don't know jack about jacks

So, I'm wanting to purchase a hydraulic jack and jack stands for maintenance purposes on my vehicles. The curb weight of my Subie is around 3200 lbs, and my Ford Edge is close to 4300 lbs. My question is will a 2-ton jack be sufficient to lift my Edge? I did some internet searching, but mostly came back with results for fixing a 2-ton jack Wasn't sure if I should look at a 3-ton jack and jack stands. Any thoughts or comments are appreciated.

Thanks!

i have a 2 ton jack that i use for the honda and a friend of mine has a 2 ton and he has a 2wd f350.. and hasnt died yet so lol id say you would be fine with a 2.

I've always just used 2-ton jacks..... but I've only worked on cars lol

i used a two ton jack on my old cummins, that weighed in over 10k lbs...i think you should be good. Gotta remember, you aren't jacking up the entire car, so the weight of the car isn't really an issue, until you get into alot heavier vehicles(like my old truck)

you should be fine with a 2-ton floor jack. my truck weights 5700lbs. i"m always jacking up my truck and the jack has worked just fine for me. like billy said your not lifting all hat weight at once. what brand jack are you looking into?

Thanks! In my mind, I figured that that was the case, but I wanted to be sure. I was thinking "the whole weight of the vehicle isn't going to be on that one point and would be balanced to the other 3 tires" therefore only lifting 25% of the gvw. Don't know if my physics is right on that, but I just wanted to make sure.

As far as brands, I'm open to suggestions. I don't know if anyone has ever used any of the Harbor Freight stuff, I know they often have sales. Additional thoughts/recommendations are welcomed. Thanks for the piece of mind!!

really some of there stuff is good and some of its junk. as for the jack it probably would be a ok piece. its stuff like there drills and electrical stuff that tends to be junk. im not sure what your budget is but you could also check out sears for the craftsman jack or maybe even check out napa jacks they seem to be pretty decent. i've seen a few guys have good luck with the harbor freight jacks.

Rock! Thanks for the advice. My budget, as normal, is cheap cheap cheap. I sound like a bird.

Go grab a Honda Tuning or any car magazine really - there are ALWAYS Coupons for the harbor freight Jacks for like $69.99 or something like that.

I've yet to have a problem with one, but I've never lifted more than a Honda with it. For my truck and heavier vehicles I use the 3 ton Steel jack I have.

Also, don't buy the Harbor Freight jackstands, go to Sears. Their stands are cheaper (at 19.99 a pair). I've got probably 6 sets up at my shop and never had a problem with one, plus I think the Craftsman stands would be waraanteed if anything happens to them? Maybe not, but I'd try it, lol.

and remember, ALWAYS use jack stands when jacking a car. Never crawl under a car with just a jack or trust a jack, even if it is for only a few seconds

A set of jackstands can be purchased for what you'll save using that coupon from one of several magazines. Just go to Hastings, find the mag with it that interestes you and has the coupon (usually toward the back), stop by sears and pick up stands, then to Harbor Freight for a jack.

As stupid as it seems, it is hard to find a good jack. I was recently tasked with finding one for my bro-inlaw and in researching them, there are only a few that people really talk highly of (and they are stupid expensive). Mine is a heavy steel old jack that my inlaws bought for my birthday maybe 10 years ago. Seems quality has gone downhill over time, the older the jack, usually the higher it is talked about. I finally suggested a craftsman set for him (jack, stands, creeper) mostly just because he lives in AZ and if there were any problems during the warranty period, I know that Sears is generally pretty easy to deal with (also the price was within the budget that they allocated).

As others so wisely stated, get the jack stands too, don't trust just the jack. Also, I'd suggest higher capacity (weight limit) jack stands just because they typically go taller and sometimes it is nice to be able to get the car safely "high" in the air (tranny swaps, pulling engine, etc).

just get some really strong friends

gtolzien wrote:

just get some really strong friends

So, just how strong is everyone here? I keed. Thanks for the LOL

I bought a harbor freight jack, it's pretty nice, much better than what you find at sears. So far it's been good to me. I think i paid like $40 or 50 for it, has a long handle. I think Riptide (owen) bought a more expensive version of it, i'ts bigger and has a pad on it that one is really nice.

I grabbed a used Goodwrench 2.5 ton jack @ my bro-in-law's pawn shop for $25. Plan to grab some jack stands from HF tho. Got coupons for them! Nice Stang btw.

Good choice, good price. I've gotten a few jacks at Harbor Break, and they're nice except they slowly let the car drop. As soon as I can, imma just get one of those nice $100 jacks from Costco.