Jacking both of the front wheels at the same time.

[CDW6212R]

Funny, I finally see this thread alive after many days, what's going on.

The stock jack should never be removed from its storage pocket, or else throw it away for being heavy. I've used mine once on the road with a flat I could not repair on the truck(big rock made a big hole in the tire).

The body of these trucks are weak, don't lift or pull on them at any point. The frame is plenty strong, you aren't going to hurt it without serious force or stupidity. You'll be fine, lift it by the frame at any point, I like the front center, and the rear center(diff).

I've had one Ford with a leaking diff/cover, a prior owner had obviously bent the cover with a poorly placed jack. I've never bent a rear cover, my Lincoln floor jack has a typical large pad(don't buy a cheap jack with a baby pad). I use Lincoln jack stands under the frame center, or the rear housing near the shock mounts. Yes my vehicles are near stock heights, so no extensions are needed gratefully. I have a car lift if I want to do serious work.

I recall tires shops doing tires with three jacks, all the time. They placed them very fast, under the rear diff/center, and on each side of the frame behind the front wheels. That was in the early 90's, tires were cheap and political correctness hadn't infected car shops yet.

 

[Turdle]

when I am away from home, my situation dictates use of the stock jack under my u bolt skid plates. Neither of my good bottle jacks will get under them. Floor jack at a campsite doesn't work so easily. embarassing but true. I have witnesses.

 

[CDW6212R]

when I am away from home, my situation dictates use of the stock jack under my u bolt skid plates. Neither of my good bottle jacks will get under them. Floor jack at a campsite doesn't work so easily. embarassing but true. I have witnesses.

What, soft ground, missing jack?

 

[imp]

What, soft ground, missing jack?

@CDW6212R
Driving my F-700 loaded with all my tools, machinery, etc. moving from Phoenix to Missouri, both right rear tires went away. I was carrying a big bottle jack, just in case. Pulled over on the paved shoulder of I-40 in Gallup, NM, I shoved the jack under the spring perch pad, started lifting, and the truck was not raising up! The base of the jack punched through the pavement! imp

 

[ilievdh]

I have jack stand (one functional and one with missing upper part). Sometimes I don't use them, but as soon, as I de attach the wheel(s), I put it/them under the cars frame. I will not work from under the car. I'll access the balljoints from the side. I have purchased a ball joint replacement press. I can borrow a heavy duty hydraulic jack from my neighbor, but it's too HD and maybe jacking side by side with the stock jack will be easier for me, than transporting the DH hydraulic jack from my neighbor.

Thanks for all for the advises. The repair is scheduled for this weekend.

 

[Mbrooks420]

The stock jack is absolutely not intended for use working on the vehicle, ever.

 

[JungleSkunk]

A $50 set of jacks stand is a whole lot cheaper than getting squashed by your rig. You can use the stock jack to get it up onto the stands but not as you described.

 

[J_C]

The repair will go fine with what is on hand, the factory jack can lift the vehicle at the correct lift point then the one complete jack stand can support it on that corner. Once the tire is off it can also be put under the vehicle as a last line of defense against it completely falling to the floor if the jack stand should fail.

 

[CDW6212R]

I used to have two cheap pairs of jack stands. Both came from parts stores, and were thinner steel, likely not really two ton things. I bought better stands a long time ago, four short Lincolns, two tall Lincolns, and a Lincoln floor jack, all from HF before they had stores everywhere. Recently I bought two more pairs of Craftsman stands. All of my short stands have cost about $25 a pair, the last two were on sale for that.

The cheap parts store kind probably around $25 now. Buy a pair of new ones if you have none, or damaged jacks. It's worth it for your life, safety.

 

[ilievdh]

1st try was a fail. The jack just sink in the wet ground. Then I put a plate under the jack and lifted the Explorer on the crossbeam. It was useless, because as the suspension expand, it put on tension my upper control arm, which I wonted to replace and the half axles. Then I decided to use the stock jack too and moved the most of the weight on the jackpoint on the lower control arm. The repair was successful. Now I am waiting for my new custom shocks to be manufactured and then I'll replace the swaybar rods and install the new shocks.

 

[JungleSkunk]

I would have probably put a flat piece of wood or a large brick under those jack stands. It already looks like its tipping to one side because of the uneven snow and mud under it.

I had an uncle who was killed by a camaro when I was a kid because he would rather drink beer than correctly jack stand his car when working on it. I know this is extreme but I like to play it super safe when it comes to securing my vehicle when working on it.

 

[Mbrooks420]

That’s pretty frightening.

 

[JungleSkunk]

I put the stands on the frame behind the front TTB assembly to allow each side to be lowered to work on. A whole lot safer and it gives more room to work on things.

 

[Mbrooks420]

TTB?

That’s a much better placement.

 

[JungleSkunk]

TTB?

That’s a much better placement.

Behind the Torsion bar and suspension if that makes sense

 

[Mbrooks420]

When I see TTB I think twin tractor beam.

 

[CDW6212R]

I put the stands on the frame behind the front TTB assembly to allow each side to be lowered to work on. A whole lot safer and it gives more room to work on things.View attachment 167932

View attachment 167933

That's a great place to use the bigger jack stands on, good idea.

 

[sehaare]

You know what the difference is between the group of guys here that are advising to be overly safe and the group of guys that are advising cutting corners.......... The first group are most likely old enough to have seen how bad it can get when things go wrong while working on a car and the second group haven't seen enough yet to be scared (the key word being YET).

Old mechanics don't cut corners, otherwise they would have never survived long enough to get old (even the shade tree type like myself).

 

[RickOTR]

I always use 6 ton jack stands on the frame behind the front TTB which is what Ford recommends. I also use a 3 ton quick lift floor jack under the control arm in front of the ball joint. Never had a problem. I keep a 12"x12"x3/8" thick piece of metal in the truck in case I'm in the middle of nowhere and need to use the stock bottle jack. I'm not for cutting corners either, I've learned that the hard way a few times.