jack advice

[baxtej44]

School me on jacks



where to jack
what kind of jack to buy


basically anything you got to shoot at me, go ahead!

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

first rule of jacks is to use jack stands.

 

[scotts90ranger]

where to jack a ranger/bii/explorer:

-front: I jack under the bottom radius arm bolt, it stays in the jack cradle, if you are going to go under the truck, stick a jack stand under the shock or frame if you have tall enough stands. If using the stock jack, do like the manual says and jack under the shock.
-rear: If you have to lift bolt sides, you can jack from the pumpkin then set jack stands under each leaf spring or near the leaf springs. If you are jacking one side at a time, jack under the leaf springs or on an explorer next to the leaf springs.

get the biggest floor jack you can afford and is reasonable, I'm fond of the 3.5 ton orange Harbor Freight jacks that can lift to 20", they go on sale somewhat often for $50 and work great for DIY stuff, probably wouldn't use it if I was making a living with it but I just use it for myself... I also have a set of their 6 ton jack stands, they're tall enough for 4x4 work without further spacing.

 

[kcm1582]

Ill assume you are talking about jacking up your truck.

There are a wide variety of jacks on the market. my favorite are "service jacks". They are the big heavy jacks but they hold up and last a long time. Lift height is an important factor in choosing one for a truck. My fathers jacks were to short to lift the front end of my truck off the ground and it was a real pain till I got my good jack. For capacity look for something in the 2-3 ton range, that should be more than enough for most work.

Jacking a truck is pretty simple. Anywhere on the frame is a good place. Other places include under the lower control arms, on the rear diff or on the axle tube near the springs. never use the shock mounts to jack I've seen them bend before and its a pain to fix.

 

[wahlstrom1]

We have that particular jack at the shop here (princess auto in canada, HF in the US) and it's held up in a HD truck shop for over a year.

I have the lighter 2.5 ton at home, and aluminum quicklift 1.5 tonner that works great on stock stuff.

 

[ranger_mclaren]

I have a standard 2 1/2 ton jack that I use on everything works great you can buy'em at wal-mart. I always jack under the axle on the rear and under the front steering nuckle bolt on the frontof trucks, on cars I go under the suspension. If your truck is lifted theres no way the jack will reach the frame let along lift the truck that why I go under the axle. on my old ranger I had 32" tires and it'll lift'em about 4 to 5 iches off the ground. Giving me plonty or room to sit up under my truck. And yes always use jack stand I always have two one for each side.

 

[shane96ranger]

I got this coupon from Harbor Freight today if you are interested. I have the yellow one on the left. It's a low profile (3 ton) so I can use it on my Mustang, but it also works great on my truck. I would buy another one any day. They are usually 100 dollars, so 50 is a steal. It expires on January 16th though.

 

[kcm1582]

We had 2 of those orange jacks in the shop. They were pretty good but the wheels didn't hold up. The casters actually buckled on one and we had to drag it around on the chassis.

 

[CHKNFKR]

if you are willing to spend a little more coin napa carries 3 tons just like the ones above for about $120. the difference is when unloaded they go full stroke in 2 pumps of the handle and have a safety that prevents them from unloading. still, you should always use jack stands.

 

[MountainMike]

I have a Torin: Big Rad Jack's 2.5 truck jack. It has a nice sized cradle and a small extension tube that I hate using but goes deep into the lifting arm so I don't see it ever failing. Wheel are strong and roll well. I always lift the front of my truck underneath the lower radius arm bolt but the sticker under the hood says to use the lower shock mount. That doesn't seen right to me but that's Ford deal. I usually never jack using the pumpkin. I put the jack as far out the axle tube as I can and still allow me to swap it out for a jackstand. Use as many jack stands as you can and always check the capacity. I bought a couple 6 tons for when I was working on my truck, overkill sure but as they say "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure".

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I carry a 6-ton hydro bottle jack in my truck at all times. The stock factory jack is still on the truck, but if I have to change a tire by the roadside I'd much rather use a decent jack. The one thing with bottle jacks is that they can tip on uneven surfaces, but that isn't really a big problem for me since I typically have an assortment of wood blocks in the truck and a shovel. I can level an area for the jack and block the other tires.

At home, I still use the bottle jack. I'm looking into getting a 20 ton air over hydro. Someday I'll get a regular floor service jack, but I'm waiting until the day when I can work on a concrete slab instead of a limestone driveway. When using a bottle jack around here in the fall, winter (when the ground isn't frozen) and spring, you have to put a block of 2x10 under it to keep it from dissappearing into the ground. Don't want to have to dig a floor jack out from under my truck, lol.

I'm still not sure I want to buy one of the HF floor service jacks, they looked a little on the cheap side to me. But I'm not exactly the average user of a jack - I work on my trucks, my dad's trucks, and a couple pieces of equipment.

I jack the front of a TTB or TIB out by the radius arm bolt. You don't want to jack on the steering knuckle/ball joint - it stresses the joint too much and it wasn't designed for that. Likewise I wouldn't jack on the shock mount. Using a bottle jack, I will place a jackstand inboard of the jack (that's towards the center of the truck) but keep it as close to the jack as I can. For most work that is adequate. If I'm going to be doing something like pulling a transmission, I prefer the wheels on the ground or the jackstands as far apart as possible for stability. It's also best to only lift one side of a vehicle at a time - they can get unstable on four jackstands.

For the A-arm and T-bar front suspensions, I just try to pick the most appropriate looking spot to stick a jack. I've found that my Ranger came with tabs to stick the stock jack and they work great for a bottle jack, but not all other Rangers had those sort of tabs. When I have to work on a newer suspension style like that I wish I had a two post lift so I could do it the right way.

For jacking up the rear, Ford says to never jack it up using the differential because it can stress things that shouldn't be stressed. I always jack it up on the axle tube near the leaf springs (I usually try to get the jack between the U-bolts on the tube.)

If I'm trying to jack up the frame and let the suspension droop on the rear, I jack it up by the tow hitch.

And always ALWAYS use jackstands. And block the wheels that are not being lifted off the ground. I have a pair of 6 ton stands and three 3-ton stands (I had four until one got smashed). Sometimes that isn't enough. Or they are not tall enough to do it the way I'd like to. But don't set them on a pile of cinderblocks or the like either, that's dangerous.

 

[02RangerXLT]

I have a 12 ton Big Red Bottle Jack with me at all times: http://www.tractorsupply.com/jacks-stands-ramps/jacks/big-red-12-ton-bottle-jack-0116461

My dad has an 8 ton Bottle Jack with him usually...

We also have a hi-lift jack around the farm, as well as a floor jack. Blocks of wood can be used in lieu of jack stands if you don't have any.

 

[baxtej44]

looking for something to replace my stock jack in my truck. so it's got to be small because i have a standard cab with a sub box behind my seats, so i'm very limited on space and i don't really feel too great about just keeping it in my bed as i don't want some punk thinking it's funny to steal it.

i suppose i could put it underneath my spare if there would be enough space underneath it (i have my spare in my bed)

 

[Psychopete]

first rule of jacks is to use jack stands.

^^^ could be a POS jack like mine, I sure wouldn't trust my life with it, but Jack stands are where it's at. I use a truck/SUV jack (it's tall) and use the frame.

 

[88_Eddie]

dont get a jack from wal-mart. yeah, they're cheap, but they're pieces of sh!t. you get what you pay for. i've had my POS walmart jack for about 2 years and sometimes it just starts lowering on it's on. i have 6 jack stands though, so i usually set them under it.

i'd look on craigslist and find a nice used one of good quality. same thing for jackstands.....i got 4 off of c-list for $20