Jack Support Question

I want to place my floor jack under the cross member support beam directly under the engine and transmission, just as an added safety precaution, while I have jack stands under the Frame side rails. Is this a safe place to lift the truck, or will this cross member not support the weight of the truck. I know stupid question, but better to ask before hand.

 

Cross members are not lift points. Edit: I stand corrected: please ignore this post. thanks

 

i recall seeing a recent @Timmah! video where he may have done something sorta like this

 

@Black DOG Lila , I didn't think so, but could I use it as a secondary safety measure, to place my floor jack under it, with just enough force to hold, after I have the jack stands in place on the main side frame rails. That way if I had a jack stand mishap, it could buy me a few precious moments to get the heck out from under the truck.

 

did you get yourself a lift yet?
i am looking into one that is 'portable' with lowish clearance

 

@GQ7227 , no I don't have any options for a lift. Just using a floor jack and stands in the driveway, to support the truck while I replace my lower ball joints and tie rods. Would be nice though, to have a nice garage with a lift. Standing upright versus laying down, I'll take standing upright any day.

 

you may not need a garage to have a lift
if the driveway can be drilled and anchored to support this and it just disassembles as the video showed, just found this yesterday btw and still looking into it

https://www.maxjaxusa.com/

there are some other types of portable ones i need to look further into

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5ASgTxx7_M

 

@GQ7227 , Man that's sweet, but too rich for my poor old ass to purchase. That would be awesome to install in a 2 car garage.

 

I make it a point not to answer questions beginning with "I didn't think"

 

.... i didn't think

 

According to our user manuals the front crossmember is the proper jacking point

I lift mine from there all the time, no issues



The stock skid plate even has an opening in it for you to put a jack through to reach the crossmember there

 

That one you're checking out, the install instructions says not to install outside. Also don't know if you've looked at reviews from others that have owned it?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/review...wn?ie=UTF8&filterByStar=one_star&pageNumber=1

 

I don't know if I would want the liability that comes along with loaning out a portable vehicle lift to other people outside of using it at my own home

Would have to have them sign a waiver or something

 

I lift from the lower arm, the frame, any crossmembers, i mean you gotta use your head and not try to lift more than your jack capacity, as each spot you lift at it will weigh differently.
@CrippledOldMan you can put a jack stand under a crossmember. Just think of how the weight would react if one of the stands did fail and then that stand/crossmember is now supporting it? Are you still safe? That's only factors I'm seeing

 

I've done it via the LCAs before too, just not very easy to do with a floor jack because it doesn't sit flush underneath the arms. But a bottle jack under the arms works well, that's about the only place my bottle jack can lift the truck from now because of my lift lol.

If I'm using my floor jack, I lift the front via the front cross member (same spot as in the photo above) or via the rear diff if I'm doing the rear. If using my Hi Lift I use the sliders, or occasionally I've lifted the rear using the trailer hitch but sliding the hi-lift into it. Works really well just better make damn sure the front wheels are chocked

 

the front crossmember is part of the frame, welded in place and not removable unless cut out. I jack from this point on a regular basis as @eon_blue pointed out it's more difficult to get under the LCA due to how close in proximity to the tires the solid point is.

 

actually that hole is the oil drain plug

unless you mean that tiny "half-moon" cut-out towards the back of the skid?

I've had @Ethan22 skid on for years so I just put my jack under it at the cross member point and jack up the truck

 

yeah the half moon cut out lol, where the front part of the skid meets the back portion of it. IIRC there's an opening there that reveals the cross member? It's been a long time since Ive looked at a stock skid though

 

I've also used my 3/16" Budbilt skid to jack up the truck, but one day I removed the skid to do an oil change and noticed it was bent/twisted pretty badly. I couldn't figure out if it happened because I used it as a jacking point (which would be surprising considering how beefy it is) or if maybe it was from one of numerous hard hits on it while on a trail. Either way I just remove it now if I need to jack the truck up. But I do know a lot of other guys that do it via their steel skids.

 

My favorite spot to lift up the front of the vehicle equally is the front cross member under the back of the engine near the trans bell housing. This is the cross member that the steering rack bolts to. I've been using this a jacking point for a long time and it can support the weight of the front of the rig no problem. So, I agree with @eon_blue and disagree with @Black DOG Lila. I place 6 ton jack stands in the #1 position shown in the picture @eon_blue provided.