How much weight does a floor jack need to support a 1999 Tahoe?

[OR VietVet]

I don't use a floor jack for anything I'm going to be under and jackstands just get in the way. Get a good quality set of car ramps. You'll have more room and never worry about anything being suspended or held up.

I use floor ramps as well but they typically do not get the height that the jack and stands do. I have some plastic ones from HF that go about 9" and I have a pair of steel ramps that go about 12" but the steel ramps sometimes don't allow for front air dam clearances needed. The disadvantage of the ramps is that all the weight is on the ramps and you cannot take a wheel off or work on alot of the front suspension or steering linkages. Brake work is a no go on ramps, except for the obvious brake work when the wheel dos not need to come off.

 

[gooffeyguy]

I don't use a floor jack for anything I'm going to be under and jackstands just get in the way. Get a good quality set of car ramps. You'll have more room and never worry about anything being suspended or held up.

Or get 2 sets....

 

[OR VietVet]

Or get 2 sets....

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Have done exactly that with my two sets of ramps. Hell, I use a set of ramps just to get the engine bay higher to work on. I am 6'4" tall.

 

[BlaineBug]

I'd say ramps are the way to go if you're going to be working beneath the vehicle, less "scary" than jack stands. But they take up a lot more space to store, and if you're going to have a jack and jackstands already, it's a lot of extra stuff to buy and store as well.

 

[gooffeyguy]

Or make your own set of folding wood ramps rather cheap....

 

[Dewally]

1 ton is roughly 2000lbs (2200lbs actually), so a 4 ton jack can lift 8000lbs.

I think a 4 ton is a bit overkill to lift one end of a truck, but bigger is always better when it comes to Jacks I think.

In the USA 1 ton is 2,000 lb EXACTLY

1 METRIC ton is 2,204 lb

 

[gooffeyguy]

Yes, but which one does the jack manufacturer use when rating it. Could be either depending on where it's made. That's why I said about 2000lbs

 

[BlaineBug]

That's good to know, because occasionally I've heard the term "a metric $hit ton" and now I know that it's actually more than 2,000 pounds of $hit.

 

[YukonRog]

Just be safe. My Auto Shop teacher made us try to shake a vehicle off the jack stands before we went under. If you can't, it's safe.

 

[OR VietVet]

Just be safe. My Auto Shop teacher made us try to shake a vehicle off the jack stands before we went under. If you can't, it's safe.

I do the same thing, always when on stands. My girl is not happy if I would not do that.