I know this is something I could answer myself with a measuring tape. But I'm away from from Jeep right now, and trying to order a pair of jack stands that will be tall enough. I've got a stock JKU, 33" tires (285/70R17).... Will just be using them to lift it for tire rotations.

How tall do they need to reach?

Tried searching all over, but couldn't get a straight answer. Thanks in advance.

 

Depends where you intend to stick the stand. I usually just use the shock-mounts or the axle tube if I'm just doing one wheel at a time since it's not supporting much weight. That means that you only need half your tire size, max (since the axle sits in the middle of the tire, obviously). So 33"/2 = 17" to round up and give yourself plenty of extra room.

If you intend them to support a more significant portion of the vehicle weight, you'll want to make sure you're placing it on the frame or something, in which case... the exact answer will depend on your exact setup, but a couple inches more than you'd need for the axle.

 

Just a standard 3 ton jack stand will be fine, I have 2 1/2 lift on 35’s use a floor jack to lift and put the stands on either axle or the shock mounts

 

Even if you don't need it right now, you might find it nice to have taller stands in the future. Order the tallest/beefiest ones that you have the budget for.

The 6-ton stands at Harbor Freight are fairly popular, especially when on sale or with a coupon.

 

3 ton is your daily jack, the 6's are for scooping under your frame and letting everything hang while you're cleaning and changing out parts. I use both, but again, they have their time and purpose.

 

This....While I own a set of 3 ton stands and they serve the purpose, the 6 ton feel so much more steady,secure and they raise to a higher height as well. I already owned a set of 6 ton, and decided to go on the cheap with the set of 3 ton so I could put a jack stand on each corner. I later went and purchased the 2nd set of 6 ton after seeing the 3 tons wobble under the rear axle quite a bit while I was wrenching on my rig.

I've never seen jack stands advertised by their height, they are advertised by the amount of weight they can support.

 

agreed 100%. i found out real fast i should have just bought the 6 ton stands to begin with.
used 2 1/2 ton for ever, but once you start in with lifts or coils where you need to droop the axle...6 ton is what you need.

 

Yep. 6ton if supporting at the frame rail, 3 or 3.5 ton of supporting at the axle.

For the 3-3.5 I have two sets of ACDelco that I have had forever. Recently got a set o 6 tons from tractor supply when they were half off on sale.

 

I have 2 sets of 3-ton stands, one of them propped up on 2x4 stacks. These 6-ton units that nthinuf mentions are my standard goto every time and were worth the money.