished.
If you don’t already have jack/axle stands and you’re on a strict budget, you can get this car lifting kit for under $100.
The kit includes a regular floor jack that can lift vehicles up to 2 tonne and 2x jack stands.
It’s a regular Torin floor jack, similar to their low-profile one that I previously mentioned. However, this jack has a lifting range of 5.5″ – 13.5″ instead of the 3.5″ – 13.5″ range of the low profile jack.
The jack stands also support up to 2 ton of weight, meaning any car that you jack up can be safely supported while you get to work.
Weirdly enough, the jack stands have a much higher lifting range than the floor jack, but you’ll never be able to use them at full extension when using this kit.
Each jack stand also has a large surface area, making for better and safer contact with the vehicle. It’s 100% safe to use and meets the American Society of Mechanical Engineers requirements.
For the price, you’ll struggle to find much better. If you were to buy the equipment separately, they’d come in well above.
Even if you were to use it for a couple of months and then have it as a back up lifting kit, it’s certainly worth it.
You can buy the Torin Car Lifting Kit on Amazon.
Best Floor Jack Under £100
For all of my readers in the UK, while some of the jacks listed above may be available in the UK, I’ve got something even better for you.
If you don’t already know, Halfords offer a complete lifting kit for beginners that comes in at £85.
In this kit you’ll receive:
- 1x Trolley Jack (Supports up to 2 Tonne)
- 2x Axle Stands (Supports up to 1 tonne per stand, 2 tonne per pair)
- 2x Folding wheel chocks
- 1x Wheel Wrench with 17 & 19mm socket
- 1x Padded Car Creeper
In my opinion, for £85. There’s not much better out there.
Sure it comes with some things you may not use, such as the wheel chocks. However, the padded creeper is certainly very useful. It’s great to use as a kneeling pad, as well as a lie down creeper.
Again, most will already have a socket set or breaker bar, but the wheel wrench will certainly come in use somewhere down the line.
The main benefit is of course the trolley jack and 2 axle stands.
What’s even better is… if you’re a halfords trade card holder, you can get this £20 cheaper. Sure, not everyone has access to a halfords trade car, but you may know someone that does.
Alternatively, you can sign up for one yourself.