Jack Stands...

but the orange ones wasn't tested
wonder what HF does with returns

 

lol

 

Believe it or not, I have one of those with the 2" diameter threads stripped out.

 

From you Pete, I believe it. Wow!

 

Used those and railroad jacks years ago. Now for safety I use real vintage cinder blocks and clay bricks as jack stands..

 

I didn't do it. Bought the used "20 ton" jack, then found it was stripped. I can't imagine what kind of force it took.

Working with one yesterday, had a new experience... the well-oiled screw threads reversed under moderate load, the jack 'unscrewing' and letting itself down.

Never saw that before, didn't seem possible. Just goes to show... Always back up with redundant blocking etc. And keep your fingers out of the gaps!

 

Wow !!!

 

Maybe I shouldn't have restored my screw jacks and greased the threads. Maybe the rust and mud were a safety factor I hadn't considered. But yea, always a good idea to be redundant when supporting heavy loads. I'm amazed at how often I see people not do this and depend solely on the hydraulic floor jack they're using.

Super cool video. I like seeing things get tested and smashed like that. Like on Battlebots. Sort of. Maybe.

 

THat was fun!!

 

I never thought those were automotive tools. My Dad and Grandpa had some of those, and called them house jacks. Something Tom Silva would use to lift a sagging porch roof.

 

TIm IDK.
Got a pair of them from my neighbor years ago.
I rarely use jack stands but thought them to be plenty strong when I do need.
Most often I usually use solid blocks of white oak.

 

I have a pile of blocks in my garage for various uses like that. Cribbing etc. Nothing as solid as that oak, but LVL beam end cutoffs are very good.

 

Those are house jacks, people do use them as jack stands nowadays but they are house leveling jacks.

 

Yes indeed Mike that makes perfect sense to me now.
My old neighbor was well into in his 90’s when passed a few years ago.
He bought and assembled one of those Sears kit houses back in the early 1950’s.
So I guess that explains why he had house out jacks in the shed.

 

i'm glad that my jackstands aren't awful, but i've been taught to NEVER rely on a hydraulic jack, always use jackstands.

 

This brings up a thought for me. Just the other day I had to do a brake inspection and tire rotation on my wife's SUV. It is unit-body construction of course so there really isn't a great place to jack under it other than the control arms in the front (which isn't great since there is a mild slope to them) or the pinch seam along the body in between the wheels. To get the job done I slide a floor jack under the control arm in front and use an old scissor jack (with pinch seam slot) at the rear and quickly swap the wheels front to back. I suppose if I had a jack stand with a pinch-seam slot adapter I could jack the front, and slide a stand in under the seam by the front door but then what would I do at the rear? The only place to really jack the vehicle is at the pinch seam where I need to place a jack stand. These newer flimsy cars are so frustrating to work on.

So, I don't bother with stands, get the job done quickly, and don't hang out "under" the car. Works every time.

Then, to make it more entertaining if I ever go into Discount Tire to get tires replaced/repaired all they do is slide two massive floor jacks under the side of the car, pump them up and get to work. No stands, no lift, just floor jacks.

 

we were working on the jeep yesterday, and we needed another jack. we used a hi-lift for this, which is NOT a good idea. it ended up tipping over and dropping the jeep onto a pile of wood, and almost breaking a jackstand. thankfully, at this point we had the tires back on, so it was a little safer. we ended up doing about the same thing (intentionally) twice to move it off of the woodpile. needless to say, don't use a hi-lift to jack up a vehicle.