Question on installing a lift

[franco802]

One question I did have before installing my lift was, what the heck are you guys using to jack up the body when installing a lift?? I don't think my floor jack will go up so high. I am going to install a 4" suspension lift, but will my 3 ton floor jack be high enough to keep the body jacked up?? Now I am wondering if my jack stands are tall enough

 

[AZ79K5Project]

Lift the truck under the axles. That should get you high enough to place jack stands under the body. Thendrop the jack. Standard car height jackstands probably won't be high enough. I bought 24" jackstands to do an axle swap with a four inch lift. I only bought two and did one end at a time. The car height stands worked great to support the axles while I bolting things up.

 

[88$PIT]

One question I did have before installing my lift was, what the heck are you guys using to jack up the body when installing a lift?? I don't think my floor jack will go up so high. I am going to install a 4" suspension lift, but will my 3 ton floor jack be high enough to keep the body jacked up?? Now I am wondering if my jack stands are tall enough

That's funny, I was just thinking the same thing. I just got my 4" lift and noticed that my frame is 17" off the floor and my jack goes to 22" for a net lift of only 5"! The front tire still isn't off the ground! I figured that I would lift the axle right under the diff. This way I'll get a net lift of approx 12".(22" lift height minus 9" ground clearance or therabouts.) Then I'll put some 5 or 6" blocks under my jackstands (since they only go to about 17") to support the frame. I think it will do the job.

 

[Janitorjim8]

Blocks under jackstands doesn't sound very safe... It's your life your risking here if they were to slide out.

 

[chevy wrangler]

i used a hoist

 

[stan1688]

I used two high lift jacks with jackstands under the frame and did one side at a time.

 

[SnackPack]

Woot! I just got done with my 10b/14bFF swap. I already had the
4" blocks and 35" tires. I went with the same setup, but want to go to a shackle flip soon.

I got myself some 6 ton jack stands, but I hate putting that much weight on the top rungs of it, so I got 2 cinderblocks for each jackstand (1 for each pair of legs, not stacked). I put them under the frame right in front of the rear springs, and it was very sturdy. I was then left with a little 2-ton floor jack to muscle the 14bolt around. That sucked.

The whole job is almost finished (need to connect that damn e-brake), but it is driveable. I love that axle!

Time to update my profile....

 

[88$PIT]

Blocks under jackstands doesn't sound very safe... It's your life your risking here if they were to slide out.

I hear what you're saying. I am getting some 12"x12"x6" wood blocks for stability.

 

[UseYourBlinker]

I scored a set of these baby's for $25 from a guy I used to work with..

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=34924


For keeping the K5 up,and safe. No wood block's...well depends if want to gamble on your life.

As for the jack. I also have a 3 ton and go under the axle to get the most lift.

 

[RIPPEDK5]

Well Ill tell ya what I did... Since I have 18" of lift holding my K20 up.. I had to get high and do it safely... Well I bought ALOT of 6x6 timbers (but them to 18" lengths) (about $100 worth) and stacked them in an opposing fashion, alternating direction going higher and high and then using 2 6-ton bottle jacks on each frame rail (having the the same set up "minus the bottle jacks) in center of the truck for safety.....It worked great actually--even though expensive (pressure treated wood) i have blocking for later use and it was well worth the money..

 

[sandawgk5]

Take the tires off and then jack up the truck as high as your jackstands go. Place jackstands under the frame and lower the axle all the way down. I do this with my 24" jackstands and with 56s and 4" shackle flip I get enough to let my 14FF hang from the springs with 4" to spare.

Ira

 

[Avery4jc]

We as well were just talking about this the other day...

Well besides what you all have said if you have access to one of these like I do then it makes life easy...just lift it up by the frame from above...

(this is a smaller 1 ton setup but you get the idea...)

-Avery

 

[scrappyk5]

when i installed my 4" lift , i raised the blazer at the axles then put jack stands under the frame. it put it up high enough for me to change out the springs in the front. whe it came to the back ones, i took the tires off and
it lowered the axle enough to do the back springs.

in the pics below, you can see what i used when i did my axle swap with the lift already installed. i used cinderblocks, bricks, and wood blocks. but
i also slid my old tires under it just incase .

 

[chevy wrangler]

that looks scary

 

[franco802]

when i installed my 4" lift , i raised the blazer at the axles then put jack stands under the frame. it put it up high enough for me to change out the springs in the front. whe it came to the back ones, i took the tires off and
it lowered the axle enough to do the back springs.

in the pics below, you can see what i used when i did my axle swap with the lift already installed. i used cinderblocks, bricks, and wood blocks. but
i also slid my old tires under it just incase .

You must have balls of steel


BTW, I love that tire carrier, where did you get it? Did you fabricate it??

 

[scrappyk5]

You must have balls of steel


BTW, I love that tire carrier, where did you get it? Did you fabricate it??

lol, no balls, just stupididty . anyways , that is why i put the tires and wheel under it just incase it did fall.
the tire carrier i made myself. not the greatest but it serves its purpose.

 

[Yukon Jack]

Cinder blocks can shatter with the weight of a truck. You might get away with using them but you should look for different options.

An easy option is to go buy some 1" x 12" planks or some plywood. Cut them to a bit larger than the footprint of your jack stands and stack the cut planks to get your jackstands higher. These will be plenty stable.