Which car jack to buy (how high in metric plz)

[Rantanplan]

Hiya all,

Am newbie with my first new Beema X5 2003 4.4 E53...yeah....Great website, well done to all, love the many comments ideas etc.

Dumb question I'm sorry, as I've seen other posts reference car jacks for X5s, however, a couple of more detailed questions please if I may?

Apart from seeing on the web, the brilliant cheap package deals in the USA for car jack trolleys, stands and creepers packages, back home in Australia they're all so horrendously expensive even from the "cheap" auto spare barn dealers... anyway moving right along, my question to the Forum boffins is this please?

1) how high does the jack need to go up so as to:
- life tires off ground to change
- And place car stands
in centimetres/mm please ?

2) the lift amount i.e 1,200 kgs is this doable please

Thanks very much ,

Mike
Melbourne Australia

[SMOKEY53]

Hey Mike

welcome to the forum

I know what you mean about the cost of jacks here, but, coming from someone who has been through a few the best advice I can offer is to spend the money once.

Lots of guys swear by the Costco jacks but for me, the only real advantage of those is that they're light and that they can go under low cars. If you don't really plan on ever taking the jack anywhere other than your own garage - and you don't drive an illegally low car (under 100mm) then I would look elsewhere.

You talk about lift height, which is a good point. I found with my last car (a Pathfinder with 2 inch lift) that my jack couldn't get the wheels off the ground at full droop. I had to use blocks of wood and, given my jack was already leaking and not holding pressure it was all a bit risky and I started looking for a new jack.

I bought this.

https://www.kincrome.com.au/product/...ey-jack-3000kg

It's a beast. It weighs best part of 45kgs, and has one of the highest lift heights I could find without going to a full on shop-spec jack and spending thousands. It's got a reasonably low height (100mm) so will get under most cars that aren't stupid low. It's also got a ridiculously long handle (I actually took one of the lengths out) which helps getting it right in under the car to the lift point, and heaps of leverage for quick and easy lift times that don't need much muscle.

So anyway, without sound like I work for Kincrome - that's what I've been running and it works well for me. I picked it up for around $300 at Autobarn. It sounds like a fair bit but this was my fourth jack....I should have bought this one once instead of the three cheap ones before it.

[SMOKEY53]

Also, yes, the weight rating of my jack is overkill.

Although you'll never have the full weight of the car supported by the jack (as either the front or rear wheels should be on the ground) it makes no sense at all to go for a jack with a rating lower than the weight of the vehicle. Go for something around the 2000kg mark and it will stand you in good stead for this car and whatever comes after it.

And always use jack stands. Buy some decent ratchet style ones with a good square foot print and a nice wide fork at the top. I've got a super cheap set, and a cheap set - neither of them inspire confidence. Again - spend the money once.

Awesome that you want to get your hands dirty and get in and under the car, but safety - too many times I took stupid risks in my younger days - it hit home for me last year when a friend came back from work and told me her colleagues husband was found dead under his car, squashed.