12 ton jack stands arrived

[rhyary]

Ebag,
The idea of the second stand is to give you a chance to get the hell from under the truck. Not continue to work on it if the first one fails.

Rami

 

[Doc]

I see a set of these stands in my future as well. Pretty cheap, all things considered.

I have also gotten into the habit of tossing the removed wheel under the frame rail. It may not prevent some broken ribs, but it just might save a life.

 

[Doc]

Ebag,
The idea of the second stand is to give you a chance to get the hell from under the truck. Not continue to work on it if the first one fails.

Rami

No, what he's saying is that you won't have time to get out from under the truck after you hear the first one fail, because the truck will smack down on the 2nd jack- which will also fail because of the increased downward forces of a freefalling truck.

 

[Ebag333]

Ebag,
The idea of the second stand is to give you a chance to get the hell from under the truck. Not continue to work on it if the first one fails.

Rami

No, what he's saying is that you won't have time to get out from under the truck after you hear the first one fail, because the truck will smack down on the 2nd jack- which will also fail because of the increased downward forces of a freefalling truck.

What he said.

If the first one fails, even a quarter of an inch fall could get up into the 12 ton weight range. If the jack stand is under the axle rather than frame, then that number drops a lot due to the springs absorbing some of the force.

Regardless, if the first one cannot handle the weight then the second one will not be able to either. If the first one fails due to a part failure, then the second one may be able to, but only if it is sized big enough to handle the weight of the vehicle multiplied by the downward movement.

Do you want to trust 6 ton stands (which is really only 3 tons per stand) to catch 12+ tons of force? If that were to happen I would be willing to bet that you wouldn't have time to blink before the second stand failed.

 

[Butt Ugly Chuck]

Huh, tell us more on this tale?

Linky Here

 

[Kernal]

These are all good points. I have to admit once I started researching jack stands here and on the net and then reading stories about someone's brother, uncle, friend found crushed under their rigs I started to get serious about safety.

 

[sandcruiser]

I won't dissuade anyone from taking a safer approach
but actual practice demonstrates that 3ton or 6ton stands are sufficient for holding up a 3 ton vehicle, if used property and assuming that we are talking about 1 stand per corner.

I poked around google for "fail jack stand" and variants and found few links in which people report failed jack stands.

while getting a bigger/badder/strong stand is good, focusing on proper use is probably more relevant for most users.

 

[e9999]

well, no doubt we don't know what "3 tons stand" really mean as far as working vs breaking strength.
No doubt there is crap quality out there.
However, given the current lawyerish climate in the US, I doubt that big companies like Sears etc would sell "3 ton" stand pairs that could not routinely hold 3 tons of static weight. Picture the lawsuits. So I'll take that to mean the rating usually mean working load, not breaking load.
Having said that, it is possible / likely? that any given stand, especially inexpensive ones, may suffer from a critical defect of manufacturing that would make the rating moot. Always a possibility. That's why I use 12 tons (and for the stability etc etc).

 

[Kernal]

I talked to a manufacturer's "tech" guy today and asked them how they test their jack stands, he said that every stand is tested at the factory to 125% of it's rated capacity. I asked him to email me the report, and he did!! But what he sent me was a testing lab report for a 3 ton floor jack (he apparently confused jack stand with floor jack, duh). The floor jack however was tested at 125% rated capacity and to pass couldn't drop more than 0.187 inch over ten minutes while a 7500lb load was held on the saddle, FWIW. I'll post it up once I get it scanned.

 

[seppo]

I have a story that fits well here. I'm a firefighter and we've been fabricating a vehicle fire prop from angle iron and sheet metal (think 'mad max' with propane burners). My final task on the 4000lb car was to finish welding the simulated wheels from the back side. I jacked the car up w our napa floor jack (the dept never bought jack stands) and proceeded to stick my head underneath to weld the front wheels "real quick". For some reason I stopped, being more safety conscious than usual. I took some scrap angle iron and tacked it to the frame and butted it to a crossmember with another weld. It was about a half inch off the concrete floor w the jack still supporting the car. When i finished a went to hammer out the makeshift jack stand and it was set firm against the concrete floor. The floor jack failed, and I never even knew until i was done. It was a real eye opener, and I'm going to probably toss my HF stands in the trash or just use them as backups. Sorry for the long story.

 

[Dave 2000]

As a kid I was working on a small ford when the scissor jack failed (typical, young and stupid), good job I put a couple of house bricks under there, the jack crashed down on the bricks which started to crack, I was lucky my mate pulled me out before the car came down. I suffered a bit of minor 'road rash', about 5 years later another friend died when his scissor jacked failed and crushed him.

I always use heavy stands and as above if possible throw a wheel/tyre combo under there for company.

regards

Dave

 

[SBFJ60FIG]

People do all sorts of silly things working on trucks. While helping a friend work on his Rover brakes (OK, I felt sorry for him !) I found this pic actually on one of the Rover sites and no one even commented on how dangerous this is.

The whole corner of the truck is held up by a bottle jack which is on three pieces of rock ! No jack stands or anything. Unbelievable !!!

It's only dangerous is you're under the truck..hell if it falls and you're clear of it when it happens, just adds a little time to the repair and gouges the hell out of the nice cement driveway.

Thought I would link the thread about the jack stand failure.

Thanks

sadly, same reason why you should use jackstands instead of just a floorjack. a good friend of mine lost a cousin when his floorjack failed...he wasn't using jackstands.

i'm guilty of it, i'm sure many others are, but a good reason to think about a quality set of stands and actually using them for something besides collecting dust under the workbench.

That's effing terrible...sorry man. And I will admit that I too will work on vehicles that are under a floor jack only. However, I will NEVER get under one. But I have friends working on stuff and I admonish them when I see body parts go under a vehicle that is not safely supported. Who gives a rat's ass if it hits the garage floor...but I give a rat's ass if it hits the garage floor with someone under it.

Ebag,
The idea of the second stand is to give you a chance to get the hell from under the truck. Not continue to work on it if the first one fails.

Rami

Did he really just say that? Uh, yeah good idea in theory, but I suspect that if you're on your back wrenching that you'll not have sufficient time to get out from under a falling car. And I don't want to see anyone try either.

 

[super90]

It's only dangerous is you're under the truck..hell if it falls and your clear of it when it happens, just adds a little time to the repair and gouges the hell out of the nice cement driveway.

I can't begin to think of any situation that would result in me feeling that the above pic was anywhere near "safe". Yes, on the side of the road, in the middle of no where, with little to work with, when "you gotta do what you gotta do", that is one thing. To intentionally leave your truck like this while working on it at your home or in your garage in totally irresponsible. There is just too much possiblility for someone or something to get hurt or damaged. Nothing good can come of it.

That's my two cents.

 

[HarleyHetz]

In reference to the bottle jack picture...all I can say is WOW...

 

[SBFJ60FIG]

I can't begin to think of any situation that would result in me feeling that the above pic was anywhere near "safe". Yes, on the side of the road, in the middle of no where, with little to work with, when "you gotta do what you gotta do", that is one thing. To intentionally leave your truck like this while working on it at your home or in your garage in totally irresponsible. There is just too much possiblility for someone or something to get hurt or damaged. Nothing good can come of it.

That's my two cents.

That's really just me being sarcastic...that is effing stupid! Like cosmic, supercharged, intercooled stupidity!

 

[super90]

That's really just me being sarcastic...that is effing stupid! Like cosmic, supercharged, intercooled stupidity!

Sorry, I honestly wasn't sure, and unfortunately, this topic really gets me going !

Now, back to doing some safe wrenching !!!

Keep the Cruiser Faith !

r.

 

[Kernal]

Update on ordering the 12 ton stands

I've tried calling a couple of Home Depots (not the original one) to check if I could duplicate this order at other stores but got nowhere. The people I talked to could not figure it out. The key is to get to a friendly unhurried assistant manager who apparently has to call the vendor directly (Torin in California) during a weekday to place the order. Point is it is not a stocked item so don't waste your time with the first person who answers the phone, talk to a manager and mention calling the vendor for the item number below. Also, if they order one (1) you will get one pair, if they order two (2) you will get two pair. Good luck, HTH.
SKU 293-435 (just gets them in the ballpark)
Item Description: T412002A 12 Ton Jack Stand DLB Lock

 

[wxm]

I went to two of the local HD. One of them never heard of special order , the other doesn't seem to be able to find the confirmed price. They were saying the special order price ($63 here in Jersey) is an out-dated price.

Anyway, I went ahead order a pair from JC Whitney for all Auto parts - Car, Truck, Jeep, Motorcycle & RV Parts. It cost about $61 including the over-weight shipping charge $12.99. (They have free shipping today, you just have to pay the over weight charge).

The torinjacks.com says the 12T (model: T412002A) uses double locking pawl and tooth design for extra protection, instead of the safety pin that OP pictured, and that is what jcwhitney shows too. Is it a new design or a wrong picture?

 

[Kernal]

wxm; The photo above is of the single lock type, which I think Torin doesn't make anymore, JCWhitney just hasn't updated their webpage. The double locking model is T412002A; the usual pawl plus the safety cross-pin. If you go back to JCWhitney's website the model number they list appears correct so what you should get is the style in the original posted photo. I just chatted with JCWhitney, the free shipping is on for another 35 minutes if anyone else wants to order a set.

 

[IronYuppy]

been discussed here, happened to a member. smallish stand that folded under a cruiser.

Happened to me, too. One (3 ton Mastercraft) stand failed when I was kneeling beside my truck and a brake rotor came down about two inches from my hand. Still gives me the willies to think about.

Never cheap-out on stands. And always have a back-up, too!