I'm thinking of buying a floor jack soon, and am wondering... What is the minimum height the jack should extend to? I am stock right now but in a year or so will be adding a 2.5 lift. Right now I am thinking of getting a 3 ton jack. Any recommendations?

 

Harbor Freight has a floor jack with maximum height of 23". That should work. If not, add a 6" block of wood.

 

I bought the tallest one that Advanced sells, think it was 23" also. It works for 35's. You will need the tallest jack stands too. The stands are the real limiter.

 

23" is more than enough. Keep in mind, even if you went from stock 31's to 35's, you only raised the bottom of the axle by 2 inches.

 

Get the tallest you can find. A tall jack with a small wood block is much better than a short jack with a tall wood block. Mine is 23", and I still add big wood blocks, depending on where I need to lift from.

For the stands, definitely get the biggest and beefiest that you can afford. Between the two, this is where I would spend the money.

 

I got a jack as a gift. It extends to 15.5 inches should I look for bigger or stay with, with blocks?

 

Not to hijack the thread, but just wondering if it's OK to use the floor jack on the front diff just to get two jack stands in there on the axle, since the front diff is off-centered.

 

I always put a block of wood between the jack and the front diff just becasue it is soft. If you need to manipulate the axle, like when removing springs, I generally get out my stock jack too as a safety net on the side I am flexing out while the floor jack is used to compress the other side. This gives you extra clearance to remove a spring. it is important to keep the axle supported when the sway bar links and shocks are removed. At that point all that is holding it up are the brake lines, drive shaft and control arms.

 

I jack up by the front pumpkin with no special precautions.

 

Great info here and it comes at a good time since a decent floor jack is in my future.