Well, that does illustrate one point. The higher the weight rating on the jackstands, the wider the base of the jackstands.

Stewart

 

Stewart, I carry a floor jack in the back of my X everywhere I go. So THERE! :P


..and two 4 ton jack stands.

To the OP, I think your question has been more than properly answered.

 

I picked up 6 ton jack stands when i bought my Ex. The 2 ton just looked too small for the job to me. Jack stands are cheap I think I'd rather spend the $50/pair and not be accidentally crushed. But I'm old fat and slow, maybe you young guys with cat like reflexes will be OK

 

wait removing a tire...or 2 at once? lol

i like to use my 6 ton stands.

 

Holy smoke, folks. Let me throw this in the mix.

I've had bottle jacks fail catastrophically and use me as the punching bag. Don't trust them. It hurts a LOT. They are not truly stable enough for working under a vehicle. Changing a tire, maybe, but not under a round axle. Only on a smooth horizontal surface like the frame.

Floor jacks: I will NEVER get under a vehicle with only a floor jack. Changing a tire, sure. I've had two floor jacks that the seals went south. The jack settled to the floor along with the vehicle. It was not a fall in either case, but still too dang dangerous for me.

Cheap stamped pin jack stands are a absolute no no in my world. I found out the hard way and have the multiple broken ribs to prove it. Not being able to breathe while being crushed will make a true believer out of you if you survive a jack failure.

Heck, I even had a tooth on a Lincoln jack stand fail years ago. Luckily it was the kind with a safety pin backup.



Anyway, from a lot of hard knocks, this is what I learned.

1. You cannot have too much support.

2. The taller you go, the jack or stand needs a larger support base. Just because a 3 ton stand will reach does not mean it is the right size for the job. Height AND weight must be considered.

3. Have a secondary passive system in place that will create a safe(er) zone around you if the vehicle supports fail. That could be the tires with rims placed under the frame rails on each side, cribbing built up at the same places, or even 8X8 wood beams placed horzontally under the frame will save your life.

4. Always ensure that the jacks are still firmly seated on the floor after the weight is placed on them. Amazing how much they can be knocked off kitler.

5. Use chocks on the tires still on the floor. You need 4 for the front AND the back of the tire. Hammer them in place well.

6. Shove the vehicle around after setting the vehicle. If it is going to fail, try to make it fail without you under it first.

7. I like to wait at least 15 minutes after placing any type of jack stand. That jack stand that lost a tooth did so about 10 minutes after the weight had been placed on it.

 

So I was searching for something and came across this thread and figured I'd ask here (not to steal the thread or anything).
First I'll chime in on this one. I've done a lot of mechanics in mt garage/shop (ex mechanic) on everything from lowered sports cars to 1-ton trucks. I ALWAYS use jack stands when working on or under a car. The way I figure it is it take a few buck and a few seconds to put the car/truck on jack stands so why not do it??? Even if I'm just pulling off one wheel I still take the extra seconds to put a jack stand under there. Here's why... My first floor jack worked great for several year until one day I lifted a SUV for a brake job and while I was going to the corner on my garage to grab the jack stands some gave in the jack and the SUV slammed quickly to the ground. So even if I was only changing a wheel I still could have been hurt. So NEVER NEVER NEVER trust a jack (it relies on a small oil seal to hold all that weight). Jack stands are firm and once locked are almost impossible to drop a vehicle (unless used wrong). Also, I don't trust bottle jacks on trucks any more than I can throw them. Had to lift my f350 on the road once and used the supplied bottle jack and it ended up falling over with the weight (why the small base Ford??)

SO now to my question.. I've been using a 3-ton floor jack with 6-ton stands which have never had an issue lifting anything. Only prob is that I put bigger tires on my f350 which raised the height a bit and now the max height on my floor jack seem low. After searching local stores I found that most 3+ton jacks have a max lift range of about 20". Does anyone know of place that sells high-lift floor jacks for a reasonable price. My stands go up to 30" but can't raise the truck that much cause my jack won't reach. Or do they sell any kind of adapter block to get extra height?? I've used 4x4 wood before but doesn't do as well as the jack's steel plate. Thanks