I had the Aluminum costco jack... I took way to much effort to juck it up from one side
and the jack handle way bending... pretty bad




and the handle can way to clost to hitting the car, I dont like to leave it down to trip on it

still searching for a light weight jack that will jack up the car and not weigh 100lbs
like the black costco jack

maybe a real racing jack $3-500

 

For people that do what I would consider major work for the DIYer in a home garage (clutch, tranny, differential work), what kinda height is required? I know for these jobs a good amount of room is beneficial, but I just can't see getting under a car that's lifted 30 inches on jack stands. (I don't plan on these types of jobs in the near future on the S, but I might try to tackle a new clutch or tranny on my Civic if the "opportunity" arises.)

What kinda heights are people using to do typical under-car maintenance (various fluid changes)?

While I've done all my own maintenance on my previous cars, it's been pretty much limited to fluid changes on FWD cars (so ramps have worked well) and brake jobs/strut changes (OEM jack and jack stands weren't optimal but adequate at the time). Thus I'm curious how high people are generally getting a car like the S for various jobs before seeking out a lift.

 

You should check out the jack I just talked about from sears.

Its $30 And fit under my car just fine on all 4 jack points(not sure about the front or rear end though)

It also came in a nifty hard plastic carrying case with handle. Its probably about 30-35 lbs. The jack itself is only about 1.5 ft, the case is probably about 2 ft long.

I dont have a need for anything else fancy. I just bought the jack to change my wheels out. And possibly do some fluid changes down the road..

 

Well remember, 30" at the front of the car is not going to be 30" where you put the jack stands on the side.

The most I've had a car lifted on jack stands was about 24" using those HUGE truck jackstands, and that was because I had to be under the car a LOT (RX7 Turbo, pulling the motor, rerouting lines, welding a custom exhaust, etc).

Normally I lift my cars to the highest they'll go with the HF jack (17" where the jack is, maybe 14" where the jack stands go) but wouldn't mind another 3-4 inches just to be able to use a crawler more often.

 

That jack will work fine on the side points, but is very likely to hit the front bumper if you try to use the front point, also it's max lift height won't be enough to lift from the front anyways.

I have a few of those jacks also, and they work for what you are currently using them for but be ready to buy a nicer jack when you want to start doing more work to the car.

 

You use your wood to jack up your car?!? You've gotta post a picture of that....wait, I don't want to see. Do you use your own fluids too?