What size Jack would you need.

What size trolley jack would be required to
jack up a medium size American car.

Say a Sprint or Acclaim size.

1 ton or 11/2 ton
2 ton or 21/2 ton

I'm sure that the average person does not know
what a car weighs so how do you really determine?

Is there a formula you use or just good old common
logic?

Thanks in advance
Denny B

 

I thought everybody knew what cars weigh. They weigh about 2 tons. That's
the whole car. It's pretty hard to balance an entire car on one jack, so you
needn't worry about picking up more than 1 ton. People buy larger jacks
partly for ease of use. Think about that also.

 

And an Acclaim isn't exactly a heavy car.

 

Make sure you read your owners manual and use your common sense before
you jack the vehicle up. Place the jack in the appropriate position.
Don't jack the car up by the engine/transmission. Use a secure frame
area to do that. Make sure you block the wheels front and back , to
keep it from rolling. If you are not working on the rear brakes, set
the parking brake.
MAKE SURE you use JACK STANDS after you jack the vehicle up. The
JACK is used to raise the vehicle ONLY, It should NOT be used to hold
it up. Put them in the correct place and then remove the jack from the
work area. By removing it everytime, you will NOT be tempted to not
use the jackstands. OH, and use QUALITY jack stands and be aware of
the ground they will sit on. Make sure the area is flat and level. If
using on a concrete area, no extra attention needed. If used on a
blacktop and the temperature is 100 degrees outside becareful of them
sinking into the black top. If on dirt or unstable area, use blocks
such as wood or concrete under the jackstands to give them stability
and to help keep them from sinking into the ground.
I know I missed something and it will be followed up by someone
else.

 

Never use cinderblock to support a vehicle (solid concrete OK,
cinderblock - no). 8^)

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")

 

I prefer large wood blocks. Even concrete blocks don't handle point
loads well and impacts are even worse. Wood is quite resilient.


Matt

 

And also keep in mind that when a vehicle is on jackstands on all 4
corners, no matter how well supported the jackstands are, that the
car can be pushed off the jackstands without a lot of sideways pressure.

If possible when doing the repair, only use jackstands on the front,
or the side or the back.

Ted

 

You've already received a lot of good advice regarding using a hydraulic
jack to lift your vehicle, but I'd like to add one other thing to consider.

The smallest you should really consider for lifting an axle is a 11/2 ton
jack. The 1 1/2 ton has the advantage of having a lower starting point for
jacking. This may be important if you are jacking a sub-compact or sports
car that sits very low to the ground, which would prevent a 2 1/2 ton jack
from being used. With this advantage, also comes the disadvantage that the
1 1/2 ton will generally not provide as much lift as the larger jack. This
may be important if you are attempting to lift a full size or SUV which has
much higher ground clearance.

I use a 1 1/2 ton rolling jack, but also have a bottle jack as well that I
use occasionally as well. Both of these styles come in handy depending on
what you want to be able to do.

Bob

 

TROLL!

 

Nothing to do with TROLL you idiot. The jack I inquire
about will be used for a Ford Taurus and an Acclaim.

I guess a newsgroup fool, who considers himself to be
a self appointed internet policeman, lacks the ability to
figure out that the jack can be used for both vehicles.

He also resents that posters from more then one newsgroup
who choose to have an input will answer and assist in helping
to make a proper jack choice.

An internet self appointed policeman lacks the ability to
understand many people own more then one make of
car.

You idiot do you use different brands of wrenches
to work on different makes of vehicles?

Who elected you to be the Internet policeman?.
Is you life so empty?

Denny B