is a 2 1/2 ton jack + 2 ton jack stands enough to lift and hold my car for oil changes and eventually to paint my calipers? thanks.

-mike

 

That is what I have. A craftsman set I got for $50.

 

OK great. 16" lift height is OK too, right?

-mike

 

yes

 

If your car is lowered, you should get a jack that goes pretty high, particularly a SUV jack.

I bought a Craftsman floor jack that reaches 16" and it didn't get high enough for me to put the car on jack stands. My car isn't slammed either.

So I got an nice SUV one that goes to 21" and it works fine.

 

haha, i got one of those small 2 and 1/2 ton jacks, but it doesn't even raise my car high enough to put jackstands underneath. now i gotta find a better one.

 

put the jack on a nice block of wood

 

I have a 2.5 ton jack (lifts ~15") and 2 ton jack stands.. also have an SUV jack (3.5 tons)which lifts higher (~24")... and also got 3 ton jack stands... I hardly use the 2.5 ton jack anymore because the SUV jack lifts higher and on a lowered car I need that..also the SUV jack is much wider, larger and has more lifting capacity.. so I feel safer/more stable using the SUV jack along w/ the 3 ton jack stands (larger base, higher capacity) w/ the 2.5 ton jack it wouldnt lift high enough to fit the jack stands (small 2 ton ones) under... after i got my SUV jack. i pretty much never use the 2.5 ton anymore unless i'm doing something like rotating tires or something I dont need a lot of clearance/raising... the SUV jack is big and heavier (~100 lbs?) but its much more useful to me...

theres a big price difference though... for your listed purposes (above) a smaller jack will do.. but you might as well get a larger jack if your going to be working on other things... I bought the smaller jack (2.5 ton) first.. then the SUV jack later... i hardly use the smaller jack anymore..

a week or 2 ago sears had a sale where the 3 ton jack w/ 3 ton jack stands included was only $50 for both jack and jack stands.. thats like 1/2 off since I normally see the 3 ton and jack stands for around $100..don't know if they'll have that sale again though...

 

that's what eventually plan on doing.