Hi, Short term Supporter member here & need info. I have a very nice floor jack & 4 heavy duty adjustable jackstands. I would like to know, or where to find the info on if I can jack up the front or rear of my truck with one floorjack without screwing anything up? I know that you put the jackstands close to the wheels. I try very hard to take care of my F250 & getting it up off the ground would help sometimes. Thank you.

 

The owner's guide recommends jacking from the axles as close to the wheels as possible.

If your F250 is a 2005 or newer, place jack stands under the notches in the radius arms. These are the HUGE beams holding the axle to the frame.

Don't EVER jack from the differential!

 

No it's an '04 & it sounds like I need to use 2 floor jacks to lift it up in the front or rear to be able to insert the jackstands. Thanks

 

I haven't had to do it yet, but I'd try doing the front first, then one side of the rear at a time. Mine is a 2WD and I put the jack under the heavy frame just in front of where the axles attach in the middle, lifting the entire front at once. Somebody tell me if that's not OK. Maybe do it in stages (jackstands on low setting to begin, then up a bit in increments). I believe you'd be OK if you go real slow and watch real carefully. Don't put yourself in harms way.

Anybody else can school us?

 

Every truck and RWD vehicle I've ever owned, I've jacked from the pumpkin. You're looking at roughly .75" of steel. I guess I'd like to know why you say not to do this, since it is a very convenient place to lift the whole rear and has not damaged anything to date.

For the front, Generally I use the axle shaft for one side, and the pumpkin for the other. Again, has never hurt anything on any SFA vehicles I have owned. Obviously for IFS vehicles there isn't much choice but to use the frame.

 

Because every Ford truck I've ever owned has this in it's owner's guide:



I have heard it can stress the pumpkin and cause leaks.

 

I've used the rear pumpkin many times, and the front once.... Bent the diff cover and had to replace when it started leaking...... On 99-03's , I put the jack under the very lowest spot on the knuckle next to the lower ball joints, then set my stands unde the axle tubes.

 

Ditto.

The theory is that the load on the ends of the axles v.s. the up wards force on the differential can cause the third member to bend causing the axles to run mis-aligned in the differential.
I think it would be more likely in a lighter duty vehicle, a bit of CYA by the manufacturers.

Also the (worthless) jack supplied with our trucks doesn't have enough surface area and stability to safely jack up on the diff not to mention it is a very weak part.

 

Don't jack directly under the front lower ball joint, if it has a grease fitting (replacement/non-OEM joint). My lower ball joint grease fitting was snapped off flush due to this poor practice. I removed the stub with a chisel and installed a new fitting. It's a great place to jack if you don't have a grease fitting in the way!

 

The sharp edges of the broken zerk fitting keep the jack from slipping around..............

 

i use 2 jacks on the axle tubes.

 

Why would you need two floor jacks? You don't. Jack up one side, put a stand under that side, move jack to other side, and repeat. Move to front, lather, rinse, repeat.

I have lifted on diffs, but would not do that on a Superduty. Too much weight.