3 ton are more than adequate for a Cherokee, these things are pretty light. And you’re only supporting half the weight at a time anyway. For the Jack you’re limited on lift points with the bottle Jack style, maybe you Jack as close to the wheel as possible you can fit the stand between it and the pumpkin?

don’t forget to lube your calliper slide pins with brake grease, that keeps them from sticking and wearing your pads prematurely. Plenty of YT videos on best practices. It as commented, it’s a very simple job and will pay for the tools the first time!

 

I agree the 3-ton ones are probably fine. Just remember cheap Chinese products tend to be very optimistic in their ratings, and the rating for jack stands is often given for the pair (in other words, those 3 ton are really only rated for 1.5 ton each). I also like to slide the wheel under the edge of the vehicle after taking it off. Don't forget wheel chocks are important too.

I haven't dropped any vehicles, but I did forget to set the parking brake before removing the rear drive shaft once. Fortunately it was relatively flat ground and I could grab the pinion to stop it, took off my boot and shoved it in front of the tire while I crawled out and set the damn brake.

 

I bought a set of 4-ton stands specifically to work on the Cherokee, and I've been using them for 8 years now. I also have an aluminum floor jack I bought something like 18 years ago that's still going strong.

 

Dont jack from the pumpkin, the axle tubes can be bent if you do so.

 

Come on guys, you don't need jack stands to do brakes 'cos you're not getting under the vehicle - & you've only got to get the tyre about 1/2" off the deck.

Pretty sure (all of) my caliper pins have 13mm heads.

I know all about the different hubs/rotors from '99 - I've got one! No guarantee that the rotors haven't been swapped for the more readily available earlier ones (or, even, both sides are the same).

Are the '99 ones still available? All the rotors (& hubs) I've seen are for '94-'01 - but that might just be a European thing, where we're not v. good at these fine distinctions. (some vendors don't even acknowledge things changed at all in '97)

 

Where are you on the East Coast? I'm down in West Palm Beach. If you were close enough, I'd loan you my jack.

 

Jacksonville, thanks though!

 

After agonizing over which jack to buy i decided i was being dumb, and that i can afford a floor jack so i just went and bought one. I can always sell it if this doesn't end up being a thing i want to continue. I bought this one:
https://www.harborfreight.com/automo...red-56617.html

After work I will jack up the jeep on the front axle, just center/passenger side of the pumpkin then put some jack stands down, and see what kind of rotors i have.

 

One more cheap tool I will suggest is a torque wrench for reinstalling your wheels. Or even rent one from a parts store. You'd quickly blow through your money saved from DIYing if a wheel fell off.

 

Any suggestions? I was looking at this one earlier:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...KIKX0DER&psc=1

Edit: amazon has one for half that price & good reviews:
https://smile.amazon.com/AmazonBasic..._t3_B072M8DPLG

Edit2: Just going to get this $20 one from harbor freight, read it's decent:
https://www.harborfreight.com/hand-t...nch-63882.html

 

Alright, I must be an idiot. I lifted it with the floor jack, but there's not anywhere where a jack stand fits on the axle tube, on the drivers side. The control arm? starts hitting the edge of the cradle on the jack stand, preventing the tube from coming down center of the jack stand. As I began to lower, it appeared that weight was all going to come down on the edge of the cradle and tip the stand over. I tried to take pictures, not sure if they really show the issue.

I know other people have done this tons of times so there's something I'm missing.

 

That's a nice jack, and I think you'll like the rapid rise part where the first pump raises it up to the body. The harbor Freight clicker torque wrenches are okay.

 

I don't think jack stands are necessarily overkill, but I would suggest something more than just that tiny wobbly oem jack - even if I'm just reaching around in the wheel well trying to break caliper bolts loose. It only takes a minute to slip a wheel chock in place and slide a jackstand or the tire under the edge of the vehicle as cheap insurance.

I've never had a vehicle drop on me, but I have seen the consequences. That includes a knowing a someone who suffocated under his car when it dropped, and a co-worker missing part of his hand where the vehicle slipped sideways off the jack and pinched his hand in the suspension as it fell.

 

Floor jack and jack stands look good. Pretty much the same I have. I've had my floor jack for almost a decade. Still going strong.

I know some people have strong opinions about jacking at the pumpkin (diff), but I, as well as many others, have been using the diff as a jacking point forever. When jacking at the diff, make sure you are lifting at the housing, not the diff cover. Just remember to only use the floor jack as a means to jack up the vehicle in order to put jack stands underneath. The vehicle should be supported by jack stands although you can use the floor jack as a secondary support as a safety measure. This means the jack stands are taking all the weight, but the floor jack is just merely touching vehicle. Also, put a block of wood between the floor jack and the diff unless you use a rubber pad on your floor jack. It helps to not scuff or scratch things up.

If you have a metal bumper that's tied into the unibody, front or back either one, that could be a lift point as well. Rock sliders could be used as a jacking point if you have them as well.

There comes a point when your Jeep is lifted too much to use some of the factory jacking locations...

 

What I do is jack from the middle of the front axle, which is just to the left (if you're facing it, so towards the passenger side) of the front diff. The drivers side jack stand goes just where you have it, but you're right that sometimes the saddle of the stand hits the end of the control arm. What I do is lower the jack until the stand saddle clears the control arm, then center it under the axle tube and lower it the last half inch or so.