Vehicle Weight Database - Car Lift Sizing Guide

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Select your vehicle's make and model — we'll tell you the curb weight, what years we have data for, and which BBAE lifts will safely service it.

Critical: Per-Arm Capacity & Weight Distribution (2-Post Lifts)

A 2-post lift's total capacity rating is split across its four arms — each arm is rated for one quarter of the total. A 10,000 lb lift = 2,500 lb max per arm. This matters because most vehicles are not evenly balanced front-to-rear, so an arm can be overloaded even when the vehicle's total weight is well under the lift's rated capacity.

Per-arm capacity at a glance

Why this matters: front-heavy & back-heavy vehicles

Most vehicles are not perfectly balanced 50/50 front-to-rear. Front-engine pickups carry 55–65% of their weight on the front axle. Diesel duallies are extreme — the diesel engine alone can add 400–600 lbs over the gas equivalent, pushing distribution toward 60/40 or even 65/35 front-heavy.

Typical front-axle weight share:

• Sedans (front-engine FWD): 60–62% front
• Sedans (front-engine RWD): 52–55% front
• Mid-engine sports cars: 45–50% front
• SUVs (most): 52–58% front
• ½-ton pickups (empty): 55–60% front
• ¾-ton & 1-ton diesel pickups (empty): 60–65% front
• Cargo vans: 55/45 empty — can flip rear-heavy when loaded

Worked example: when the math kills your headroom

Rule of thumb

• For balanced vehicles (most cars, SUVs): total capacity × 1.25 of vehicle weight is fine.
• For front-heavy or back-heavy vehicles (pickups, duallies, work vans with bed cargo): size up one tier. A truck near a 10k total still might overload a 10k lift's front arms; go to 12k.
• When in doubt: check the vehicle's OEM front/rear axle weight rating (printed on the door-jamb sticker) and divide each by 2 to compare against per-arm capacity. If either exceeds, go up a tier.
• This consideration doesn't apply to 4-post lifts — the vehicle's wheels distribute load across the entire runway length, so total capacity is the only rating that matters.

Complete Vehicle Weight Database

Browse all 700 vehicles below, or use the finder above for a guided lookup. Use your browser's find (Ctrl+F / Cmd+F) to jump to your make or model.

Don't see your vehicle? Call 1 (800) 647-7883 — we cover newer vehicles and commercial trucks not in the table.

Minimum capacity = curb weight × 1.25 (cars) or × 1.5 (trucks/SUVs/vans), industry safety standard. Each link opens our car-lift catalog at the minimum capacity plus the next two tiers above. Data: CarAPI, 2015–2020 model years.