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3/4 rule with a floor jack is it should carry 3/4 of vehicle total weight. With a G wagon thats probably a 2 ton jack.
No idea how high off the ground yours sits. If its high thats better since no need to jack it up that much if you can already fit under it and just need to worry about getting the wheels off.
I have an old 3 ton craftsman floor jack and recently helped a friend replace ball joints in his 4dr Wrangler which is pretty heavy and high off the ground and we had no problem. I have a smaller 2-1/2 ton Home Depot bought Husky floor jack I got back when I had a Grand Cherokee and did all I wanted with it, that jack has an extension, basically a thick pipe that you install that gives a few more inches of lift.
I have a W204 that is very low to the ground and hate going under it. If I need to go under i'll drive it up wooden ramps I made by stacking 2x12's cut to different lengths. My ramps are only 2 planks high, 3 if I add another plank and working on the front or rear only. If I need it higher for more room to work like when I serviced the transmission I just jacked each corner up from the jacking points then stuck another plank under the wheel then lowered. I feel much safer with the wheels supporting the weight of the car.
I think the issue with MB's is lack of a spot to put jack stands while jacking up the car, at least with the rear.
Harbor Freight has a number of models that work under the G. I've had several of their Daytona and Pittsburgh jacks and they work fine. Oddly enough, the low profile models show a higher lift height than the standard model. Almost 20", so it's plenty tall. You can always stack a block of wood on the jack pad if you need more height. I also have a Quick Jack that I like to use when I need to get all 4 tires off the ground, but it's much more cumbersome and involved to use.
'12 Land Rover LR4 5.0L V8 375 hp 375 ft-lbs. NA 6-speed LUX HD AWD 4X4
You can spend a lot of money on floor jacks if you want. I spent a nice bit on a bottle jack to replace my scissor jack because I didn't want the cheap china stuff to break at the wrong time. A LOT of jacks are made in china. Norco 5 ton has a long reach for a 4X4, longer than any jack for sale in town. Norco targets mechanics but there is another usa branded company that holy hell you could spend a $3,800 pound of gold on one jack easily. But they are rebuildable so if you leave the weight on the jack instead of using a jack stand and then it stops working properly then you can get it fixed instead of buying a new jack.
Harbor Freight's 3 ton trolley jack works well on my G and other cars. I also have a set of post and pin jack stands -- safer than the lever release type. When I need to be under a car, I use 2 or 4 Rhino Ramps, because IMO trolley jacks and jack stands are not trustworthy, even when used in tandem.
'12 Land Rover LR4 5.0L V8 375 hp 375 ft-lbs. NA 6-speed LUX HD AWD 4X4
Originally Posted by streborx
Harbor Freight's 3 ton trolley jack works well on my G and other cars. I also have a set of post and pin jack stands -- safer than the lever release type. When I need to be under a car, I use 2 or 4 Rhino Ramps, because IMO trolley jacks and jack stands are not trustworthy, even when used in tandem.
Buying cheap tools I'd probably be worried too. But to trust plastic ramps over a quality metal jackstand, can't comprehend.
Buying cheap tools I'd probably be worried too. But to trust plastic ramps over a quality metal jackstand, can't comprehend.
Rhino Ramps are rated 4,000 lbs each -- 4 of them support 3x+ the weight of the car on the car's tires. Heavy duty versions support twice as much. Jack stands require placement somewhere on the vehicle's chassis or frame that's stable and compatible with the jack stand's cradle, and they can shift as you sequentially place them. I use jack stands to do brake fluid flushes when I need to pull wheels, but prefer the ramps when I'm underneath.
The plastic ramps scare me also. Just go get some 2x12's and make ramps from solid wood. Lowes and Home Depot will even cut the boards for you, just bring them home and nail them down together. I used old scaffold planks I found being thrown away.
Used ramps when servicing the transmission. Come time to fill and set the fluid I leveled the car by jacking up the front a little bit.
No dissing, just personal preference. Being hollow is what scares me. I feel much safer using solid wood planks stacked on top of each other. I even use large scrap pieces of timber instead of jack stands most of the time since it seems much sturdier on my gravel parking area. Even on pavement i've had the feet of jack stands sink in on a hot summer day.
I was just pointing out how easy wood ramps are to make yourself. Can make them any size and length you want. My wood ramps are only two planks high though I cut longer pieces that I can simply nail on the bottom to make them higher if needed then when done just take it apart.
'12 Land Rover LR4 5.0L V8 375 hp 375 ft-lbs. NA 6-speed LUX HD AWD 4X4
Originally Posted by streborx
Rhino Ramps are rated 4,000 lbs each -- 4 of them support 3x+ the weight of the car on the car's tires. Heavy duty versions support twice as much. Jack stands require placement somewhere on the vehicle's chassis or frame that's stable and compatible with the jack stand's cradle, and they can shift as you sequentially place them. I use jack stands to do brake fluid flushes when I need to pull wheels, but prefer the ramps when I'm underneath.
Harbor freight tests their jackstands too. Did you get the recall for them? j/k To each their own. Plastic is cheap, weak and doesn't hold up long-term especially in the sun. One benefit of steel ramps is as you mentioned there is more clearance moving around underneath. But they are heavy and the price is more than the rhino ramps. I've had the plastic rhino for my Corvette and yeah sketchy and to your credit they did work. Still alive to talk about it. My 5,800 lbs empty land rover, no thanks. The Corvette was ~3,150 lbs.
Plastics comprise a broad collection of polymers, some of which are stronger than steel. Characterizing all plastics as weak, cheap and non-durable is inaccurate. Plastics are alloys and are formulated to suit target applications just as metals are. The quantity, variety and uses of plastics in your automobiles are greater than you might suspect.
'12 Land Rover LR4 5.0L V8 375 hp 375 ft-lbs. NA 6-speed LUX HD AWD 4X4
Plastic vehicle supports are stronger than steel, yeah I doubt that. If you needed to stand under a Prevost bus on jack stands, would you pick plastic stands made with a broad collection of polymers or or stands made of steel?
