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From: Mike Romain on 18 Oct 2007 13:59 Built_Well wrote: > Mike Romain wrote: > >> My last few vehicles recommend front to rear rotations, so only one side >> goes up with a stand under the rear axle. (more room usually at the rear >> for a stand)_ >> ____________ >> If they are getting crossed, then the stand goes under the rear axle and >> the other side front corner goes up to swap those. Then the opposite is >> done.____________ >> ______________ >> It is much safer still having two tires down on the ground, things get >> really touchy when all four are hanging.... > ======== > > Having only one side of the car raised sounds dangerous to me. > I remember reading a warning on the box of a Craftsman or Walmart > jack stand that said the stands should /not/ be used to lift only > one side of the car. > > It's okay to lift one /end/ of the car (front end and/or > rear end), but not one side (left side or right side). > At least that's what the box said. > None of it is 'safe'. You used to be able to lift the rear end of vehicles by putting the jack under the pumpkin so both back wheels came up at once. Same for a front crossmember. Now a days they make them so cheap, like the aluminum Dana 44 on some Jeeps, the rear end will collapse under the weight of the vehicle if you do this even when brand new! One bad jacking and the thing will never hold a wheel bearing again.... I don't jack up 'one' side at a time, I do one corner at a time with the vehicle in gear and the wheels touching the ground chocked. Mike 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's - Gone to the rust pile...
From: Built_Well on 18 Oct 2007 14:24 Mike Romain wrote: > Built_Well wrote: > > Mike Romain wrote: > > > >> My last few vehicles recommend front to rear rotations, so only one side > >> goes up with a stand under the rear axle. (more room usually at the rear > >> for a stand)_ > >> ____________ > >> If they are getting crossed, then the stand goes under the rear axle and > >> the other side front corner goes up to swap those. Then the opposite is > >> done.____________ > >> ______________ > >> It is much safer still having two tires down on the ground, things get > >> really touchy when all four are hanging.... > > ======== > > > > Having only one side of the car raised sounds dangerous to me. > > I remember reading a warning on the box of a Craftsman or Walmart > > jack stand that said the stands should /not/ be used to lift only > > one side of the car. > > > > It's okay to lift one /end/ of the car (front end and/or > > rear end), but not one side (left side or right side). > > At least that's what the box said. > > > > None of it is 'safe'. > > You used to be able to lift the rear end of vehicles by putting the jack > under the pumpkin so both back wheels came up at once. Same for a front > crossmember. > > Now a days they make them so cheap, like the aluminum Dana 44 on some > Jeeps, the rear end will collapse under the weight of the vehicle if you > do this even when brand new! > > One bad jacking and the thing will never hold a wheel bearing again.... > > I don't jack up 'one' side at a time, I do one corner at a time with the > vehicle in gear and the wheels touching the ground chocked. > > Mike > 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 > 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's - Gone to the rust pile... ======== Thanks for the interesting discussion, Mike. >From the archive, it sounds to me like Ray has even had all 4 of his tires up on /ramps/ at the same time! It appears he drove the front wheels up onto ramps, then raised the rear with a floor jack and used two more ramps and placed them under the rear wheels. So he has had a car up on 4 ramps with no jack stands. Interesting.
From: Built_Well on 18 Oct 2007 15:03 The car ramps available at Walmart are unique. The ramps are constructed in a way that allows one to fit inside another. Each single ramp can support 3,000 pounds, so a pair would be good for 6,000. But if you stack 2 together (one on top of the other), a set of 4 ramps can be used to lift the front end tires of a 12,000 pound vehicle! That's what the stickers on the ramps say, anyway.
From: Mike Romain on 18 Oct 2007 15:30 Built_Well wrote: > Mike Romain wrote: >> Built_Well wrote: >>> Mike Romain wrote: >>> >>>> My last few vehicles recommend front to rear rotations, so only one side >>>> goes up with a stand under the rear axle. (more room usually at the rear >>>> for a stand)_ >>>> ____________ >>>> If they are getting crossed, then the stand goes under the rear axle and >>>> the other side front corner goes up to swap those. Then the opposite is >>>> done.____________ >>>> ______________ >>>> It is much safer still having two tires down on the ground, things get >>>> really touchy when all four are hanging.... >>> ======== >>> >>> Having only one side of the car raised sounds dangerous to me. >>> I remember reading a warning on the box of a Craftsman or Walmart >>> jack stand that said the stands should /not/ be used to lift only >>> one side of the car. >>> >>> It's okay to lift one /end/ of the car (front end and/or >>> rear end), but not one side (left side or right side). >>> At least that's what the box said. >>> >> None of it is 'safe'. >> >> You used to be able to lift the rear end of vehicles by putting the jack >> under the pumpkin so both back wheels came up at once. Same for a front >> crossmember. >> >> Now a days they make them so cheap, like the aluminum Dana 44 on some >> Jeeps, the rear end will collapse under the weight of the vehicle if you >> do this even when brand new! >> >> One bad jacking and the thing will never hold a wheel bearing again.... >> >> I don't jack up 'one' side at a time, I do one corner at a time with the >> vehicle in gear and the wheels touching the ground chocked. >> >> Mike >> 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 >> 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's - Gone to the rust pile... > ======== > > Thanks for the interesting discussion, Mike. > >>From the archive, it sounds to me like Ray has even had > all 4 of his tires up on /ramps/ at the same time! > > It appears he drove the front wheels up onto ramps, then > raised the rear with a floor jack and used two more ramps > and placed them under the rear wheels. > > So he has had a car up on 4 ramps with no jack stands. > Interesting. > That is one way to get lots of clearance to work under something. I have seen more than one set of those 'cheap' ramps collapsed also. They must be on a perfectly level and hard surface to be safe. I think I should explain a bit more. When doing a back to front rotation, only one corner has to be up on a jack stand at a time... The rear wheel gets the nuts loosened on the ground, then jacked up and onto the jackstand, then you remove that tire and take that tire to the front. You loosen off those front lug nuts, then jack it up, pull off the tire and put the rear one right back on the front, snug up the lugs, then jack it down, then take the front tire to the back, put it on, snug up the lug nuts, jack it up to remove the stand and drop it down. The lugnuts get torqued when everything is safely on the ground. Mike
From: Built_Well on 18 Oct 2007 16:18
Mike Romain wrote: ======== > When doing a back to front rotation, only one corner has to be up on a > jack stand at a time... > > The rear wheel gets the nuts loosened on the ground, then jacked up and > onto the jackstand, then you remove that tire and take that tire to the > front. You loosen off those front lug nuts, then jack it up, pull off > the tire and put the rear one right back on the front, snug up the lugs, > then jack it down, then take the front tire to the back, put it on, snug > up the lug nuts, jack it up to remove the stand and drop it down. > > The lugnuts get torqued when everything is safely on the ground. ======== I don't mean to be picky, and you obviously have more experience than I have with automobiles, but the way you're rotating tires from front to rear means you're only using /one/ jack stand while two wheels are off the ground. You're using the floor jack to support the front tire and the single jack stand to support the rear tire. Aren't floor jacks supposed to be used only for lifting, not supporting? Jack stands are meant to always be used in pairs, I think. |