Tuxedo 2158-TJ Transmission Jack: built to reach 80″, not to work off the floor

Most transmission jacks are a floor jack with a saddle bolted on top. The 2158-TJ is a different tool. Our specification for it gives an overall height range of 53-1/2″ to 80″, with a lifting height at the top of the pad of 80″. That is not a figure a floor tool needs. It is the figure you need when the vehicle is already in the air on a two-post lift and the gearbox has to come down to a jack that was waiting up there for it.

Rated at 1,100 lb with a single stage ram and a foot operated pump, it is aimed squarely at the working bay rather than the driveway: gearboxes, transfer cases, differentials and the awkward under-vehicle assemblies that are heavy, expensive and impossible to hold steady by hand.

Why the reach, not the rating, is the specification to check

Capacity is the number every listing leads with, and for a transmission jack it is rarely the number that decides anything. A passenger-car automatic and its bellhousing are well inside a four-figure rating. What actually goes wrong is geometry. Buy a low jack and you find the pad tops out well below the gearbox of a vehicle raised on a lift, so you end up stacking timber under the base or lowering the vehicle until the jack reaches - and lowering the vehicle is the moment the job gets dangerous, because you have taken the working height away from yourself to give it to the tool.

Reaching 80″ at the top of the pad means the jack can be pushed in underneath a raised vehicle and brought up to meet the gearbox where it sits. Before you order, do the arithmetic in your own bay: measure the underside of the vehicle at the height you normally work at, and confirm the pad can get there. That measurement is the buyer's to take, and it is a two-minute job with a tape.

The foot operated pump, and why hands-free is not a convenience feature

A gearbox coming out is not simply heavy, it is off-balance and it wants to rotate. The moment the last bellhousing bolt is out, the load shifts onto the saddle, and what you need at that instant is two hands on the casing and eyes on the input shaft - not one hand occupied with a pump handle.

The 2158-TJ pumps with the foot. You stand where you can see the alignment, hold the assembly square with both hands, and raise or ease the pad off with your foot in small increments. On reinstallation it matters even more: getting an input shaft into a clutch or a torque converter into a pump is a game of millimetres, and the person doing the aligning should be the person controlling the height. This is the feature the current description mentions last and it deserves to be first.

Single stage ram: what it means, and what it does not

Single stage means one hydraulic section rather than a telescoping pair. In practice that gives you a consistent, predictable rate of rise through the whole stroke - each pump does the same thing at the top as it did at the bottom. Two-stage rams rise quickly at first and then slow markedly as they change section, which is fine for speed and less pleasant when you are trying to seat a component precisely. It is also one fewer set of seals and wiping surfaces to maintain.

The trade is honest and worth stating: a single stage unit gets its range from the length of the ram rather than from telescoping, which is part of why this jack has real physical presence when it is standing at rest.

The wide base

The base is deliberately broad. A tall jack carrying a top-heavy load on a small footprint is a tipping problem waiting for a shop floor that is not perfectly flat, and shop floors are never perfectly flat - they are laid with drainage falls and they collect the odd bolt. A wide base pushes the tipping point of the whole assembly outward, which is what lets you nudge a load sideways to line it up without the jack wanting to walk. Keep the floor under it clear and clean anyway, and never leave a load standing on any jack longer than the job needs.

Perfect For

• Independent workshops and transmission specialists - the reach suits a bay where the vehicle lives on a two-post lift and gearboxes come out regularly.
• Fleet and municipal shops - light-truck drivetrain work where the same operation is repeated and a predictable, controllable rate of lift saves time.
• Serious home and restoration garages with a lift installed. If you work on the floor with axle stands, check the height figures above carefully first; this jack's advantage is height, and on the floor you cannot use it.
• Teaching workshops, where hands-free height control makes a removal something an instructor can supervise safely.

What is in the box

The current product data does not carry an itemised packing list for this jack, so we are not going to invent one. What we will not do is imply that adapters, chains or straps are included when nothing in our data says they are. If a specific accessory matters to your job, ask us before you order and we will confirm it in writing with the manufacturer.

Specifications

Those are every dimensional figure our data holds for this model. Where a number is not listed above, it is because we do not have it on file, and we would rather tell you that than publish a guess against a tool that holds a gearbox over your head.

Certification, stated plainly

Our product record for this jack claims no third-party safety listing, and we are not going to imply one. That is worth knowing rather than glossing over: some insurers, some fleet operators and some local authorities require shop lifting equipment to carry a recognised independent listing, and a manufacturer's own declaration is a different document from an independent laboratory's. If your policy or your inspector asks for specific documentation, tell us what wording they need and we will put the question to the manufacturer in writing before you commit.

Shipping and delivery

This jack ships within the lower 48. The cost is calculated live against your address at checkout rather than estimated in advance, so what you see is what the carrier has quoted for your delivery. If it arrives as a palletised freight shipment, the receiver is responsible for getting it off the trailer - either with equipment on site or by collecting from the carrier's terminal, which is often the easier answer at a house. Residential delivery carries a residential fee, which is added at checkout when you select it.

Inspect before you sign. Look at the ram and the pad for impact damage, check the base and the handle for bends, and write anything you find on the bill of lading while the driver is still there. A clean signature is the document a carrier will produce if you try to claim later.

Warranty

The manufacturer's warranty terms current at the time you order are the ones that apply, and we will send you the wording before purchase if you ask. Our claims process is at mechanicsuperstore.com/pages/warranty-claims.

One warning applies to every hydraulic jack regardless of who built it: if something fails, leave it alone. Do not strip the pump, crack the ram open or replace seals before a claim is raised. A unit that has been apart is normally treated as a modified one, and that is the fastest way to lose cover you were entitled to. Photograph the fault, note the serial number, and call us first.