rangerruck

I have a standard wheeled, 88 4rnr, that may at most have a 3 inch lift in the rear; I just added some add a leafs, and new shocks/boots. tires are 235/70/15's. So pretty much standard...
I am going to do the Zuk's coil mod, and was at northern tool tonight, and saw a ton of jacks, and another ton of stands. Tonnage rating also seemed to go hand in hand with how hight they could get you.
So how high does the floor jack need to get to, and how high do the jack stands need to get to? remember, this is BEFORE, AND AFTER ADDING SPRINGS!!!!
2 and 3 ton jack stands give a 11 to 16 inch lift, 6 ton stands give a 16 to 24 inch lift, and 12 ton stands give a 18 to 28 inch lift.

Another thing as an aside; through tommorrow Northern tool has Seafoam for
6.48 per can!!!! that is sick cheap; If you normally pay 10 bucks a can, with tax, that is 10.83. so if you buy 3 cans, that is like buying 2 and getting one free.

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

I have at least 2 pair of each, 3 ton, 6 ton and 12 ton and use them all for different things. Also depends if you want something under the frame or the axle. Get some cheapies for the axles at SEARS that are the shorties. Get the 12 tons for the frame. A nice 3 ton floor jack is really all you need, lift under the axle diff and then put in your jack stands wherever.

rangerruck

since this is for the coil job, I am thinking for the frame only , right now!!!
I can buy the others later. Also, with the jack stands; they do no raising whatsoever, correct? they just hold stuff up, it is the jack that actually raises and lowers your rigs, right?

So then also, your are saying my best technique for this particular job would be- raise the whole thing, by putting the jack under the diff; go as high as possible, then put the jack stands under the frame, correct?

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

Yep, jack stands are just supports. I use some 6 ton stands on a wooden base:


I put a jack under the rear axle, raise it up with a floor jack until the jack stands top out under the frame. Then I pull the wheels off and lower the frame down onto the pair of stands. Then you can use the floor jack to raise/lower the rear axle as needed to install the springs.

betelnut

The wooden base under shorter jack stands idea is perfect, that's what I'll do when I next need to support the body. Beware of using cinder blocks, though. We recently used an array of cinder blocks to support my cousin's boat trailer + 3000 lb. boat while we serviced the tires, and one of the blocks split. Using a line of cinder blocks for this purpose was pretty sketchy, but using a single cinder block to support a jack stand could be disastrous.

rangerruck

I was looking for something similar but doing it in nylon blocks, kinda like a 12 inch by 2 or 4 inch thick cutting board type deal. May have to go to Big Lots , and see if they have something for cheap I can chop up, or look around
at Home Despot, if not that, I guess to stack some 2x4's like you have there...

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

No you don`t just stack them!!!!

You make a frame to sit your jack stand base in then bolt it . So it can`t move at the wrong time.

Making sure to counter sink the bolts on the bottom side so the wood sits flush on the floor if working in dirt or stones make sure the base sits flat and level.

Stay away from cinder blocks bricks and such they do tend to crush at the wrong time .

*** you can never have to many jack stands!!

rangerruck

... that is what I meant; not to just stack them loose, but stack and then put them together. So you say use bolts- do you countersink those? You don't make those go all the way through all layers of wood , do you?

betelnut

As long as layers of wood can't slide off each other, and the jackstand can't slide off the wood, it's all good. One way to do it: Use big screws of the right length with the heads on top. They wouldn't protrude from the bottom of the platform, so the bottom is still flat. If placed strategically, the heads on top of the platform could keep the jack stand from sliding off the wood.

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

Mine are just 2 pair of 2x4s cut a little longer than the stand base is wide. Then I have then in a square shape, two on the bottom running one way and the two on top running perpendicular, screwed or nailed at the corners. Nice thing is the first time you use them, the base of the stand makes a little indentation into the top of the wood, maybe 1/8" deep. Then just place the stand into that same indentation the next time and it holds it nice and secure. My old driveway used to be some 50 year old asphalt and I would run into soft spots where the bare stands would sink into, but eh wooden bases kept that from happening. Likely would be good if you worked on dirt of gravel as well.

rangerruck

betelnut; that is a good idea- I was at first thinking, now I really don't want anything protruding on top, so how do I get rid of the boltheads?
but your idea is better...

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

You could countersink the holes deep enough to bury the bolt heads in.