If you want the short answer, the best floor jack for Toyota 4Runner work is the Arcan 3-Ton Quick-Rise Aluminum Floor Jack (A20019), and if you’re on a tight budget the BIG RED T83006 is the one to get — mostly because it lifts nearly 21 inches. This guide is for 4Runner owners who do their own tire rotations, brake jobs and fluid changes at home. I’ve been wrenching in my own garage for years, and the 4Runner is the vehicle where most cheap jacks quietly fail you: not because they can’t hold the weight, but because they run out of travel with the tire still touching the ground.
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The mistake almost every 4Runner jack guide makes
Search this topic and you’ll find roundup after roundup pushing “low-profile” jacks with 3-inch minimum heights. That advice is copied from sports car articles and it’s backwards for this truck.
A 4Runner has between 8.8 and 10.1 inches of ground clearance depending on trim — 8.8 on Limited and Platinum, 9.1 on TRD Off-Road, 10.1 on TRD Pro and Trailhunter. Any jack ever made will slide under it. What actually limits you is maximum lift height. Lift a body-on-frame SUV by the frame rail or differential and the suspension droops several inches before the tire leaves the ground, so a jack that tops out at 13 or 14 inches will strand you mid-job. Add 33-inch tires and a two-inch lift and the problem gets worse.
Every pick below reaches at least 18 inches. That’s the filter I used.
Toyota 4Runner floor jack comparison table
| Product | Best For | Key Spec | Price | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arcan 3-Ton Aluminum (A20019 / ALJ3T) | Best Overall | 3-ton, 3.75″–18″ lift, ~58 lb aluminum | $$ | Check price |
| BIG RED T83006 Torin 3-Ton Trolley | Best Budget | 3-ton steel, ~5.9″–20.9″, extra saddle | $ | Check price |
| Sunex 6603ASJ 3-Ton Aluminum | Best Premium | 19.3″ max height in ~7.5 pumps | $$$ | Check price |
| Powerbuilt 620471 Unijack | Best all-in-one / roadside | 3-ton bottle jack + stand, 11″–21″ | $ | Check price |
| Hi-Lift XT-485 48″ X-TREME | Best for lifted & trail use | 7,000 lb tested, 48″ travel, 28 lb | $$ | Check price |
| BIG RED T46002A 6-Ton Jack Stands | Essential pairing | 12,000 lb pair, 15.4″–23.8″, double lock | $ | Check price |
Best Overall: Arcan 3-Ton Quick-Rise Aluminum Floor Jack (A20019 / ALJ3T)
This is the jack I’d hand a 4Runner owner who wants to buy once. It’s a 3-ton aluminum trolley jack with dual pump pistons, a reinforced lift arm and a 3.75-to-18-inch range, weighing around 58 pounds — roughly half what a comparable steel 3-ton jack weighs.
Pros: The dual-piston quick-rise pump gets the saddle to a 4Runner’s frame rail in a handful of strokes rather than twenty, which matters when you’re lifting a 4,700-pound truck. Eighteen inches of travel is enough to get stands under a stock 5th or 6th gen at the diff. The aluminum body is light enough to drag across the garage one-handed or throw in the cargo area for a track day or a friend’s driveway. Build quality — aircraft-grade aluminum, rubber saddle pad, foam handle bumper — is a clear step above the no-name brands filling the search results.
Cons: Reviewers regularly report the hydraulic unit weeping down slowly under sustained load after a year or two of use, which is exactly why stands are non-negotiable. And it costs roughly twice the budget Torin, which is hard to justify if you lift the truck twice a year for seasonal tires.
Who should buy it: Anyone doing regular DIY maintenance on a stock or mildly lifted 4Runner. Check the current price on Amazon.
Best Budget: BIG RED T83006 Torin 3-Ton Trolley Jack
Torin markets this specific variant as fitting SUVs and extended-height trucks, and that isn’t just marketing copy — it tops out around 20-7/8 inches, taller than jacks costing three times as much, and it ships with a screw-on saddle extension for even more reach. For a 4Runner, that combination is the whole ballgame.
Pros: The tallest lift in this roundup at the lowest price. The 3-ton (6,000 lb) rating covers one end of any 4Runner generation with margin. The extra saddle neck reaches frame rails on lifted trucks that leave low-slung racing jacks maxed out. Enormous review volume behind a very old, very proven design.
Cons: It’s a single-piston pump, so getting to full height is a genuine arm workout — expect a lot of strokes. Quality control is the recurring complaint: a meaningful share of reviewers report units arriving with weeping seals or that won’t hold pressure. Test it thoroughly the day it shows up and use the return window if yours is a dud.
Who should buy it: Owners who need real height and real capacity for the least money, and don’t mind pumping. Check the current price on Amazon.
Best Premium: Sunex 6603ASJ 3-Ton Aluminum Floor Jack
Sunex builds service-bay equipment, and the 6603ASJ is the buy-it-for-life option. Its Rapid Rise system reaches a 19.3-inch maximum height in about 7.5 pumps, with both overload and bypass safety valves.
Pros: The fastest lift here by a wide margin — seven pumps to full height on a vehicle this heavy is remarkable. That extra 1.3 inches over the Arcan is real working room when you’re setting stands high for exhaust, skid plate or suspension work. Pro-grade fit and finish, and still only about 58 pounds thanks to aluminum construction.
Cons: Price. It typically lands north of $300, which is several times the Torin for capability most weekend mechanics won’t fully use. And if the jack lives permanently on your garage floor, you’re paying an aluminum premium for weight savings you’ll never benefit from.
Who should buy it: Owners who are under the truck most weekends and want speed and quality over value. Check the current price on Amazon.
Best All-in-One: Powerbuilt 620471 Unijack Bottle Jack + Stand
A 3-ton bottle jack with a built-in locking safety bar, so the same unit lifts the truck and then mechanically holds it. Its 11-to-21-inch range is tailor-made for a frame this tall.
Pros: The integrated ratcheting lock means the load sits on steel the moment you stop pumping, not on hydraulics — a real safety win, especially for someone new to this. Twenty-one inches of reach beats every trolley jack here. It’s compact enough to live in the cargo area as a trailhead or roadside backup, and it’s cheap enough to own alongside a proper floor jack.
Cons: Like all bottle jacks, the base is small, so it needs flat, solid concrete — reviewers consistently warn it gets tippy on asphalt or gravel, which is a real limitation for the overlanding crowd. And it lifts one point straight up, so you can’t raise an entire side of the truck the way a trolley jack can.
Who should buy it: Owners who want a safe, tall, inexpensive backup, or a single unit for roadside tire changes. Check the current price on Amazon.
Best for Lifted 4Runners and Trail Use: Hi-Lift XT-485 48″ X-TREME
If your 4Runner is lifted on 33s or bigger and you actually take it off pavement, a farm jack belongs in the build. The 48-inch X-TREME is the all-cast version, 7,000 lb tested, 28 pounds, with a top clamp that also winches, clamps and spreads up to 5,000 lb.
Pros: Forty-eight inches of lift solves problems no floor jack can touch — a wheel dropped into a rut, a tire change on a side slope, or pulling a body panel off a tire. The winch-clamp-spreader head turns it into a genuine recovery tool. All-cast construction is noticeably more rigid than the standard stamped models, and it mounts to a roof rack or tire carrier.
Cons: Hi-Lifts are dangerous if you’re careless — the handle will break a jaw if it kicks back, and the jack is unstable at height. You also need proper lift points: the factory pinch welds and plastic bumpers are not it, so budget for slider or bumper mounts. This is a supplement to a floor jack, never a replacement for garage work.
Who should buy it: Lifted and overlanding 4Runners with rock sliders or steel bumpers to jack from. Check the current price on Amazon.
Don’t Skip These: BIG RED T46002A 6-Ton Jack Stands (Pair)
The jack lifts the truck; stands hold it while you’re under it. I’m specifying 6-ton stands rather than the more common 3-ton pair because a 4Runner is body-on-frame and heavy — and because the taller stands actually reach the frame. These adjust from 15-3/8 to 23-13/16 inches with a ratchet bar plus a removable steel locking pin.
Pros: The pin-and-pawl double lock addresses the classic failure mode of cheap ratchet stands letting go under load. The tall range matches 4Runner frame height, where 3-ton stands topping out near 16 inches often won’t quite reach. Twelve thousand pounds per pair is enormous margin for a 5,000-pound truck.
Cons: Weld and casting quality varies between units — inspect yours before first use and reject anything with porous welds. They’re also heavy and bulky enough that they live in the garage, not the truck.
Who should buy it: Everyone who bought any jack above. Check the current price on Amazon.
Buying guide: choosing a 4Runner jack and finding the lift points
Capacity. 4Runners run roughly 4,400–4,900 lb across the 4th and 5th gens, and the 6th-gen i-FORCE MAX hybrids are heavier still — around 5,225 lb for a TRD Off-Road and 5,370 lb for a Limited, because the electric motor and battery add 300–400 lb. You’re only ever lifting one end, so a 3-ton jack is plenty. A 2-ton jack is not the safety problem people think it is; its 13–14 inch max height is.
Height, not profile. Covered above, but worth repeating: ignore minimum height, buy for maximum. Eighteen inches is the floor for a stock truck. If you’re lifted or on 33s, look at the Torin’s 20.9 inches or the Unijack’s 21.
Jack points — and a warning. On 5th gens, the notched pinch welds are for the factory scissor jack only. Put a trolley jack saddle or a jack stand there and you’ll crush them. Use the boxed frame rails or a crossmember instead, or lift from the differential — front or rear — with a stand then placed under the frame or axle on each side. On 6th gens, owners have found the front jack point printed in the manual sits surprisingly far back, near the middle of the truck; it’s engineered around the OEM bottle jack, and using a floor jack there lifts both front wheels and feels unstable. The practical answer from 6th-gen owners is the differential. If you have the Trailhunter steel skid plates, there’s an embossed circle marking exactly where the jack should contact; with the plastic or fiberboard skids, the point sits between the two plates.
Saddle and pump. A rubber or urethane saddle pad protects powder-coated frame rails and diff housings. Dual-piston quick-rise is worth paying for on a vehicle this heavy — it’s the difference between eight pumps and thirty.
For a broader look at jacks beyond this truck, see our guide to the best floor jacks and jack stands for SUVs.
FAQ
What size floor jack do I need for a Toyota 4Runner?
Three tons. A 4Runner weighs 4,400–5,400 lb depending on generation and whether it’s a hybrid, and you’re lifting about half of that at a time, so 6,000 lb of capacity is comfortable margin. Prioritize a jack that reaches at least 18 inches.
Can you jack up a 4Runner by the differential?
Yes — front or rear. It’s the standard method for a body-on-frame truck and it’s what most 4Runner owners do. Center the saddle on the diff housing so the pad isn’t digging into the cover, and put stands under the frame or axle on both sides before you go underneath.
Where are the jack points on a Toyota 4Runner?
The frame rails and crossmembers, plus the differentials. The pinch weld notches shown in the manual are intended for the factory scissor jack and will deform under a floor jack saddle unless you use a slotted puck or a notched block of wood.
Do I need a low-profile floor jack for a 4Runner?
No. With 8.8 to 10.1 inches of ground clearance, anything fits underneath. Low-profile jacks are for lowered cars, and buying one for a 4Runner usually means sacrificing the lift height you actually need.
Will a 2-ton floor jack lift a 4Runner?
It will lift the weight, but most 2-ton jacks max out around 13–14 inches, which often isn’t enough to clear the tire once the suspension droops. Treat 2-ton jacks as a car jack you happen to own, not the 4Runner’s jack.
Verdict
Get the Arcan 3-Ton Aluminum (A20019) if you want one jack that does everything well and you’ll be using it often. If you’re watching the budget, the BIG RED T83006 costs a fraction as much and actually lifts higher — you just pay for it in pump strokes. Either way, buy the 6-ton stands at the same time. No 4Runner has ever been worth crawling under on hydraulics alone.