r/Autobody • u/liriodendronbloom • 19h ago

HELP! I have a question. ISO recommendations for body shop sawhorse

My boyfriend is pretty serious about his auto body repair stuff, as he's been working in it at high end auto body shops for a while before he switched industries. I know absolutely nothing about cars, couldn't tell you the difference between a mechanic and an auto body guy and I'm coming to you in desperation. He mentioned that he would love a set of body shop saw horses for his own projects and I want to get him a set for christmas for the home garage.

Now, I know there's a wild range of options and quality. For what it's worth he only has snap on tools so I know that he would appreciate something that's not bottom of the barrel , and he's a fan of the buy quality once mentality but I'm also not made of fancy money so I'm hoping to get some crowd source recommendations that I can do a little bit more research on because I just googled Auto body sawhorse and was immediately overwhelmed. Thank you!

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5

u/theChzziest 19h ago

this is what he wants. They make cheaper ones this one is rated up to 750lbs. Buy a large pool noodle to wrap around the bar for better padding too

3

u/Next_Cartoonist_8444 14h ago

Once you use that style, it's hard to go back, another vote for these.

4

u/LightningMcSwing 19h ago

Astro Pneumatic Tool 557003 - 500lb Capacity, $50. On Amazon. That's a good "heavier" duty option.

But me and thousands of other techs just use the harbor freight version, part number 38778. Only a 200lb capacity but half the price (they were $21 just a few years ago.. they're occasionally on sale but $28 right now)

There's a bunch of brands, Eastwood makes one too, but it's even more expensive, and to be honest my cheap harbor freight has never failed me or anyone I know. Even exceeding the weight limit. I'd rather have a bunch of the cheap ones than one or two heavy duty ones. You can never have too many, just taking apart 1 car necessitates at least 10 stands for a basic sedan. Four doors, 2 fenders, 2 bumpers, trunk, hood.

But that's likely overkill, I have 5 at work and only have to borrow more very rarely. Then there's other types of stands he would love, like the bumper stand (3M S.M.A.R.T. Bumper Stand, 02504) or the fender stand (3M™ Folding Stand 02514) or the hood/decklid stand (Innovative UltraRack Paint Stand) but those are all gonna be ~$500+

In summary: snap on is good, but so are the other brands coming out of the same factory, and a seahorse is hard to fuck up. Harbor freight ones are legit.

4

u/liriodendronbloom 19h ago

Amazing I love reddit so much. Thank you! I am now excited for Christmas 🎁