jack stand question

i was in the process of jacking up the truck the other day when my BIL passed by, he proceeded to make fun of my puny little 3 ton stands. he went home and came back with 2 sets of 6 tons for me to use. the weight wasn't as much as a concern as the fact that you had to extend the 3 ton stands all the way up to hold the truck in order to get the front wheels off the ground and account for front suspension droop.

 

So, minor thread jack, but maybe this will help the OP as well. What do you guys use as a floor jack to get the truck high enough to get the frame onto the jack stands and the tires off the ground? I have no problem getting the axle onto stands, but the frame is another story. Looking for a better floor jack.

 

thanks guys, for all the input.

I'd like to jack stand the frame as I would have more room to work. It seems like 3-tons won't give me the height. Tenbeers, I understand your question. Will 6 ton jacks on the frame get my tires off the ground?

I usually see people use 4x6 or 4x4 pieces under the stands.

 

Yes, my 6-ton'ers get the tires off the ground on the lowest setting no problem. I am, however, a stock PreRunner with no lift.

 

thanks! good to know. I'm stock 4x4 so should be good!

 

Yes, you will be good. The height difference between 3 and 4 ton is not too much, but once you step up to 6 ton, you get a lot more height.

Get the 6 ton'ers.

 

I put my OEM jack on cinder blocks.

 

Thanks, Ding. OP, this is more what I was referring to. It does no good to have 3-ton jack stands if you can't get the truck jacked up high enough to go onto them. My floor jack must be a 2-ton, I can't get the wheels off the ground. I get it as high as I can and then jack the LCA up to get the wheel off. And I am completely stock.

So, make sure you have a jack that goes high enough.

 

tenbeers, I totally misread your post. I get what you're saying. I do not have a floor jack. I was stupidly thinking I could get away with using the jack that came with the truck. Now I see how stupid that thought was...
I have to now rustle up a floor jack.

Or can I get away with truck jack?

 

As the other poster mentioned, he puts his on cinder blocks. Personally, I would not do that. Looking at Harbor Freight, the 2-tons lift about 16 inches, 3-ton about 20 inches. That extra 4 inches matters. Shit, what did I just say?

 

I would not trust a cinder block. I have seen too many break.

 

If they're used, some people put them under the vehicle the incorrect way... that's when they break.

 

I just use 2x4 or 4x4 piece of wood in connection with the floor jack. It will lift the truck high enough for me put the 6 ton jack stands underneath and enough room for me to work.

 

^ this.

 

Yup, the trick is to set them on edge. I should probably use 4X4's instead though.

 

I use these RV scissor jacks. Rating is 7000# each. Goes up to 24".


If I go under the truck, I also place jack stands and tires under various places on the frame just as a safety measures if these fail for any reasons.

These are faster to set up than the stock bottle jack.

 

I've done that numerous times, but once a 2x4 split in half on me when I was placing a stand. The truck shifted, but didn't fall. Luckily the only damage was a minor skid mark on my shorts.

 

This is all good info. I was trying to avoid buying a floor jack because I never use one and then would have to store it somewhere and pay for it to use it once.

Maybe I'll try 4x6 and truck jack or borrow one from someone.

 

Well you can't use cheapo pine wood, gotta use quality wood (cypress, mahogany, maple, or even white ash at a lumbar yard and not at the low quality at Lowe's or Home Depot.

 

You'll use it more then once if you plan to rotate your tires ever 5k miles.