Those are the factory lift points...
Jack Stand Safety
- Thread starter The Critic
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Those are the factory lift points...
^ Did you watch the whole video? Past the halfway point it mentions the subframe in front and cross member in back, which are not, AFAIK, designated factory lift points for owners because (I'd assume) they're only telling customers how to do it with the supplied jack. I could be wrong...
Asphalt, in hot weather, can get soft. Perhaps soft enough to allow a jackstand to move.
On some cars, it seems nearly impossible to jack a car up, THEN find a location to set the jack stand.
I generally use the subframe for the front and reinforced center point for the rear. The video in @Dave9 post shows several others that I wasn't aware of.
I use a solid salt treated 6 by 6 and a solid 4 by 4 salt treated wood placed under my car. For an oil change. I have arms that are about 3 feet long... I can reach stuff without really getting under my car for that.
If I were to be really pulling and pushing hard while working under a car... I'd have multiple places of that salt treated wood.
If I were to be really pulling and pushing hard while working under a car... I'd have multiple places of that salt treated wood.
Because they're not terribly complicated, shouldn't really cost as much as the US made do... I want to support US manufacturing, but they have to meet me half way.I think Harbor Freight offers your money back, right?Seriously though, I have no idea why people cheap out on something like jack stands.
I mean IF they're just the design with stamped and welded plate steel and cast iron, then they only need to not be defective which wasn't the case with the HF. I have no problem with paying more for a different design if that's what your situation needs, but I don't need anything more than the common stamped steel, A-frame design that I've been using for decades w/o incident.
There are billions of man hours spent using cheap jack stands without problems, while more often, the bad choices one makes that cause a problem, are bad choices no matter how much your jack stands cost. This does not mean you should place trust, rather inspect them before use, no matter how much they cost. If you don't feel comfortable inspecting them, it seems like the ability to do that coincides with the ability to inspect and repair your vehicle and ensure it is safe too.
HF is an exception though, selling far too many defective products. You can get a deal on decent cheap jack stands by just waiting for a sale on them, instead of playing the HF lottery.
For example a few years back I wanted stands with more lift than the ones I'd been using for decades, so got a deal on a pair of Strongway 6 ton, made by Torin and sold by Northern Tool on ebay, during an ebay coupon promo. They cost $32 delivered at the time, and have been used dozens of times. I'm completely satisfied with them and if I were to spend over $50 (moving target I know, depends on the size/capacity) it would be spending a lot more than that on a lift, not fancier stands.
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JHZR2
Staff member
How did the vehicle slip off? Misalignment?
Id say that jack stands are marginally safe, and a necessary evil. There are tons of reports of them tipping and falling. The big question becomes how much backup do you have to catch a vehicle, especially if you’re going under it?
Height of the rubber blocks - I had to stack two different rubber adapters in order for there to be enough clearance.
I have since remedied the issue by purchasing taller adapters.
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