Upgrading the cheapest transmission jack available with air hydraulics - How improved is it??

If we leave the typo in the title - will engagement go up?? (Really I am too lazy to fix and re-render!)

Anyway.....years back when doing the transmission in a Mercury Mountaineer, I picked up this inexpensive transmission jack. In fact it was the cheapest full-height transmission jack available at the time. It's a Summit branded unit, but there's plenty of other brands using the same build style. It works, but always a pain to use.

Well coming soon we'll have a video for a clutch replacement in a JK Wrangler - so we needed our transmission jack for that job, and wanted to spruce it up a bit!

So today we're going to try and breath some life into this, without expending the cost for a better unit - which could easily cost north of $1,000.

Come along as we upgrade the casters (to better get over our floor plate lift) and add an air-hydraulic foot pump so we can automatically raise this unit without having to bend down and run a hand crank.

TOOLS AND PARTS:

Note that any links going to Amazon will be using our Amazon affiliates links, which means we may get a small commission. Also note that I only link to things I have bought, or would buy as an option. I do not get paid to share links, or promote products - I share what I use or would use only.

Hydraulic / Air pump:
While you can probably find cheaper/smaller pumps, I elected to go with the unit shown in the video. It's a knockoff of the OTC Stinger 2510A unit. I'll link to both - I went cheaper here because the OTC unit would put me in the territory of just upgrading the jack itself...and is likely overkill for this application anyway.

Vevor Pump - Shows on Amazon now as a "Mophorn" unit. There's plenty of off-brands with the same design, I filtered through to find the best value - i.e. the best price and the most amount of actual real reviews that weren't horrible. So far it's working great for me.
https://amzn.to/3LwUL9s

Higher End - OTC Stinger 2510A - again this is overkill, but if you want to get a higher end unit, this is available. It does still appear to be made in China, but is OTC designed.
https://amzn.to/3yNQHtX

CASTERS:

The casters I used - again probably higher quality name brands out there, but these fit the bill when it came to fitment, added height, and weight capacity.
Caster Wheels 5 Inch, CLOATFET Locking Casters, Swivel Casters with Brake
https://amzn.to/3LqYTb2

Transmission Jacks:
The one you see in this video is this unit - as of posting the video, the price is back down to $210, but still not at the $160 I paid for many years back.

Summit Racing™ Tall Transmission Jacks SUM-91705
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/su...

it appears to be the same as many other brands, like this Big Red version on Amazon:
BIG RED TR4053 Torin Hydraulic Garage/Shop Telescoping Transmission Floor Jack: 1/2 Ton (1,000 lb) Capacity, Red
https://amzn.to/3LqZ7Pq

If you are looking for a higher quality transmission jack, here's some other options for reference. I'm sure there's PLENTY more out there, I just took a few mins to grab a few links. If you are really shopping for a new transmission jack, please do your research, I've not used or researched any of these, simply sharing as options for better quality jacks for a shop.

Sunex 7793B 1/2-Ton Telescopic Transmission Jack - $862 at time of publish
https://amzn.to/42inTqZ

OTC 5078 2000 lbs Capacity Air-Assisted High-Lift Transmission Jack - this is a production shop level jack, quite nice, but $4600 at time of publish
https://amzn.to/42v9yYq

OTC Air-Assisted 1,000 lb. Capacity High-Lift Transmission Jacks 1728
Not on amazon, but another high quality shop unit, still very pricey at $3509 at time of publish:
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/ot...

Sunex Tools Air/Hydraulic Telescopic Transmission Jacks 7796
More reasonable air powered option for moderate shop use, $1093 at time of publish
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sx...