I'd like to do as much of my own service on my 1999 E-350 Super-Duty van as I can, but I will need a "super duty" jack to accomplish this.

What do you folks use and how do you do it?

That is, the E-350 is already rather high off the ground and the biggest 4 ton jacks I've looked at, at Harbor Freight, only go up to around 20" max. Do you use wood blocks between the jack plate and the frame?

According to the door plate my van weighs 9200 lbs. Is it best to try and jack only one wheel at a time or is it necessary to lift the entire side in one shot?

Where do I place the jack and how much of a jack am I talking about?

Do you place jack stands front and rear on the frame or ??

Lots of questions but I want to get this right.

Thanks!

 

I use a block of 4x6, about 15 inches long laid on the jack plate, placed under the diff, or IBeams. Works great.

According to the door plate, your van CAN weigh as much as 9200lbs, fully loaded, it weighs much less when empty.

I usually do one front, or both rear wheels at a time, and jack stands go under the axle tubes or IBeams, unless you're working on the suspension, and need to let it droop.

Don't forget to chock the opposing wheels so the van doesn't roll when on the jack.

 

Thought that was a tad high. Thanks for the clarification.

BTW: What is the capacity of your jack and is it the standard length (around 25" wheels to wheels) or a much longer one?

Are you lifting in the middle of the side to do the front or closer to the front corner?

 

My floor jack is a standard Lincoln heavy duty 3 ton, about 24 inches wheel to wheel.

Up front, I usually place the block and jack head under the bolt where the radius arm and IBeam meet.

My jack can get both front tires off the ground at the same time with the block on it's 4 inch side placed under the center of the IBeams/Crossmember, but I only do that to work on the steering parts.

 

So, just to clarify here re: the front lifting...

Are you raising the rear wheel of that same side off the ground at all or just that one front wheel?

 

No, just the rears, or front tires. If I'm rotating the tires and need to get a single SIDE lifted, I'll raise the rears, put the jack stands under, then raise one front at a time. That takes 3 wheel on the ground at a time, so the rotation job goes pretty fast.

 

OK. I've got it now.

Thanks!

 

Although using a jack "placed under the diff" still seems to be a common way to lift "both rear wheels at a time" some warn against it.

Among those who consistantly warn against the practice is FORD. To quote FORD Service Manual under Jacking:

"CAUTION: Do not use the differential housing as a lift point."

Differential housing is not designed to carry the weight, especially if there is a load onboard. Apparently ignoring this CAUTION results in many differential leaks. FORD says position floor jack under axle at spring hangers.

Also, on Econoline the "diff" is not in center.

 

What can I say.. I spent 15 years as a ASE Master mechanic, my primary lift at the shop was an old school dual post, that was designed to lift the rear via the diff. Never damaged one yet, though I've probably caused a few leaks. Not that I'd know, I take the cover off every 30k miles to change the fluid, so my leaks are pretty short lived..

What's worse, on the road I'll use a bottle jack under the diff, that really concentrates the pressure on a small point on the diff housing. Still haven't managed to damage one.

Ever hear the old saying, "Do as I say, not as I do"? I violate the rules most of the time, without serious consequence...

Yes, the rear diff on the van isn't in the center, but it's close enough to get the tires off the ground.

Professionally, I could only recommend what the manual says. Personally, I'll keep lifting using the diff.

FWIW, my tire shop does the same thing...

Look closely, the rear jack is lifting on the diff..

 

Scooter what kind of under body service do you anticipate? I use a set of heavy duty ramps that raise my E250 a good 14" giving me almost enough height to sit up in some places. Paid less than $80 for the pair and they easily support my 7800# daily driver.

Harbor Freight jacks would scare me to death because they're of such low quality; a blown cylinder seal and you're in a dangerous situation with little or no warning. Hopefully needless to say NEVER crawl underneath any vehicle supported only by a jack---stands are imperative! Unless removing a wheel I never ever use a jack even though I have a nice USA made model. Stands are immediately in place and pressure relieved from the jack---a good one used this way lasts a long long time without too much fear of a blown seal.

If I ever have a flat I on-board I have an older scissor jack that's been used maybe 10 times over its life, regularly maintained just in case. Its truly a heavy duty type, salvaged from an early GM conversion van some years ago. The smaller bottle style jacks Ford supplies with its vehicles are suitable for flat tires but not much more.

Edited by Crazy001

Have to add DK even as a new user its easy to see you have a lot to contribute from the practical side of repairs and a welcome addition here so far----thanks for joining!

 

I can slide underneath now without any jacking but to do the wheels (brakes at the moment) I will need to get them off the ground an inch or so.

Harbor Freight... yes I know Chinese crap... but so far most everything I have bought from them has worked out fine. You take it home, try it out and get a replacement if you need to.

I plan to get their largest 4 ton jack which, even for this super duty van, should be overkill but will add to the safety factor here. Yes, I will get jack stands and get them underneath immediately.

Honestly, those ramps are what scare me. Remember seeing a guy taking a pair that had literally folded up into a Sears store one day. Never forgot the look on his face. Would not want to have been the store manager.

 

for roadside use, carry a hydraulic bottle jack. they're affordable, heavy-duty, and much easier to use than a scissor jack, without breaking your back trying to unload it like most floor jacks.
my primary jack is an aluminum harbor-freight floor jack, and i run a mobile auto repair service, so i'm loading and unloading it multiple times a day. its been good to me. for minor things like brake jobs, i leave the car on it and its fine.
when i need to really get under the car, i bought the biggest jackstands i could find at harbor freight, rated at 12 tons, with a footprint just a touch bigger than 12" square. i've seen too many small stands fall over to trust anything with a 6" footprint.
for the ramps, i own a couple of sets, and have used them quite a bit. scared the hell out of me one day, i had a car with the front end up on those ramps, lifted the rear end with a jack under the diff, and put it on a second set of those ramps, set it down, took one step away, and the car slid off the ramps, leaving me pinned against my van. the jack handle took most of the impact, leaving me with nothing more than internal bruising on my knee. i got free and found that the car had not rolled, but slid down the ramps. the parking brake was set, manual transmission in first, and clear skid marks on the tires and ramps. so i'm hesitant to trust them now.

 

Okay, just cleaned this one up some. Relevant discussion is great, but off-topic debates aren't.

Secondly, I've used ramps for years, and as long as they are rated for the proper weight of your van you will have no troubles. I used to have a pair of metal ramps that were only rated at 4,000 lbs capacity IIRC. Knowing that my new F350 was over 5,000 lbs I went to Wal-Mart and purchased ramps that were rated for 6,000 lbs. All the times I had that heavy truck on the ramps I never had any trouble.

What do you think would happen if you supported your van with a jack stand rated at 1,000 lbs? It's all about the ratings of the equipment, if the ramps are rated for the weight you will have no troubles.

 

Scooterspal, i bought a 6k suv/truck jack from Sears a few years ago for about $75. If you go on their website, they sell tons more jacks than just the few on the main page, and this one has a long enough arm to lift REALLY high. Sorry i'm not close to it or i'd give you the specs and product number. Anyway, Sears stuff isn't nearly as well made as it used to be, but i bought this jack about 5 yrs ago and it's holding up really well.
I have lifted the entire front or rear at a time with it several times with no problem, just always use jack stands before you get far underneath anything.
Hollar back if you want to know exactly what mine is.

 

For tire rotation, I lift my 2003 E-350 the way Krause does. Lift up on pumpkin then place stands next to shock mounts, then jack up 1 front at a time. I don't use stands for the front when changing tires because I never put any part of my body under the truck.

If I have to use stands on 1 wheel I like to put the jack about 0.5 way along the TTB then put the stand outboard of it.

To do underbody I lift up the whole front at once, putting the jack between the TTB bushings.

I use a 3-ton Harbor Freight jack. It's a PITA but my boss is too cheap to buy something better.

Do you guys keep pipes in the van for changing tires, or do you find the factory lug wrench is adequate?