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Need to lift my floor jack

AJMBLAZER

AJMBLAZER

Better to be lucky than good.
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I've had a Craftsman 3 ton floor jack for about 20 years now. Works well enough for my uses but I've ran into an issue lately. I recently put a 2" taller suspension on my '19 Silverado and the front has enough down travel that when I lift the truck up with said jack I can't quite get enough height to get the front tires off.

Not a fan of putting a wood block under it or anything similar as the factory anti-rust coating on the frame is kind of greasy and a poorly placed jack will slide off it. Ask me how I know.

Anybody ran into this? Not against getting a new jack as this one is old but it works safely so wouldn't mind not spending $200+ on a new jack.
 
Kert and I made a jack saddle that would fit in the center hole on the jack. We made it wide enough to straddle the D70 and 14BFF center section, but it was mainly to use on a front solid axle with the offset diff housing. It wouldn't need to be this versatile for a single use application, but the pic shows the general idea.
Remove the circular jack cup, and fab up a saddle to fit the IFS.

1656456386230.png
 
tRustyK5 said:
Jack under the control arm...
Click to expand...
I can do that but I do a four tire cross rotation so I need to get the whole truck up in the air at the same time. Guess I could get it up in the air, jack stand it at all 4 corners, and then jack up a control arm for the fronts.
Fastereddie said:
Solid axle swap.
Click to expand...
Actually very pleased with the coil over IFS in this. Decent wheel travel, durable, rides and handles great, etc.
76zimmer said:
Kert and I made a jack saddle that would fit in the center hole on the jack. We made it wide enough to straddle the D70 and 14BFF center section, but it was mainly to use on a front solid axle with the offset diff housing. It wouldn't need to be this versatile for a single use application, but the pic shows the general idea.
Remove the circular jack cup, and fab up a saddle to fit the IFS.

View attachment 417192
Click to expand...
Yeah...no fabbing here at this time. By the time I paid someone to build it I could buy a taller jack unfortunately.
 
I have the pro eagle 3 t Jack and it'sworth every penny
 
AJMBLAZER said:
Woooo...those are expensive!
Click to expand...
Very but after having it for a year i think its worth it. I have 5 cars and trucks from lowered to lifted and it works with all of them. The big wheels make it easy to use on dirt and gravel
 
Yeah, I bet it is. Still, for that I could buy two taller jacks that will work just fine on my concrete driveway and garage floor.

I guess it would give me an excuse to get a rapid lift jack. I bought mine right before the rapid rising jacks became popular and common.
 
Doing a cross rotation like that I use the spare as part of the process. Jack up one corner, remove tire, install spare with two or three lug nuts. Head to opposite corner of the truck...remove tire, mount other tire in location...carry on around the truck finishing where you started by removing the spare and replacing it with the last tire. Also give you an excuse to inspect the spare and lube the spare hoist mechanism/cable etc while you're at it.
 
Rub it in.


Wouldn’t mind one in the garage I have yet to convince the wife to ket me have built.
 
Instead of just a wood block, use some scrap wood to make a block with a "saddle" on top for the jack to sit in so it can't move. Or bolt the jack to the block. I have to do this on vehicles outside the shop or my jack will sink into the ground just far enough to not lift them. A larger footprint works to lift/prevent sinking, and slides better than the jack wheels on uneven surfaces. ( "lifts 3 tons, can"t roll over a zip tie")
 
Actually did that once a long time ago when I had Big Ugly on 38’s. I finally got rid of them a decade or so ago.

Going to pick up a new jack soon. Found a good deal. 6” more lifting height.
 
AJMBLAZER said:
I've had a Craftsman 3 ton floor jack for about 20 years now. Works well enough for my uses but I've ran into an issue lately. I recently put a 2" taller suspension on my '19 Silverado and the front has enough down travel that when I lift the truck up with said jack I can't quite get enough height to get the front tires off.

Not a fan of putting a wood block under it or anything similar as the factory anti-rust coating on the frame is kind of greasy and a poorly placed jack will slide off it. Ask me how I know.

Anybody ran into this? Not against getting a new jack as this one is old but it works safely so wouldn't mind not spending $200+ on a new jack.
Click to expand...
I am in construction so I have a lot of scrap wood beams 10-12" wide, 4' long, ranging from 2" thick to 6".
I just put the thickness I need for different vehicles.
It also helps when I am working on the gravel at the yard.
 
Since my crew cab square body truck has a 10" lift I needed a floor jack with an extension. I built one myself for my 3-Ton jack.

full
 
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