Lifting and support

This is the category where every item has one job and one printed limit. A jack raises a corner of the car so that something else can take the weight; stands or ramps carry it while you work. The rating on the tool, the surface under it and its condition decide whether the job goes ahead at all.

Read the rating on the tool and compare it with the weight of the vehicle, not with the weight of the corner you are raising. A tool worked near its limit flexes, and repeated flex is what cracks a weld. Leave margin rather than matching the figures exactly.

Anything that holds the car needs a hard, level surface, the support points listed in the owner manual and chocks behind the wheels that stay down. On gravel, dirt, soft asphalt or a slope the surface itself rules the job out — that is where the job stops and a workshop starts.

What actually decides a purchase here

Rated capacity against the weight of the vehicle, with margin left over rather than matched exactly.
Lift range and saddle shape against the jacking points listed in the owner manual.
The surface you have: jacks and stands need hard level concrete, ramps need a gentle approach angle.
Condition: bent frames, cracked bases, missing locking pins or a weeping release valve mean the tool is finished, not serviceable at home.

Our picks in this category

A floor jack and hand tools on the floor of a garage workshop

Lifting and support

Craftsman 3-ton floor jack

A long-handled jack that raises one corner of the car so that stands can take the weight.

Best for: Anyone doing brakes, tyre rotation or suspension work at home who has hard level ground to work on.
Watch out for: A floor jack is a lifting device only. Nothing in the job should put any part of you under a car held up by a jack alone, and the jack itself is never the thing that carries the vehicle.

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Axle stands and a jack on the concrete floor of a garage

Lifting and support

Craftsman 3-ton jack stands, pair

Rated stands that take the weight of the car while a jack is lowered away.

Best for: Any job where a wheel comes off: brakes, rotation, suspension, exhaust work from below.
Watch out for: Stands carry the load, so the rating, the surface and the support points all matter at once. Check the rating against the vehicle weight, place them under the points the manufacturer lists, and inspect welds, base and locking pin before each use.

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A torque wrench and sockets on a garage workbench

Hand tools

TEKTON 1/2-inch drive click torque wrench, 10 to 150 ft-lb

A wrench that turns tightening a wheel nut from a guess into the figure printed in the manual.

Best for: Wheel nuts, suspension bolts and anything else with a torque figure in the owner manual.
Watch out for: A torque wrench measures; it does not decide the number. Use the figure for your vehicle, re-check the wheel nuts after the first drive as most manuals advise, and wind the setting back before storing it.

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