What is a floor jack's minimum rated capacity to lift a 3700 lb vehicle safely?

Question

I would also like to know the minimum capacity for the jackstands

Please recommend a floor jack to raise two different types of vehicles. The first is a small SUV that weighs 3700 lbs and it has a floor clearance of 8 inches. The second vehicle is a compact that weighs 2600 lbs and has a clearance of 6 inches. I found a floor jack that has a max lift of 13 inches. Will this be sufficient to lift the first vehicle in order to replace a tire?

Answer 1

Go for a 2ton jack and don't get under the car until each raised wheel has a 1 ton jackstand under it.

Answer 2

Typically, you are lifting only 1/4 of the car to replace a tire.
Worst-case is when you lift the entire rear with a jack under the rear differential - in that case, you are lifting about 1/2 the weight of the car.

So consider a jack that is about 75% of the weight of the heaviest vehicle you plan to lift, to give you some extra safety margin. Each jackstand only needs to carry 1/4 of the weight of the heaviest vehicle.

Answer 3

a good rule of thumb that i use is always go at least twice the wieght for rated capacity of your jacks and jackstands so if you are lifting a 2 ton car use at least a four or five ton jack and use at least a two ton jackstand in each place you are going to put them i always recommend using four jackstands when getting under a car

Answer 4

3700 pounds converts to 1.85 tons, so anything over a 2 ton jack would do it.