Challenger CMJ6 Review: Wireless Mobile Jacks That Simplify Everything

The CMJ6 is a pair of self-contained lifting jacks. Each unit has its own rechargeable battery, its own hydraulic pump and its own mechanical locks, and the two are linked by a wireless controller that raises and lowers them together. Nothing runs across the floor: no hydraulic hoses between the units, no cord to a wall outlet, no power unit to trip over. The units slide under the rocker on each side of a car at 3.5 in of ground clearance, meet the lift points on rubber blocks, and raise the vehicle to 26 in.

Combined capacity is 6,000 lb per pair, which covers every passenger car and crossover and the lighter half-ton trucks at curb weight. Each unit weighs 145 lb, so moving one is a two-hand job for a single adult, and the pair stores upright in a corner or on a shelf. That is the same storage story as a QuickJack, with the hoses and power unit removed.

Challenger is a commercial lift brand, and the CMJ6 borrows the wireless-sync idea from the mobile column lifts used in truck shops, scaled to a home garage and a price of around $1,999.

The 6,000 lb rating is a pair rating, so each jack carries about 3,000 lb at full load. That is fine for a Camry, a Mustang, a RAV4 or a lightly loaded F-150 crew cab at 5,000 lb; a Tahoe at 5,600 lb is too close to the limit for comfort. The units are positioned along the rocker like QuickJack frames, so the vehicle's lift-point spacing has to fall within the block travel. Challenger publishes fitment guidance and it is the first thing to check.

Rise is 26 in, 2 in more than the QuickJack BL-5000SLX, and the difference is real on a creeper but does not change what the lift is for. Brakes, oil, suspension, exhaust and inspection are the jobs. Transmission and fuel tank work want a mid-rise platform.

The 3.5 in collapsed height is half an inch taller than a QuickJack frame and half an inch lower than a scissor platform. Most stock cars clear it. A lowered car will need ramps. Because each unit is independent, the pair can be set at slightly different distances from the wheels to suit a car whose lift points are not symmetrical, which a single platform cannot do.

Each unit carries its own rechargeable battery. Challenger rates a full charge at about 4 hours and gives 20 to 25 lift cycles per charge, which for a home garage doing one or two lifts a week means charging once a month. The failure mode is obvious: a unit that has sat unused for a season will be flat when it is needed, and there is no cord to fall back on. Treat the jacks like a cordless drill and charge them after each session, and the batteries are invisible.

The wireless controller raises both units together and monitors their height so one side cannot run ahead of the other. If the link drops or the heights diverge past the allowed window, the system stops. That is the right behavior and it is the reason to prefer synchronized jacks over two independent ones like a pair of Atlas MR6Ks.

What the electronics add is complexity. A QuickJack is a pump, two cylinders and two hoses. The CMJ6 has two batteries, two pumps, two radios and a controller, any of which can fail outside the 2-year warranty. In our view the convenience is worth it for the buyer who values setup time; it is not worth it for the buyer who values the fewest parts.

Each unit has mechanical safety locks that engage as it rises, so the vehicle sits on steel once the lift stops, regardless of battery state or hydraulic pressure. Lowering requires a brief raise to free the locks, then a controlled descent through the release valve. The sync monitor is a second layer: it halts the lift if the two sides drift apart, which on a pair of independent jacks is the way a car ends up tilted.

The floor needs to be flat, hard concrete. Two jacks concentrate a few thousand pounds on four footprints, and asphalt, pavers and a crowned driveway will let them settle unevenly. A sealed garage slab is the intended surface.

Challenger's spec sheet does not claim ALI certification for the CMJ6, and the model is not in the ALI directory. QuickJack's BL series is. For a home garage that is a judgment call, and Challenger's commercial reputation carries weight. For anyone who wants a third-party lab to have checked a portable lift against the ANSI/ALI ALCTV standard, the QuickJack is the only frame lift in this group that has been.

The QuickJack BL-5000SLX (around $1,499) is the reference. It lifts 5,000 lb to 24 in on a corded 110V power unit, carries ALI certification, and has no batteries. The CMJ6 costs $500 more and buys 1,000 lb of capacity, 2 in of rise, and freedom from hoses and cords. For an owner who sets up and tears down every week, that freedom is the whole product. For one who lifts twice a year, the QuickJack's simplicity and certification win.

The Forward MR-6 (around $2,299) is a 650 lb scissor platform on casters that rises to 34 in on 110V. It is a different tool: whole-vehicle lifting for a multi-bay garage, not something that stores in a corner.

The Atlas MR6K (around $1,799 per unit) is an air-hydraulic rolling jack that lifts one end of a car to 28 in and needs a compressor. Two of them cost more than the CMJ6, are not synchronized, and get under a car at 3 in. Choose the Atlas for lowered cars in a garage with air; choose the CMJ6 for a garage with neither.

The CMJ6 is for the owner who has looked at a QuickJack, likes the storage story, and does not want hoses across the floor or a power unit to find an outlet for. Renters, HOA residents and people who work in the driveway as often as the garage are the fit, because the units go anywhere flat and need nothing but a charged battery. Passenger cars and crossovers under about 5,000 lb are the right vehicles.

It is the wrong buy for a truck owner, whose vehicle sits too close to the pair rating; the QuickJack BL-7000SLX carries 7,000 lb for $100 less. It is the wrong buy for someone who wants the fewest failure points, and for anyone who will let the batteries sit flat between seasons. And 26 in of rise rules out standing-height work.

For a car owner who values setup speed over simplicity, the CMJ6 is the wireless jack we would buy at this price, and the reason to spend $700 more on the Rotary MSS6 is the longer warranty rather than anything in the lifting.