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Jacks - garage and in-vehicle

AJMBLAZER

AJMBLAZER

Better to be lucky than good.
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So what do you guys with the truely big trucks use to jack your trucks up? I was doing some shock measuring today and...surprise surprise:rolleyes:...my trusty Craftsman 3 ton jack has about met it's match in a stock '86 K30 on 36's with no lift. I can't get the tires off the ground unless I put the jack under the axles or put this 1' tall wooden base thing I made for my lifted Ranger under the jack (don't worry it's plenty strong...weighs a ton) and then I can BARELY get them off the ground.:tongue1:

I also am sans in-vehicle jack so what do you guys use for your in-vehicle jack? Got a road trip coming so I figure I should have a better alternative than to just throw the Craftsman and my base thingy in the bed. They'd work but neither is light.

I have no HiLift and frankly don't trust the wobbly things other than for temporary trail use.
 
lol a hoist.. haha jk well i mean if you got the massive garage and the money giv'r but personally i just use a big a$$ 3 ton with 24" lift and i know you dont like the highlift but seriously if you got couple buds around it makes it a HELL of alot easier to get it skyward with that then anything and just block your jackstands
 
Floor jack under the diff tubes for taking tires off. A small bottle jack in case of a flat...

Even a 60" hi-lift won't get a tire off the ground with my K5, unless I open the door and jack it up at the rock slider.

Rene
 
my garage jack and in-vehicle are the same thing. Ive got two of the factory style jacks.:D Usually have to put a 4x4 under it to lift it high enough though.

I got lucky a few years back, before I really knew what I was doing and didnt know it wasnt safe, but I used my factory jack with a stack of blocks underneath it and no jack stands for safety to lift my truck high enough to put my lift on.:o I payed no attention to the fact that I could rock my truck back and forth with one hand.:eek1: I look back now and realize how stupid and lucky I was though so I bought a good set of jack stands so I wont risk killing myself next time.:wink1:

soon Ill have one of those fancy race floor jacks and a hi-lift so life will be a little easier.
 
I'm just wondering about when suspension work comes around and I need to get it high enough to take the tires off and dink with the axles/leaves and don't want the tubes sitting on stands.

When I put the lift on my Ranger I quickly realized that having 10 or so inches of droop in the front and rear could be a big issue with trying to get the tires off...:crazy:

1 ton springs don't flex much but it's just a damn big truck with damn big tires.:D
 
When you do your suspension work just put the jack under the diff housing and jack the sh1t out of it. Then put blocks/jack stands under the frame and do the same with the front. The front will be a little more tricky since the diff is a off center. Heavy timber ie. 4x12 and 6x12's make great jack stands when they are stacked like pancakes.
 
What about strapping the axle to the frame so when you start jacking the suspension it negated and the axle has to raise as the frame is raised? This would work with the Hi Lift.
 
When I did my latest lift I did it by jacking up under the tubes to get plenty of height under the diffs. Then my 12 ton jackstands. Then removed tires, dropped diff on ground, installed springs, lifted diff up to springs and bolted it up...then lift diff high enough to free up the stands and re-installed the tires. This was with 6" Alcan's (stupid flexy...and 12"+ of free arch)

My floor jack lifts 27" though...and my jackstands are also pretty tall.

Rene
 
odoa3,

I've always though about welding a tab to the axle tube and one above it on the frame and making up some short chains to limit flex when using a high lift.

Even with 12" springs, I have to lift it a bunch to raise a tire when stuck to jam wood and stuff under it.

Anybody ever tried this?

-Mark
 
I just use an ATV ratchet strap that you can get from wal-mart - 4 for 20.00. Wrap it around the axle & hook it on itself & hook the other end to the top flange of the frame. Tighten down the strap until you can't anymore & then start jacking with the hi-lift.

The BIGGEST problem with the hi-lift IMHO is that it can be very unstable, so ALWAYS use caution & try to get as wide a base as possible to stand the jack on. These are great, but you can make a nice HEAVY base out of 2x4's on the cheap. You could even try to screw the base of the jack into the 2x4's with some lag bolts, just as a little extra insurance. Bottom line, use the hi-lift with caution!!

Later,
Buddy
 
I bought the 7-ton jack stands from Harbor Freight for situations when I can't lift from the axles. They are massive.
 
For the road, use a hi-lift with a wheel adapter to lift the truck and then carry a jack stand with you to set it on to remove the wheel. You can get a 48" farm jack from Tractor Supply for like $30.

Safe and simple.

For the garage, I have a Murray's 2 1/2-ton jack that lifts plenty high as long as I put it under the diff and not the tube.

Alternately, you could use the same wheel-lift-and-jack-stand method, it would just take longer.
 
HF Long reach floor jack and tall jack stands. Off road, I use the sliders and a highlift along with a bottle jack under the axle.
 
I've got a hydro air bumper jack that lifts about 4' but the tires still sit on the floor. I have to chain or strap up the suspension to get them in the air. My floor jacks won't jack high enough either.
 
i have a 12" x 12" construction tie that i put 2, 6 ton jack stands on top of when holding the truck in the air, Enough room to install a lift and to roll the axle under the truck with stock roller tires on it. My regular jack works under the axle no problem. I have to use a tree saver to strap my axle to the frame when doing trail repairs where a hi lift is involved. I only use my hilift for emergencies. The construction tie is super beefy and i use it when my tires are stuck in a rut and need something to help out, it weights 80lbs so i rarely use it but definately a life saver when installing lifts.
 
You guys with tall jackstands, where'd you get them and what did they set you back? My Craftsman 3 and 3.5 ton stands are similarly handicapped with Big Ugly. I had to build 2x4 stands for them as well.
 
Back home we have a 3 1/2 and a 5 ton i think floor jack, then some 10 ton jack stands also.

We have an humongo bottle jack too. Of course we are farmers so its sorta cheating...but that bottle jack has lifted the combine up so. I know it would work.

When we did my rear lift we cheaped though. We just used Kerts forklift:D
 
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