Jacks, Ramps, or both?

Have decided to take routine maintenance of both my Tacoma and my wife’s 4Runner into my own hands and starting to figure out which way to go with some equipment purchases. What do most of y’all use to get your rig up for maintenance work, ramps or Jackstands?

 

Floor jack and jackstands.

 

You forgot "tires" when servicing hubs/brakes. Many will use a floor jack or bottle-jack to raise the vehicle. then remove the tire and lay the tire on its side as a landing pad under the hub/body in case the truck falls.

Jackstands are good but do not overstretch them ... they can tip over if at the extreme extension. And I would not use a jackstand that does not have a triangle-pin in it to prevent the tooth/lever mechanism from doing its own thing and letting the vehicle drop.

 

Good points RichochetRabit, seems like a floor jack and several jackstands would be the most useful/versatile equipment. Considering I have two vehicles to maintain it worth the investment to get some quality gear.

 

Tens of millions of people for half a century have been fine working on a flat paved surface using normal jackstands even one or two teeth away from max height. Don’t get me wrong, I prefer having fail safes in place and keep my floor jack hovering a 32nd or so below a jacking point if my trucks on jackstands with the front or rear wheels off to have a 3rd point of lift if it’s not getting in the way of me working. If things get really squirrelly I put a strap from my engine hoist at the 2 ton setting around a cross member as well. Just saying that while I have jackstands with a pin, I don’t hesitate to use the ones I have without them at all. Use common sense and avoid pinch points when / if possible.

 

If you were starting from scratch would you buy stands that have the pin, that’s my situation, I don’t own anything yet and want to get feedback from all y’all that have their own stuff already.

 

Definitely. Harbor Freight 6 Tons are often on sale and a relatively good deal. Sometimes the "Inside Track" membership can be purchased for free when you find a deal on their tools for members only that nets you the same price as the non-"Inside Track" price and gets you member only deals on their products for a year.

 

Oh nice, I’m seeing the 6 tons on sale for $59 a set at the moment

 

95% of the time: bottle jacks on solid oak 4 X 4 blocks to lift, solid jackstands. I leave the jacks in place with only a slight bit of weight on them. Don't forget wheel chocks, wood blocks will do in a pinch.

I have ramps and forgot why I hate them. They're great for work if you're not removing wheels but they are tricky as hell to get the vehicle onto them without them sliding (or the disastrous possibility of driving off the end of them.) For me, most of the time they're just taking up space.

I'd love to have a floor jack but have nowhere decent to store it. They're particularly awesome in place of a transmission jack (clutch work, etc.) but if you use them to jack the whole truck make sure it can go high enough to do you any good.

 

I’ve got a lead on a second hand floor jack at a good price so I’ll definitely take your advice about making sure it raises up high enough to actually be effective, I hadn’t considered that.

 

I was going to suggest taking a look at these, nothing like not questioning what's keeping your head un-squished..but inflation seems to have hit hard. I got these when I was working on an old diesel truck I was fixing up a number of years ago, I don't recall exactly what I paid for my set of 4...but it was probably closer to half of this than not. Yes, that's $300/pair now..

https://usjack-com.3dcartstores.com/6-Ton-Garage-Jack-Stands-Pair_p_41.html

 

That's crazy - maybe if you're working on a truck that's 3-4 tons per corner at your 9-5, but for a truck that barely weighs 2.5-3 tons max, it's way overkill on the price.

Most 2-3 ton jacks will lift a truck high enough from the frame / cross members unless you have extended travel suspension (ie several inches more than stock, not 1" extended travel Kings). Blocks cut out of a 4x4 or 2x4 will give you a bit more height when needed. I check the max height on the jacks for sure when making a selection though.

 

You aren’t kidding about inflation, that’s why I’m trying to gather some intel because the cost of tools is crazy. The price of some of these basic things make the economic proposition of saving money by doing your own maintenance a bit more challenging since the upfront cost is so high. I know in the long run it’ll work out in my favor and I enjoy doing my own work but it sure isn’t cheap and certainly isn’t for quality stuff. I do lean more towards the “buy once cry once” mentality but I also have to respect the budget.

Those jacks definitely look super beefy

 

My 3 ton Daytona from harbor freight has lived out under a carport and has had no issues. Can't remember, but it's been 4-5 years I think.