96 Explorer XLT - safe jack stand position?

[tmcquinn]

Hello all. I am brand new here. I used to be a car guy but I've spent the last 20 years working in offices and letting my mechanical skills decline. I hate to start out with a really ignorant question but I have to start somewhere if I'm ever going to become mechanically proficient again.

I have a 96 Explorer XLT and I want to remove the rotors, preferably without damaging the car or killing myself. <g> I thought that I could support the front of the car by the frame (forward of the wheel) but my jackstands don't go that high. Aft of the wheel is a piece that is welded to the frame and from the looks of it someone has used it to lift the car a few times:

http://home.fuse.net/tjmcquinn/Explorer_FrontJS.jpg

It supports the car but I'm not convinced that it's stout enough to be safe. Could anyone give me some advice?

The rear should be fine. Well, now that I see that I shouldn't jack it up by the differential housing (won't do it again) I should be fine.

Tom

 

[410Fortune]

If you look under the front of your truck you will see you have a A arm suspension.
You can place a large floor jack underneath the center crossmember that the lower control arms attach to. Then once you get the tire a few inches in the air you can place your jack stand on the tab that is welded to the lower control arm, just for this purpose. Again looking from the front of the truck, you cannot miss them, there is one on each side.


On the front of your lower control arms is a welded tab shaped like an L. These are there to support the front of the truck, a perfect place for your jackstand(s)

 

[tmcquinn]

Thanks. I see in the owner's manual that this is where the jack goes but it looked a little shaky for getting all 4 wheels in the air. I will give it a try!

 

[410Fortune]

use the jack to get one wheel in the air at a time and set your jack stand.

same thing in the rear. When jacking all 4 off the ground you must be really careful and be on level ground.

Why do you want to get all 4 tires in the air to service the brakes? I would either do one wheel at a time or one axle at a time, no need to get all 4 wheels off at the same time???

 

[tmcquinn]

Thanks again!

When I put the floor jack under the center crossmember it lifted both wheels and I saw that the tabs are more substantial than I thought they were.

I have a couple of reasons for wanting to do all four wheels at once. First off, I need the garage back. Second, a friend has offered to turn the rotors, assuming they can be turned, and I want to put him out as little as possible. I got as much as .009 runout in the rears and I'm betting the fronts are no better.

Not to worry, I will be very careful. My driveway isn't level anywhere. I am limited to using the garage. No wheels are coming off until everything is rock solid. And I'll probably use the floor jack as backup support for each wheel as I work on them - just bring it up until it's snug and hope no surprise earthquake hits Cincinnati!

Tom