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Craftsman Motorcycle/ATV Jack
Sears item# 00950190000 Mfr. model# 34612
I know, I know, these are not very popular and have a history for being cheaply made and not very reliable, but there are those of us who have well meaning friends and family that may buy us one as a gift etc. I at first thought this would be a no brainer and too simplistic to submit then I realized that I have gotten so many good simple ideas from different people and said to myself why did I not think of that, it was so simple. This may actually belong in the tools section for all I know.
I am posting this as an FYI more than a how to so that some who may be considering a garage type jack over an actual lift may gain from my experience with this type of motorcycle jack. A mere $100.00 buys you one of these all steel motorcycle\atv jacks at the local sears store. The aluminum version is more expensive and lighter but they share basically all the same features. The fit and finish as you would expect from a "MADE IN CHINA" product is severely lacking to non existant. The first thing I noticed was that the jack would not lower all the way down far enough to get under my bike. The outer saddle edges hit the front wheels. I pulled all the bolts and washers out of the lift saddles (flat top w\rubber pads) and matched up washers to put in the inboard side of the saddles to make sure that the saddles were pushed as far to the inside or middle of the jack as possible. See pic #1 and #2 (sorry about pic quality, but you can still get the idea)
Notice how the poition of the washers holds the saddles in toward the middle away from the wheels. I did the same with washers on the wheels and pushed the wheels out as far as possible without binding them up against the wheel openings. See pics #3 and #4
After I made the adjustments to the wheels and saddles I noticed the hoops for the ratchet tie downs on the front of the jack were angled back a bit and the saddles were hitting the front hoops when it was lowered all the way down. From the factory the front and rear hoops are welded in the vertical position. I tried to tap the hoop forward very lightly and it broke right off the front of the jack. I proceeded to break the other front hoop off also and tack weld them back on in their present horizontal position on the front of the jack. I left the rear hoops in their original vertical position, but all 8 attachment points on all of the hoops got a reweld all the way around with my mig welder. See pics #5 #6 and #7 (Note pics #3 and #4 above also show the rewelded front hoop in horizontal position)
Pic above shows rewelded rear vertical hoop
Pic above shows lift down all the way with mods, both saddles actually came down to rest on the front wheels when I took the lift out of the box.
pic above shows a front view of lift down with mods completed and hoop relocated to horizontal position, welding completed and touchup paint on welds.
The height of the saddles from the floor when lowered all the way down is about 4". I can pull my bike to the straight up position and slide the jack under it and let go and it will be held stable by the jack until I can put the straps on to secure it. You could take off the wheels and gain another 1\2" of clearance to slide under a lower bike. The clumbsy steel, mostly off center wheels are crap anyway. I would only need the wheels if moving the jack around the garage, but to lift in one place why not take em off if it gives you more clearance. The stabilizer screws by the back wheels work great to stabilize the whole bike\jack assembly and when fully raised they recess into the bottom of the jack, a surprisingly useful and beneficial feature. Please use common sense with these and all recommendations and use your lift safely at all times.
Absolutely could not think about using this lift without getting the tie down hoops rewelded or attaching the tie downs under the jack instead. The factory uses crappy metal with crappier welding. I have also heard complaints of fluid leaks on these jacks so I drained the original oil out and put in a quality hydraulic oil. I washed my bike before disassembly with it mounted and raised, a good degreaser will strip off the factory "paint". As cheaply made as these are, with these mods here my bike is incredibly stable when mounted on it. I drag it to the edge of the garage for washing it and I drag it from side to side when cleaning the garage during the disassembly I just completed and it has served my purposes well. Basically what I'm saying here is you get what you pay for and for light duty around the garage it can be made serviceable. I wanted something I can stow out of the way when it is not in use and this did fit the bill.
Sears item# 00950190000 Mfr. model# 34612
I know, I know, these are not very popular and have a history for being cheaply made and not very reliable, but there are those of us who have well meaning friends and family that may buy us one as a gift etc. I at first thought this would be a no brainer and too simplistic to submit then I realized that I have gotten so many good simple ideas from different people and said to myself why did I not think of that, it was so simple. This may actually belong in the tools section for all I know.
I am posting this as an FYI more than a how to so that some who may be considering a garage type jack over an actual lift may gain from my experience with this type of motorcycle jack. A mere $100.00 buys you one of these all steel motorcycle\atv jacks at the local sears store. The aluminum version is more expensive and lighter but they share basically all the same features. The fit and finish as you would expect from a "MADE IN CHINA" product is severely lacking to non existant. The first thing I noticed was that the jack would not lower all the way down far enough to get under my bike. The outer saddle edges hit the front wheels. I pulled all the bolts and washers out of the lift saddles (flat top w\rubber pads) and matched up washers to put in the inboard side of the saddles to make sure that the saddles were pushed as far to the inside or middle of the jack as possible. See pic #1 and #2 (sorry about pic quality, but you can still get the idea)
Notice how the poition of the washers holds the saddles in toward the middle away from the wheels. I did the same with washers on the wheels and pushed the wheels out as far as possible without binding them up against the wheel openings. See pics #3 and #4
After I made the adjustments to the wheels and saddles I noticed the hoops for the ratchet tie downs on the front of the jack were angled back a bit and the saddles were hitting the front hoops when it was lowered all the way down. From the factory the front and rear hoops are welded in the vertical position. I tried to tap the hoop forward very lightly and it broke right off the front of the jack. I proceeded to break the other front hoop off also and tack weld them back on in their present horizontal position on the front of the jack. I left the rear hoops in their original vertical position, but all 8 attachment points on all of the hoops got a reweld all the way around with my mig welder. See pics #5 #6 and #7 (Note pics #3 and #4 above also show the rewelded front hoop in horizontal position)
Pic above shows rewelded rear vertical hoop
Pic above shows lift down all the way with mods, both saddles actually came down to rest on the front wheels when I took the lift out of the box.
pic above shows a front view of lift down with mods completed and hoop relocated to horizontal position, welding completed and touchup paint on welds.
The height of the saddles from the floor when lowered all the way down is about 4". I can pull my bike to the straight up position and slide the jack under it and let go and it will be held stable by the jack until I can put the straps on to secure it. You could take off the wheels and gain another 1\2" of clearance to slide under a lower bike. The clumbsy steel, mostly off center wheels are crap anyway. I would only need the wheels if moving the jack around the garage, but to lift in one place why not take em off if it gives you more clearance. The stabilizer screws by the back wheels work great to stabilize the whole bike\jack assembly and when fully raised they recess into the bottom of the jack, a surprisingly useful and beneficial feature. Please use common sense with these and all recommendations and use your lift safely at all times.
Absolutely could not think about using this lift without getting the tie down hoops rewelded or attaching the tie downs under the jack instead. The factory uses crappy metal with crappier welding. I have also heard complaints of fluid leaks on these jacks so I drained the original oil out and put in a quality hydraulic oil. I washed my bike before disassembly with it mounted and raised, a good degreaser will strip off the factory "paint". As cheaply made as these are, with these mods here my bike is incredibly stable when mounted on it. I drag it to the edge of the garage for washing it and I drag it from side to side when cleaning the garage during the disassembly I just completed and it has served my purposes well. Basically what I'm saying here is you get what you pay for and for light duty around the garage it can be made serviceable. I wanted something I can stow out of the way when it is not in use and this did fit the bill.
