QuickJack BL-7000SLX Review: Heavy-Duty Portable Lifting for Trucks and SUVs

The BL-7000SLX was QuickJack's answer to the truck owner. The standard SLX frames were sized for cars; full-size pickups and three-row SUVs weigh 5,000 to 6,500 lb and put their frame-rail lift points too far apart for a 51 in frame to reach. QuickJack's fix was a 63.5 in extended frame, larger cylinders with a 4,000 psi ceiling, and a 7,000 lb pair rating, on the same two-frame, one-pump, 110V architecture as the rest of the line.

The listed specifications are 24.5 in maximum rise, 3.25 in collapsed height, roughly 15 seconds to full rise, 186 lb per pair, dual lock bars with auto-engage, and a 2-year limited warranty. Like the other SLX models it carried ALI certification.

The SLX series is out of production, replaced by the TL line, so the BL-7000SLX is a clearance or used purchase and is not sold on Amazon. The estimated $1,899 MSRP here is a reference figure. The reason it deserves a separate review is that its 63.5 in frames are longer than the 7000TL's 55 in, which changes which vehicles fit.

7,000 lb comfortably covers every half-ton pickup and full-size SUV at the curb, a lifted Ram 1500 on 35s, a Suburban, an Expedition Max. It covers the lighter gas three-quarter-tons at curb weight and does not cover a diesel 2500, a 3500 or anything with a bed full of gravel. The rating is for the pair; a heavy truck does not get to borrow capacity from one frame to the other.

The 63.5 in frames are the practical advantage. Frame-rail lift points on a crew cab with a standard bed, or a long-wheelbase van, sit far enough apart that a 55 in frame can run out of block travel; 63.5 in reaches. That makes the BL-7000SLX closer in reach to the current 8000TLX, which uses 60 in frames, than to the 7000TL that nominally replaced it. QuickJack's fitment lookup lists SLX-era spacing and should be checked against the exact cab and bed.

The trade is under small cars. Extended frames are awkward under a short wheelbase, and although the 3.25 in collapsed height is low for a truck lift, a sedan-and-truck household is better served by frames that fit both.

24.5 in of rise under a truck with 9 or 10 in of ground clearance puts the frame rails around 34 in off the floor. That is rolling-stool height and covers driveshafts, differential covers, shocks and leaf-spring hardware, brakes, hubs and bearings, exhaust, transfer case service and fuel system work. It does not cover pulling a transmission on a full-size truck with a jack under it, and it does not put anyone at standing height; the MaxJax M7K, a portable 2-post, is the answer for that at roughly three times the money.

The lock bars are the load path. Auto-engage means the locks click into position as the frames pass each lock height, and the QuickJack procedure is unchanged: raise past the lock, lower onto it, then get under. Both frames must be on their locks before anyone slides beneath a 6,000 lb truck; the hydraulics are for lifting, not holding. Lowering means raising off the locks, releasing both, and bleeding down.

ALI certification on the SLX line covered the extended model, which means the lock and overload margins were independently checked. That still counts on a discontinued unit as long as it is complete and undamaged.

The 110V power unit is the same concept as the rest of the line, with the same caveat amplified: at 6,000 lb the pump is near the top of its work, and voltage drop on an extension cord is what makes it labor. A dedicated outlet near the truck is not optional here, and QuickJack's manual says as much.

186 lb per pair means each 63.5 in frame is around 93 lb. That is a two-person carry or a cart job every time, and QuickJack's frame cart is a sensible addition for anyone who deploys the lift more than occasionally. The frames also need room on the floor: centered under a crew cab they project past the truck's sides, and the hoses have to run clear of the tires to the power unit. A single bay with a couple of feet either side of the truck works; a tight one-car garage may not.

Storage is still the design's payoff. Both frames stand against a wall, the power unit goes on a shelf, and the garage parks the truck. The wall footprint is longer than a standard SLX by a foot.

The 7000TL is the official successor, and it is a different-shaped lift: 55 in frames instead of 63.5, 24 in of rise, 4 in collapsed, about 190 lb total, ALI certified, and around $1,800 on Amazon. For a standard-bed crew cab either fits; for the longest wheelbases the SLX's frames reach where the TL's may not.

The 8000TLX is the current model that most resembles the BL-7000SLX in reach, with 60 in frames and 8,000 lb, at about $2,150. A buyer who needs the extended frames and cannot find a clean SLX at a discount should look there rather than settle for a 7000TL that might not fit.

The MaxJax M7K is the other portable option for trucks, and it is a different category: a stowable 2-post with 69 in of rise and 220V power at $5,039. It exists for standing-height work that no frame lift can do.

Against the Atlas PMJ-7, Forward FPJ-7XL and Greg Smith GS-PJ7 that copy the extended-frame formula, the SLX's advantages are certification and the depth of QuickJack's fitment data; theirs is being in production.

This lift makes sense for a truck or SUV owner who does driveline, brake and suspension work in a garage that still has to park the truck, whose vehicle fits the 63.5 in frames per QuickJack's lookup, and who can buy a complete, undamaged unit below the 7000TL's street price. Complete means two frames, both hoses, the power unit, all four lock bars and the rubber block set, with cylinders that hold on the locks without weeping.

It also makes sense for the owner of a long-wheelbase truck or van that a 7000TL cannot reach, as an alternative to the pricier 8000TLX.

It does not make sense for a household of sedans. The frames are long and heavy, and the 5000TL does everything a car needs for less money and less effort. It does not make sense at full estimated MSRP either, because the 7000TL is the same money new with the same certification and a current parts channel. And it does not replace a 2-post for anyone who needs to stand under the truck; that job belongs to a MaxJax M7K or a permanent lift.