The other day at the tire shop, the guys put a floor jack under the middle of the rear axle and lifted the truck supported by the axle housing (right under the drain plug).

Is this safe?? Does everyone but me feel comfortable lifting the whole rear-end of the truck with a jack under your ring gear? or is the housing really up to the job?

It made me feel a bit un-easy. As stated in the owners manual, I always raise the rear axle at each end, near the u-bolts.

 

I've lifted my 4Runner countless times from that point.

Plus slammed countless rocks there as well. I wouldn't worry about the support capability of the housing. Always make sure the jack you choose is up to the task however.

Maybe loading the very end of the pinion could be a problem... but no one would suggest placing a jack there.

Even that would probably hold up.

 

yeah, i've whacked that thing a million times. Also lifted there many times.

 

Good to know!!

Now that I have dedicated trail and DD tires sets, I will be changing tires a lot. Placing the jack in only one spot front (under ifs cross member) and then one spot rear (under center of housing) will save a bunch of time.

I have been driving around town on my "new-to-me" 34x9.50's, and it totally kills my top-speed and fuel economy, so, I will continue to use my 30"ers on the pavement.

thanks!

 

As stated above, not a problem, I do it all the time and have been for a long time. I have almost shaved off my drain plugs from dragging it over too many rocks at that point.

 

That's the factory jack point on my AWD subaru. it always trips me out to see the diff get tucked about 1.5" before lifting the car, but hey. It's held up.

 

I'm with you dude, it makes me nervous too!! The entire weight of the vehicle in that point, and a long lever out to the point of weight. I have seen axles bent at that point before (not from lifting).

It's probably fine, but I avoid it.

 

where else are you suppose to jack it from i guess the frame would work if you had a 4post lift

 

Whatever. Its all I use. On any car that has a "solid" rear axle.. safest place IMHO.
Note that I jack under the AXLE HOUSING and not by the THRID MEMBER (added stress to the diff seal). Not that wacking it off roading seems to have harmed it any

Toyota TRUCK... remember.. these things are tuff

 

thats how we do it at our tire shop , where else can i jack up both tires from

 

That's the point, it is supposed to be one tire at a time, but hey, apparently, it can't hurt.

No service/owners manual I have ever seen suggests jacking up BOTH tires at the same time.

 

Lifting from the rear axle is fine..

 

i lift mine there every time i lift the rear end, if i need to do axle/suspension work, i lift it up high from the rear diff, jack stand the frame, and let the axle come back down.

 

x100000 or whatever we're up to. I DO try and align the "tabs" on the pad of the jack so one of the low points goes across the diff drain. I REALLY need to get an allen type drain plug before a rock grinds down the standard one enough that I can't get a socket on it...

 

Been there...It sucks.

 

I love bolt offs, I really hate the allen head type bolts.. They can and will strip out if your not carefull.

 

As long as it's a solid axle, I don't see the problem. I've done it for more years than I care to admit. But, I always put a set of jack stands under each end of the axle, once I have it to the height I need, to keep it stable. The center housing is cast iron, and shouldn't have any effect on the ring gear or pinion as long as the center housing is cradled in the jack cup. I also make sure I am using a jack rated to lift that weight by at least a factor of 3.

 

I am guessing there are few reasons for this.

1. The factory scissor or even bottle type jacks are generally unstable and probably not up to the task of raising one end of vehicle at once. It would be spooky and unstable if they did.

2. Manuals are directing you how to change a single flat, so there would be no reason to try and raise both sides at once.

3. It's ultimately safer to raise one side at a time and for liability reasons, manuals are almost always going to err on the side of caution.

Regardless of the manual, I am sure you are wise enough to support the vehicle with correctly rated jack stands once it gets off the ground before you go under or start your project... what ever it may be.

 

Ive raised front axles with jacks and used the jack to hold them up. The factory jack is junk and only for lifting one side of a vehicle at once. What you need is a real jack, like a 3 ton jack, thats what i always used 3 ton or better rated stuff.

 

Yep, lift mine like that all the time. Picked up a long arm HF floor jack for just that purpose. It is long enough to reach under the axle and have the handle out back of the truck. If I am going to work on more than tires, I'll lift it high enough to slide jack stands under the frame, then pull the wheels off and lower it down: