I was wondering if someone could tell me where they let the saddle of their floor jacks contact their trucks for raising the front or rear end. I have a 1999 F150 SC short bed 4x4. For the rear, I have heard that you are not to use the differential to get the rear end in the air. Is this true? As for the front, can you use a crossmember or the front differential? I don't want to keep doing one side then the other, even though I have a floor jack. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and hope to hear from you soon.

 

Use the FRAME, even if you have to do one side then the other. Also, never rely on the jack, use jack stands (never cinder blocks).
Jacking up the differential could warp the cover and cause leaks. Does it happen often, probably not, but why find out?

 

frame is the safest place to be.

 

I have the same truck you do. For the front, I use the front cross member under the engine with a 4x4 between the saddle of the jack and frame. For the rear, I jack just to the inboard side the shock mount on the axle, under the axle (again using a piece 4x4); so I can place jackstands under the axle in line with the leaf spring. For safety's sake; please always use jackstands to support your truck and never rely on the jack only.

 

Got a reciever hitch on the back?

 

Thanks everyone. I appreciate your help. And I should have mentioned, I did get some jackstands to keep everything in the air once I jack it off the ground. Thanks again.

 

At work we jack up vehicles from the rear diff, mind you we are carefull and use floor jacks that have kind of a saucer at the top.

 

The book that came with my 98 also says not to use the pumpkin. The receiver hitch is a thought tho. Hmm.

 

On a related note to this post, where do folks place the jack stands after the truck is in the air? Is it okay to place these at each wheel?

If that is the answer, then I have a question about jacking up one side then the other. If I am using the frame, as suggested above, it looks like I need to go one side then the other whether front or rear (I do not have a receiver hitch). Once I jack one side and place the jack stand, it seems a little risky to me to jack the other side because there is a bit of a pivot on that recently placed stand on the other side.

Am I doing something fundamentally wrong here? I have only done this once, but I need to rotate the tires on my wife's minivan tomorrow, so I sure would like to learn if I am making some bonehead mistake.