Where to place jack and jack stands under truck?

I needed to jack up the truck to rotate my tires. I needed to lift the suspension off the ground so lifting with the frame was out (would only flex the suspension).

Ideally, I wanted to lift all 4 tires off the ground but only have 2 stands and 1 jack. I suppose it's not safe to remove 4 tires when it's sitting on a tripod like that. Anyway, where should I place the stands and the jack?

I tried reading the book but it's not exactly clear. Here is where I put everything (right or wrong):

To lift front passenger:


To lift front driver:
*ignore the jack stand - it's only there as a safety precaution if the jack fell


Placement of jack to lift rear driver:


Another angle


Jack stand under rear drivers:



How is all of my placement?

 

I never lift the front like that. The control arms are just to unpredictable with the metal to metal and angles. I always use a 12" long 4x4 piece of wood on the jack and then lift from the crossmember. Then place jack stands under the frame rails right in front of the body mounts where the frame rail is boxed and wide right there.

 

I always jack up the rear first (use the center of the rear-end) and place jack stands on each side of the rear end.
Then let the jack down and go to the front, there is a place made to put the jack in the front, center of the truck and jack until both tires are off the ground.

A larger floor jack with make it much easier on you.

 

You damn well better answer this thread!

 

Did you look in the owners manual? There should be diagrams in there to show you where to jack from.

Never jack up on the axle tubes, you could 'bend' the tube. Jack from underneath the differential housing at its lowest point.

You don't want to jack from underneath the a-arm either. You're putting all the weight up againest the joint/bearing/bushing.

For your reference, here's some information out of a 2005+ Tacoma service manual.

 

i always use the frame for jacking and jack stands. i've seen people use the pumpkin, but i don't that.

 

I always jack the rear up first with the jack placed right in the center of the diff. Then place jackstands on either side in the same place you did right where the leaf springs attach. For the front, I place the jack in the middle of the crossmember/subframe, jack it up there, and put the jackstands on either side of it, and leave the jack with a little tension on it distributing the weight across the jackstands and the jack.

 

I actually thought about just PM'ing him

I did read the owners manual. And I appreciate Toyota putting so much detail in those pictures . Maybe I just don't know how to read them...
Anyway, I could not figure out where to jack in the front.

And I also thought about jacking from under the diff housing but wasn't sure. That would've been the easiest place.

I don't think my jack is long enough to out flex my suspension. If I jack the frame, it'll take forever to get the wheel off the ground. I also didn't think it was a good idea to fully extend my suspension like that.

 

The jack location in the first pic under the control arm is essentially letting the suspension flex as you jack it up. Exactly what you said you didn't want to do. This is also a little more hairy seeing as the point where you are jacking from will be moving around as you go up...

 

That's a horrible place for the front jack stands. I once started to jack my truck up with the bottle jack under the control arm in the same spot. Jack was going up but truck wasn't. I was just bending the metal in the control arm, it's very soft right there.

 

Thats good to know because I always jacked my truck up from the same location as the o.p. (well even towards the front tires more), not right under bushing) at least twice a year to change summer and winter tires. Learn something new everyday

 

Subscribing

 

I jack by the frame close to the body mounts. I have hilift jackstands that allow me to go full suspension droop and still have the tires off the ground. I use wood under my bottle jack to give me the lift I need and unscrew the top to raise it.

 

Why not just do one side at a time? Tires go front to back for rotation so just jack up the back of the truck by the diffy (pumpkin), place a jackstand under the rear axel between the u-bolt and the tire, lower the truck onto the jack stand. Then jack up the front of the truck by the frame rail... wash, rince, repeat.

 

Exactly what I do...atleast I think.

I jack up the rear diff and I put jackstands on both sides to hold the entire rear axle up. I leave the rear axle up the whole time while I move from side to side to lift the fronts. And, I always chock the front wheel that is on the ground.

 

That's how I'll do it next time. Stands in the rear and the individual fronts (using the choke).

I just need some clarification on where to place the jack up front. I suppose I'll put it on the frame with a block and lift till it droops enough to lift the tire off the ground.

 

I jack the front from the middle of the first cross member after the skids....
Then jack the back from the pumpkin...
Stands always go on the frame...