Jack capacity

[cpaharley2008]

Quick question for those inclined to answer. I'm thinking or ordering a set of "2 ton capacity" floor stands and a 2 ton jack. My tow vehicle weighs more than 2 tons but less than 4 tons./ Is my thinking right in that I'm only lifting I/2 the total weight in ordering the 2 ton items? I have a Ram hemi truck with quad cab.

[Centex]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

.... My tow vehicle weighs more than 2 tons but less than 4 tons./ Is my thinking right in that I'm only lifting I/2 the total weight in ordering the 2 ton items?

That thinking is flawed because the weight of the vehicle is not uniformly distributed. Methinks you'll find you are lifting less than 1/2 its total weight when you jack the rear, more than 1/2 the total weight when you jack the front.

There's also weight transfer effects in-play due to the angle of the vehicle when jacking. E.g. if placing all four corners on stands, place the heavy front first then the lighter rear to minimize aggravated front-weight transfer. Weight is transferred to the lower-end of the vehicle at any instant in this scenario, and the same if jacking one-side then the other at either end.

Personally, I go very conservative when sizing / using jacks and jack stands, YMMV, but please play it safe good sir! It's not a thing to be 'penny-wise, pound-foolish' about.

(pardon the pun ).

[Iowa Dave]

Hi Jim
I do not haul a floor jack with me nor jack stands. I do however have both here at home. The floor jack I have is “full sized” rated at 3 tons. The two jack stands I have are each rated at 5 tons.
The small bottle jack I carry with me on trips is rated at 4 tons. It’s a Sunex brand. I bought it a few years ago when we got the 21. Brought it home and lifted the one tire off of the ground on the 21 and one off the ground on the Highlander, said to myself “It will do the job if I have a flat.” I put it back in the box and added it to the list of what I haul each trip. Haven’t used it since. Weighs about eight pounds. Wouldn’t have to have it for the tandem axle Escape and could dig out the factory jack for the Highlander but prefer the bottle jack. Cost about $30.
Iowa Dave

[davidmurphy02]

I carry one of those plastic Trailer Aid ramps for changing a flat on the road, have not yet had to use it but it seems easy for a roadside repair. Back home for greasing the wheel bearings I used the scissors jack that came with my truck and put it on the frame in between the two wheels and jacked both wheels at once. That worked fine but I did have to use a number of heavy wood blocks under the jack to get it to reach all the way up to the frame.

[bborzell]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

Quick question for those inclined to answer. I'm thinking or ordering a set of "2 ton capacity" floor stands and a 2 ton jack. My tow vehicle weighs more than 2 tons but less than 4 tons./ Is my thinking right in that I'm only lifting I/2 the total weight in ordering the 2 ton items? I have a Ram hemi truck with quad cab.

Just researched the same thing as prep for installing Sumosprings on my RAM 5.7 Hemi Quad.

Consensus I ended up with was 3 ton for floor jack and 4-5 tons for standing jack. In my case, I have to lift the frame to unload the rear wheels so standing jack height is an issue.

[MVA]

I have a 8 ton bottle jack in our trailer. Clearly overkill for the weight, but I wanted a large enough jack base so the trailer would be stable when raised.

[CharlesinGA]

Every jack stand i have ever seen was rated PER PAIR, you will need to confirm the ratings. My local NAPA store had a sign up the other day for a special sale, 3-1/2 ton full size shop floor jack and a four ton stand set for $199. Many times the stores will be able to get excess stock of a special packaging of a item that was in a previous sale flyer, and sell it for a very cheap price, this was the case here, the jack alone is $329 and the jackstand pair is $75, but this was special packaging of the same product.

Charles

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Centex

... the weight of the vehicle is not uniformly distributed. Methinks you'll find you are lifting less than 1/2 its total weight when you jack the rear, more than 1/2 the total weight when you jack the front.

If jacking at the axle, that's true... although neither axle of a Ram 1500 supports even close to two tons. If you jack closer to the bumper, the load is lower - think of this as a leverage situation, with the wheels remaining on the ground as the fulcrum. Jack up one whole side of the truck and you get half the weight... but more because the jack would presumably be on the frame and so inboard of the tires.

Extra capacity is good, but at some point it's not worth the bulk, weight, or cost of stronger jacks and stands. My stuff is generally 2-ton to 3-ton, but I have a 10-ton (if I recall correctly) hydraulic jack for my motorhome.

I wouldn't be concerned about using 2-ton jacks and stands on the truck, but larger jack would probably be easier to pump and a higher-capacity stand would likely have a wider base and so better stability.

[Iowa Dave]

I found a 10 ton hydraulic jack in a road ditch while doing an Adopt -A-Highway cleanup. Took it into a jack repair place and got it rebopped. It’s very heavy. Took it home, moved twice, still haven’t used it. Probably been 30 years now. Haven’t seen it in a couple years, it’s down there somewhere.
Iowa Dave

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

I found a 10 ton hydraulic jack in a road ditch while doing an Adopt -A-Highway cleanup. Took it into a jack repair place and got it rebopped. It’s very heavy. Took it home, moved twice, still haven’t used it...

Yes, unnecessarily high capacity means unwanted extra weight. It makes sense to take advantage of the relatively low weight of an Escape trailer to keep equipment reasonably sized.

[CharlesinGA]

For around the shop, I have a old Craftsman/Blackhawk rolling floor jack from about 1970 and a newer NAPA rolling floor jack, both are about 3½ ton, both leak down very slowly and both leak on the floor a small amount.

The NAPA jack deal I mentioned above was somewhat incorrect. I went yesterday, it was the 3½ ton Carlyle rolling floor jack with the double pump but NO jackstands, reg $329 for $199. They said they were ordered about two years ago and three pallets with 18 or 20 of them arrived the other day out of the blue, and they want to move them, think I'll go tomorrow and buy one.

For Jackstands I have four 6 ton stands that pull out to 24 inches, and another four of a slightly different design, also pull out to 24 inches and are 5 or 6 ton, all quite old USA made. I also have four 3 ton stands from Snap-On that are much shorter which work on cars but are not enough for the RAM 2500 (in height or capacity that I am comfortable with.) and I have another two NAPA jackstands that are supposedly 4 ton but are short and only good for cars.

For on the road, I have rubber HF chocks and the vertical mechanical jack that comes with the RAM 2500 (not the scissor type screw jack like used on the 1500) It is excellent for jacking an axle on the trailer as it has a slightly U shaped saddle and with a blown tire you are not going to get under the leaf spring mount, you will have to go 3 or 4 inches inboard on the axle tube. Its a PITA to use as it is a vertical screw design and you have to use a multi section crank to turn it but I have used it and it works.

Charles

[Iowa Dave]

Hello Charles
Ain’t nobody gonna say “You don’t know jack”
Have a great day
Iowa Dave