3 of my friends and I are looking into splitting the cost of a floor jack and 4 jack stands. There is really no need for each of us to have our own and we can just let whoever needs it use it. My question is, what kind of equipment should we get? The cars are as follows: Maxima, Ford F-150 Supercrew, Honda Civic, and a Saturn. I am kinda worried about the Ford and the jack. Even when the jack is all the way up will the Ford even be lifted off the ground? None of us has ever jacked up a car before so we need to know what to get. We were at Wal-Mart and saw some 6000 pound jacks but we didn't know if that was what we needed. They had smaller ones also. Are there different kinds of jack stands? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

You should be fine with the 3-ton jack and jack stands. Although not as versatile you could get some ramps too.

 

Avoid those piddly little "compact" floor jacks. You want one with a maximum saddle height at least 19 inches. Go to http://www.harborfreight.com and look at items 4172, 38846, and 38847.

Harbor Freight waives the shipping (but not handling) cost for orders which exceed $50. For a bit less than $100 you could get a floor jack and four 3-ton jackstands. You might find similar deals at local discount stores. These tools are Asian imports, not the best quality, but suitable for the home mechanic.

Your concern about the Ford truck deserves some research. Visit any service facility and look at their floor jacks. I bet they have a maximum lift of 19 inches too. However, you might want to get at least one pair of 6-ton jackstands. The advantage is not so much the weight as the height. Maximum heights: 3-ton = 17 inches, 6-ton = 24 inches.

For oil changes and brake jobs the 17-inch height will be fine. If you get into heavier work such as a clutch job you will really like the extra working room provided by the 24-inch jack stand.

 

I find it the easiest just to use ramps for any undercar operations. It is also a peace of mind as you know the car is not going to crash on you when you least expect it.

 

Have you ever replaced a clutch with the car up on ramps? Can this be done?

 

I dunno. I never tried.

 

I have the 3 tons jack at Walmart with ~19" max lift and got some jack stands at Autozone with ~13" min height. This combo is fine for my car but the jack's lift wasn't high enough when I tried lifting the back end of my sister's integra so it'll clear the min height needed by my jack stands. So if you're worry about height clearance among different cars then I'd get a jack with better than 19" max lift.

 

Can you identify a source for an affordable high-lift jack? I've been looking for one. It appears that 19.5 inches is a de facto industry standard.

 

Thanks everyone! I am going to order what we need from harborfreight.com today.

 

Sorry I've been looking for one myself and haven't found any. The highest one I saw was at Sears costing $130 but again with only 20" lift...1" higher than what I currently have.

 

You can put a short length of 4x4 lumber on the jack saddle to get a slightly higher lift.

 

Here is something else to consider. Go to http://www.northerntool.com and look at item #145883, 2 Ton Cross Beam Adapter, $30. This adapter substitutes for your standard floor jack saddle. It gives you a higher minimum and maximum height. The "extra" height is only a few inches but is adjustable.

This adapter also provides a safe way to use your floor jack to lift the entire side of the vehicle in one operation. This is especially useful for tire rotation.

I have one of these adapters. It is imported from China, crudely made, but looks strong and does a good job.

 

the cars should be ok with the stuff mentioned before , but for the f 150 , you might need something a little bit higher, but who really needs to jack up a truck that high anyway ? maybe you could just get 2 ramps for it. i know the 4x4 supercrew has plenty of room under it . ramps would be fine for it. good luck with that though

 

hmmm...very interesting, thank you! This may be exactly what I need to lift a friend's audi since his car just doesn't seem to have any usefull jack points. For our car, the maxima, I assume you could use the two end points of this tool to place against the rear beam axle for lifting the rear end, but wont work for the front jack point right?

 

The Maxima factory service manual identifies two "garage jack points":

(1) The leading end of the fore-and-aft stamped steel brace which is under the engine/transaxle in the center of the vehicle. Jacking at this point raises the entire front of the vehicle.

(2) The center point of the rear axle. Jacking at this point raises the entire rear of the vehicle.

You may safely use either of these garage jack points with an ordinary floor jack. The Cross Beam Adapter is useful for raising the entire left or right side of the vehicle.