What size Jack would you need.

I thought everybody knew what cars weigh. They weigh about 2 tons. That's the whole car. It's pretty hard to balance an entire car on one jack, so you needn't worry about picking up more than 1 ton. People buy larger jacks partly for ease of use. Think about that also.

And an Acclaim isn't exactly a heavy car.

Make sure you read your owners manual and use your common sense before you jack the vehicle up. Place the jack in the appropriate position. Don't jack the car up by the engine/transmission. Use a secure frame area to do that. Make sure you block the wheels front and back , to keep it from rolling. If you are not working on the rear brakes, set the parking brake. MAKE SURE you use JACK STANDS after you jack the vehicle up. The JACK is used to raise the vehicle ONLY, It should NOT be used to hold it up. Put them in the correct place and then remove the jack from the work area. By removing it everytime, you will NOT be tempted to not use the jackstands. OH, and use QUALITY jack stands and be aware of the ground they will sit on. Make sure the area is flat and level. If using on a concrete area, no extra attention needed. If used on a blacktop and the temperature is 100 degrees outside becareful of them sinking into the black top. If on dirt or unstable area, use blocks such as wood or concrete under the jackstands to give them stability and to help keep them from sinking into the ground. I know I missed something and it will be followed up by someone else. ;)

Never use cinderblock to support a vehicle (solid concrete OK, cinderblock - no). 8^)

Bill Putney (to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet >

I prefer large wood blocks. Even concrete blocks don't handle point loads well and impacts are even worse. Wood is quite resilient.

Matt

And also keep in mind that when a vehicle is on jackstands on all 4 corners, no matter how well supported the jackstands are, that the car can be pushed off the jackstands without a lot of sideways pressure.

If possible when doing the repair, only use jackstands on the front, or the side or the back.

Ted

You've already received a lot of good advice regarding using a hydraulic jack to lift your vehicle, but I'd like to add one other thing to consider.

The smallest you should really consider for lifting an axle is a 11/2 ton jack. The 1 1/2 ton has the advantage of having a lower starting point for jacking. This may be important if you are jacking a sub-compact or sports car that sits very low to the ground, which would prevent a 2 1/2 ton jack from being used. With this advantage, also comes the disadvantage that the

1 1/2 ton will generally not provide as much lift as the larger jack. This may be important if you are attempting to lift a full size or SUV which has much higher ground clearance.

I use a 1 1/2 ton rolling jack, but also have a bottle jack as well that I use occasionally as well. Both of these styles come in handy depending on what you want to be able to do.

Bob

TROLL!

Nothing to do with TROLL you idiot. The jack I inquire about will be used for a Ford Taurus and an Acclaim.

I guess a newsgroup fool, who considers himself to be a self appointed internet policeman, lacks the ability to figure out that the jack can be used for both vehicles.

He also resents that posters from more then one newsgroup who choose to have an input will answer and assist in helping to make a proper jack choice.

An internet self appointed policeman lacks the ability to understand many people own more then one make of car.

You idiot do you use different brands of wrenches to work on different makes of vehicles?

Who elected you to be the Internet policeman?. Is you life so empty?

Denny B