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Minimum floor jack height

tony72cutlass's'

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Hi All,

What floor jacks are you using to do a tire change job on your stock trucks.

The biggest floor jack I can find locally has a lift of 24”. Is that high enough? I want to avoid needing a 4x4 spacer to lift the truck.

Last year I used the factory scissor jack and it was a pain!

Thanks!

Tony
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imnuts

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I have a 3 ton floor jack with ~23" lift. I wouldn't want anything less than that. Stock wheels/tires just cleared on the downhill side in our driveway on jack stands after lifting it as high as I could. Repositioning the jack would have helped though.
 
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tony72cutlass's'

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I have a 3 ton floor jack with ~23" lift. I wouldn't want anything less than that. Stock wheels/tires just cleared on the downhill side in our driveway on jack stands after lifting it as high as I could. Repositioning the jack would have helped though.
Awesome thanks! I don’t want to take any chances for the sake of a couple hundred bucks!
 

Buyer2021

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A pair of ~19" lift floor jacks + 4 jackstands allows me to safely place my truck level with all 4 tires clear for doing a front-cross 4-wheel tire rotation. No spacer blocks used on the jacks.
 

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Been using the Harbor Freight long reach, low profile 3 ton jack since its introduction five or so years ago:

https://www.harborfreight.com/autom...-floor-jack-with-rapid-pump-orange-64241.html

It works for my 5K pound 4X4 truck and 6k pound Navigator SUV just as well as modern sedans where you can barely fit a fist underneath. Adjusts from an advertised 3.25” to 24.25” and lifting from a front crossmember on the truck I can lift the whole front enough to get both wheels in the air and on the jackstands. On level pavement, I’ll also lift from under the pumpkin on solid axles, which makes a quick job of putting the jackstands in. Always use jack stands and I like to put the jack under one of the jacking points with a tiny amount of weight on it. I also always rock the lifted vehicle from several spots to ensure that it is solidly supported by the stands.

The HF jack is pretty sweet and almost as good as some of the ones that I have used costing 10X as much and I will see the same model being used professionally every day all day at small independent tire shops.

For trips, I carry a bottle jack that’s been tested to work with the vehicle and some scrap plywood as well as a single alloy jackstand and even then; I’ll put the spare/flat wheel underneath while I swap out a punctured wheel/tire, I also have no problems with driving on a shoulder a few to several miles to an exit and trashing the tire. I would rather spend a few hundred bucks changing a tire somewhere safe than get hit at 80+ MPH on the highway by someone playing on their phone. Conversely, I will change my tires and oil in the street at home so that my neighbors can see me if all my other precautions failed and I get stuck underneath the vehicle.

Good luck and be safe!
 

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Been using the Harbor Freight long reach, low profile 3 ton jack since its introduction five or so years ago:

https://www.harborfreight.com/autom...-floor-jack-with-rapid-pump-orange-64241.html

It works for my 5K pound 4X4 truck and 6k pound Navigator SUV just as well as modern sedans where you can barely fit a fist underneath. Adjusts from an advertised 3.25” to 24.25” and lifting from a front crossmember on the truck I can lift the whole front enough to get both wheels in the air and on the jackstands. On level pavement, I’ll also lift from under the pumpkin on solid axles, which makes a quick job of putting the jackstands in. Always use jack stands and I like to put the jack under one of the jacking points with a tiny amount of weight on it. I also always rock the lifted vehicle from several spots to ensure that it is solidly supported by the stands.

The HF jack is pretty sweet and almost as good as some of the ones that I have used costing 10X as much and I will see the same model being used professionally every day all day at small independent tire shops.

For trips, I carry a bottle jack that’s been tested to work with the vehicle and some scrap plywood as well as a single alloy jackstand and even then; I’ll put the spare/flat wheel underneath while I swap out a punctured wheel/tire, I also have no problems with driving on a shoulder a few to several miles to an exit and trashing the tire. I would rather spend a few hundred bucks changing a tire somewhere safe than get hit at 80+ MPH on the highway by someone playing on their phone. Conversely, I will change my tires and oil in the street at home so that my neighbors can see me if all my other precautions failed and I get stuck underneath the vehicle.

Good luck and be safe!
Agreed. Always use a jackstand and put the floor jack under the same axle with a touch of weight on it. EG You then have two things carrying weight... As to the HF unit, I lost faith in them some years ago. Still a good floor jack is worth its weight in gold, but remember, these are hydraulic. Hydraulics can leak and sometimes very, very slowly fooling you. Use the jack stands and remember to break-away the nuts before lifting.
 
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tony72cutlass's'

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Awesome guys thanks for the replies! Winter's coming so i need to get my snow shoes on in the next couple of weeks!
 

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Been using the Harbor Freight long reach, low profile 3 ton jack since its introduction five or so years ago:

https://www.harborfreight.com/autom...-floor-jack-with-rapid-pump-orange-64241.html

It works for my 5K pound 4X4 truck and 6k pound Navigator SUV just as well as modern sedans where you can barely fit a fist underneath. Adjusts from an advertised 3.25” to 24.25” and lifting from a front crossmember on the truck I can lift the whole front enough to get both wheels in the air and on the jackstands. On level pavement, I’ll also lift from under the pumpkin on solid axles, which makes a quick job of putting the jackstands in. Always use jack stands and I like to put the jack under one of the jacking points with a tiny amount of weight on it. I also always rock the lifted vehicle from several spots to ensure that it is solidly supported by the stands.

The HF jack is pretty sweet and almost as good as some of the ones that I have used costing 10X as much and I will see the same model being used professionally every day all day at small independent tire shops.

For trips, I carry a bottle jack that’s been tested to work with the vehicle and some scrap plywood as well as a single alloy jackstand and even then; I’ll put the spare/flat wheel underneath while I swap out a punctured wheel/tire, I also have no problems with driving on a shoulder a few to several miles to an exit and trashing the tire. I would rather spend a few hundred bucks changing a tire somewhere safe than get hit at 80+ MPH on the highway by someone playing on their phone. Conversely, I will change my tires and oil in the street at home so that my neighbors can see me if all my other precautions failed and I get stuck underneath the vehicle.

Good luck and be safe!
I have the same jack but didnt pay anything close to that price. I also have a pair of Northern tool 6T jackstands. Love them...I need another pair.

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/t...6194?cm_mmc=Housefile-_-RECEIVED-_-707-_-CONF
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