Picking out a few tools. Your input welcome

I have used a similar one. Lots of pumping the handle for the height that it is being raised, and much more effort than a larger model, but they do work. I think that the professional model takes 3 pumps, maybe two, to get the Miata raised. That is on my want/must-have list.

When I jack the car up for wheel swaps, I put a piece of wood underneath at the mirror point to distribute the load, then raise the whole side of the car up. I stick one jack stand underneath the piece of wood to save the car in case the jack fails, then just swap them out.

I lower the car onto stands anytime I am underneath it, but this works fine since I am never in danger of it falling on me during tire swap. Since the tires I have are always directional, I can only go front to rear and vice-versa anyway.

I have four stands, but have never used more than two on a Miata unless I was parting it out.

That will work, the 1/2 inch will go over the 80 foot pounds that you need. As far as quality, I have had a Craftsman torque wrench fall apart, but that was after many years of use and it remained accurate every time I tested it against a friend's wrench. Or at least, they were equally inaccurate. ;-)

I have heard that you should only use a torque wrench to tighten, not to loosen. Not sure how true this is but I have always followed it since torque wrenches are kind of pricey and I have the tools I need to remove the lugs.

There can be different sized lugs depending on the wheels that were used, but it should be a common size and any 1/2" socket that fits and is deep enough should work. I would mention to be sure to get a quality socket, but you are already looking at Craftsman products.

You won't need a helper wrench to torque them, plenty of leverage to hit

A long-handled 1/2" socket driver is a wonderful thing when removing stubborn bolts, but your's are probably not too bad at 5 years old unless a gorilla mechanic has over-torqued them somewhere. :-)

Pat

Yes, one of the standard sizes (which one depends on your lugs). Get a large X wrench instead of a socket.

Instead of jackstands, some folks rip a slot in a 2x4 so it fits over the rocker panel seam, and use it to jack one side directly below the outside mirror. Make sure to set the handbrake firmly.