Jacking up under rear differential?

[ThermionicEmissions]

I'm looking to get my Ranger up on jack stands to do some rust treatment and prevention work, and I've seen several videos ( 1A Auto, etc) and a lot of posters saying they place the jack under the rear diff housing. The manual explicitly states to not place the jack under the rear diff, as it may cause a leak.

So....is there any kind of consensus on this? Is the manual specifically referring to use of the li'l bottle jack?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Roert42]

I believe the reason the manual states not to lift by the pumpkin is so you don’t accidentally put pressure on the did cover and bend it.

As long you put it in the middle of the diff you will be ok. It’s the only way I lift the back of my trucks/cars up.

 

[cbxer55]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Exactly.

 

[racsan]

I always jack from the lower shock mount, the cradle of the jack perfectly cups the bottom of the shock, in the rare case that Ive had to have both sides up , I use a 2nd floor jack or do each side separately & use jackstands. As long as your under the diff housing and not catching the lip of the cover, youll be ok. I dont see the truck being heavy enough that you would have housing deflection & have a leak, if that were the case the tubes coming out of the diff would bend, I believe both the 7.5 & 8.8 are rated at 3,000#. the whole truck (if 2wd reg cab) is about 3,000#.

 

[sgtsandman]

I would go with the above comments. You can jack the truck up using the differential pumpkin, just watch the cover.

 

[Curious Hound]

It'll support the weight. Out in the wild, I've had rocks jump out of the ground and lift my truck by the differential. It's inconvenient. But hasn't hurt anything yet except maybe what little dignity I had.

 

[ThermionicEmissions]

I believe the reason the manual states not to lift by the pumpkin is so you don’t accidentally put pressure on the did cover and bend it.

As long you put it in the middle of the diff you will be ok. It’s the only way I lift the back of my trucks/cars up.

Thanks for the info!

 

[ThermionicEmissions]

Thanks for all the feedback folks!
Thinking an 18" jack with 16" stands would be plenty high enough then.

 

[Ranger850]

Rear differential : pumpkin? or Hog head?

 

[Rick W]

God above forgive me, I have an alternate thought.

My life and career are the living embodiment of crap happens. Yes, you might break the seal on the rear end, but I suspect the real reason you’re told not to jack up by the pumpkin in the back is because before you put the jacksstands under, the truck is very unstable. The reason you were told not to jack from the center, is because if somebody like me comes along and leans on the truck when you’re underneath, I’ll be the only one left.

It would only take a few minutes more with a decent jack, to jack up one side and put the jackstand under, and then jack up the other side and put the jackstand under, and go back and forth what, 2-3 times? Is 5 minutes worth a broken finger, leg or head? I don’t mean to sound like your health and safety inspector, but I broke all the rules coming up, and I was very very lucky several times. But crap happens, and there is nothing worth having a serious accident. Never think what you can get away with, always think what could possibly happen, and follow the latter course.

My two cents, I hope it Helps

 

[ThermionicEmissions]

God above forgive me, I have an alternate thought.

My life and career are the living embodiment of crap happens. Yes, you might break the seal on the rear end, but I suspect the real reason you’re told not to jack up by the pumpkin in the back is because before you put the jacksstands under, the truck is very unstable. The reason you were told not to jack from the center, is because if somebody like me comes along and leans on the truck when you’re underneath, I’ll be the only one left.

It would only take a few minutes more with a decent jack, to jack up one side and put the jackstand under, and then jack up the other side and put the jackstand under, and go back and forth what, 2-3 times? Is 5 minutes worth a broken finger, leg or head? I don’t mean to sound like your health and safety inspector, but I broke all the rules coming up, and I was very very lucky several times. But crap happens, and there is nothing worth having a serious accident. Never think what you can get away with, always think what could possibly happen, and follow the latter course.

My two cents, I hope it Helps

Being new to working under vehicles, I'm all for exercising caution. By "back and forth 2-3 times" do you mean raise each side a little at a time? I can see that making sense.

 

[Grumpaw]

Harbor Freight, $45 bucks, $36 bucks with their 20% off coupon.
Was skeptical about quality, but then compared them to others costing twice as much...these are better. Been using them for about a year now with no problems.

 

[Curious Hound]

Harbor Freight, $45 bucks, $36 bucks with their 20% off coupon.
Was skeptical about quality, but then compared them to others costing twice as much...these are better. Been using them for about a year now with no problems.

Good for oil changes. Not so great for wheel removal jobs.

The safety concerns mentioned above are great and if that makes you feel better, do it. Any job needs to be done with proper consideration for safety. When I lift the rear axle from the differential, I am inly going high enough to get jack stand under it for wheel removal type jobs. The wheels are still on when i reach under to place the jack stand. So, even if the jack fails, the truck will only drop 2 or 3 inches and come to rest on the wheels as normal. I do not crawl under the wheels. I’m too big for that. The truck is not going to tip sideways far enough to cause a problem. I don’t lift it that high. Always chock the wheels when lifting the vehicle so it cant roll away. Its that simple.

Again, if you feel better with extra precautions, by all means, do what you need to do as long as it’s safe.

 

[Grumpaw]

I only brought up the ramps as his original post stated he wanted to do some rust preventive work, which I have done with my ramps.
Personally, to lift one side or the other, I use a floor jack at the frame of side I'm working on, or a large bottle jack at the frame to lift one side.
If both sides have to come up, then jack stands are the order of the day.
Decent floor jack at Harbor Freight, under $100 bucks.
10 ton bottle jack at Harbor Freight, around $30 bucks
Jack Stands at Harbor Freight, $30 bucks.
Set of Harbor Freight Ramps, $36 bucks.
Hospital bill from truck falling on you and breaking something...$20-$30 thousand bucks.

 

[racsan]

as a side note, those plastic ramps have less angle then conventional steel ramps, if you also maintain a car . Ive found they are the only way to get it up in the air for a oil change without damaging the plastic air dam . I think I use mine more than my steel ramps.