Suspension Work on Jack Stands (1 Viewer)

[florida95fzj]

Does anyone recall what height jack stands they needed on the frame to droop the axle enough to remove the springs?

I'm trying to avoid my creative cribbing techniques from my youth that likely should have killed me. My 6-ton jack stands max out just under 24" and they weren't tall enough for the rear springs. Putting my bottle jack between the bump stop and axle actually started to raise the frame off of the jack stand. Looks like the next step up in jack stands would get me to ~30".

Not sure if stand placement is the problem. I've tried in front of the rear wheels on the frame as well as to the rear of the wheels parallel to where the spare tire would be. In front of the rear wheels just seems way to far back towards the middle of the truck.

So far I've got both shocks removed and a sway bar link removed with a broken bolt, of course.

 

[TurboDennis]

Just go to Home Depot, buy a 2x12" and have them cut it into 12x12" squares. Put a couple (or more, if needed) of them on the ground as "base" under the jackstands to increase their effective height. Easy, safe and cheap.

 

[CharlieS]

12 Ton jack stands work well.

 

[greentruck]

I bought some new Harbor Freight Dayton Heavy Duty 6 ton jack stands to install air bags on the rear of my LX 450 and they were just enough. My old 4 ton jacks weren't tall enough on this truck, although they worked on my old 80 series with the OME stock coils (862). The LX is lifted with OME 866 in back near as I can tell. The 6 ton jack stands are 23 3/4" tall fully extended.

 

[Rusty Marlin]

I cribbed my 6 ton variant, so that's not it.

 

[florida95fzj]

Just go to Home Depot, buy a 2x12" and have them cut it into 12x12" squares. Put a couple (or more, if needed) of them on the ground as "base" under the jackstands to increase their effective height. Easy, safe and cheap.

12 Ton jack stands work well.

I bought some new Harbor Freight Dayton Heavy Duty 6 ton jack stands to install air bags on the rear of my LX 450 and they were just enough.

Thanks everyone. I should have upgraded jack stands by now and also had some lumber wide enough for decent cribbing. I didn't realize the new Daytona style were better built than the old style that had a lot of play. I am going to pick up a pair.

@greentruck did you have to disconnect any suspension part other than the sway bars to get those springs out? After my first bolt broke, I've been trying to minimize what I remove.

 

[Broski]

Really depends on what springs you have but about 30”
I put the jack stands right behind frame side control arm mounts.
I disconnect the drive shaft, sway bar & pan hard bar.
After that I’m able to just put my foot on the axle to push down and remove the springs.

 

[Mat Jadamec]

X2 on the 12 tons. Mines up on them right now for the rear. Actually replaced the axle too in this set up.

 

[bicycleagent003]

Regarding jack stands, after the Harbor Freight recall of all of their jack stands a couple of years ago I replaced all my jack stands with the kind that have a secondary bar for securing them at height. Like this:

The picture is from the Torin 6 Ton stands, which I use and like. I won't get under a car without that double security now. I think it's worth it, I own two sets of stands with that feature. YMMV, just my two cents. We weekend wrenchers gotta be careful.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BFDK7VM2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

[florida95fzj]

Thanks for the tip on the latest HF stands. I just picked up the 12 ton version since it goes to 30" and was only $50 more than the 6 ton.

I have been using the pin-only style for safety but pin-only gets really expensive in the larger sizes. I didn't know someone invented a pin + ratchet style jack for a decent price.

Too late for today but hopefully I can get these springs out next weekend. I have too much grease or oil on the rear diff that needs cleaning anyway.

 

[OffRoadScott]

We have some 12 ton jacks at work but I use a forklift to raise the 80 then setup jack stands on the frame right behind the radius arms mounts.

 

[CharlieS]

Regarding jack stands, after the Harbor Freight recall of all of their jack stands a couple of years ago I replaced all my jack stands with the kind that have a secondary bar for securing them at height. Like this:
View attachment 3809327

The picture is from the Torin 6 Ton stands, which I use and like. I won't get under a car without that double security now. I think it's worth it, I own two sets of stands with that feature. YMMV, just my two cents. We weekend wrenchers gotta be careful.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BFDK7VM2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

The latest hF 12 ton have that locking bar.

 

[CruiserDave]

So do my 6 tons. Which is what I used to install my icon lift, all new rear control arms, radius arms and delta rear bracket.

 

[greentruck]

Thanks everyone. I should have upgraded jack stands by now and also had some lumber wide enough for decent cribbing. I didn't realize the new Daytona style were better built than the old style that had a lot of play. I am going to pick up a pair.

@greentruck did you have to disconnect any suspension part other than the sway bars to get those springs out? After my first bolt broke, I've been trying to minimize what I remove.

Yeah, CruiserDave is right. The new 6 ton jacks stands also have the new locking feature. Keep in mind that when going for a 12 ton jack instead, it's taller than the 6 ton is when both are fully down. This can be a consideration depending on how much lift your truck has on it. These jacks also feature a substantially stiffer construction than previous ones had.

No one's mentioned it yet, but keep in mind an old hillbilly safety feature. Position your wheels when they come off so they are situated UNDERNEATH the frame rails so that no matter how a lift failure may happen, the truck can't get any lower than wheel width. This is also a good field expedient safety measure, as well as getting them out of the way in a crowded shop.

florida95fzj,
As I recall, I only needed the link to the swaybar on each side loosened. But then I wasn't paying attention and was diverted then looked around only to see that the swaybar had rotated down to point at the ground. This was a PITA to get back in place, but some baling wire should keep things in place to start with.

Keep juicing anything not already loosened. That helps make sure that bolts loosen rather than break. I try to do this everyday for a week before dealing with any major surgery underneath the truck.

 

[Broski]

No one's mentioned it yet, but keep in mind an old hillbilly safety feature. Position your wheels when they come off so they are situated UNDERNEATH the frame rails so that no matter what a lift failure may happen, the truck can't get any lower than wheel width. This is also a good field expedient safety measure, as well as getting them out of the way in a crowded shop.

^^^^ This is what I all ways do.

Keep juicing anything not already loosened. That helps make sure that bolts loosen rather than break. I try to do this everyday for a week before dealing with any major surgery underneath the truck.

I have never had to do this as I have a clean rust Free west coast rig. Zero broken bolts.

 

[Bear]

Retired fire captain shared horror stories of calls he rolled on where homeowners were crushed when jacks and jack stands failed. He told me that despite the cost he would only buy from USA manufacturers and only their products made here, not farmed out overseas. He said these manufacturers carried huge liability insurance policies and had a lot to lose if sued following a death--and that the products were better engineered with that in mind. Sounded about right.

 

[florida95fzj]

Retired fire captain shared horror stories of calls he rolled on where homeowners were crushed when jacks and jack stands failed. He told me that despite the cost he would only buy from USA manufacturers and only their products made here, not farmed out overseas. He said these manufacturers carried huge liability insurance policies and had a lot to lose if sued following a death--and that the products were better engineered with that in mind. Sounded about right.

This has been my philosophy until now. I recall I spent a bit extra for made in the USA stands over the years but they were shorter with lower weight ratings. The difference in cost back then wasn't insurmountable. I was just looking up Hein-Werner's jack stands for heights of 30" with a 10 ton per pair weight rating. It would be just under $800 for 2.

I own the Daytona pin-style 22 ton jack stands but they max out at 20" of lift. They are about 40 lbs each and the welds look good. They look exactly like what ESCO is selling as well. They are massive and the pictures online don't represent the size very well. I think I will screw together some lumber to use these as a backup pair to go along with the taller HF 12 tons I bought.

 

[bicycleagent003]

I also like the taller and beefier jack stands, but at some point the added weight of slinging them around the driveway gets old. Or I'm just old.
I think made in the USA is a good idea, but I can't absorb that price point. For me, the jack stands with two levels of security are sufficient. And, when I'm working under the truck and have not removed a wheel that I can put under it (seems often), I just leave my hydraulic jack in the up and locked position a couple millimeters below the resting height of the rig. So, at that point, the truck is resting on two jack stands, each with a secondary security feature, and the jack is in a backup position. That's my approach, at least.
And don't forget to chock those front wheels when you start jacking up the rear axle, so the truck doesn't roll toward you down the driveway. That happened to me a few weeks ago, for a brief moment. Man, I wish I had a two post lift at home.

 

[ZackR]

I have some old Walker jack stands but they were not tall enough so I added some cribbing underneath and set them to a lower level. The back wheels were chocked up tight (front and back side).

I didn't really spend any time fully underneath with this setup. It worked but I'm sure there's a better way.

 

[Marvelicious]

I have some old Walker jack stands but they were not tall enough so I added some cribbing underneath and set them to a lower level. The back wheels were chocked up tight (front and back side).

I didn't really spend any time fully underneath with this setup. It worked but I'm sure there's a better way.

View attachment 3809689

You would be amazed at the size of some of the things I've seen cribbed up on wood blocks in the industrial construction world. I wouldn't be scared of that setup at all. If you don't hear wood splintering as the load comes down on the block, it's fine. Seriously.