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I have used my emergency jack to lift the car and placed the stands somewhat behind where the emergency jack is, on a cross member where I saw that car was lifted from there before (black rubberish undercoating was chipped there on both sides). Don't know how you call that part of the car, but jack saddle fit perfectoly there. I got the jack stands from Sears for 15USD a pair, they rate 2-1/4 ton.
Any tips on proper use of jack stands? Is it Ok to still use my emergency jack to lift the car? I did see a small automotive jsck at Sears for about 15USD too, the end is round, where would that fit on the 240? Same place where I place the jack stand?
Thanks.
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'89 244DL M47 158K miles
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Where you place stands depends on the job at hand... The rear axel is a good place in most cases, unless you are doing bushings. In that case the area where the jack goes is better. That way you can work the axel as needed..
The front jack points are good places to work the front suspention as if you wanted to deal with the struts...
If you raise the front end for a oil change you can place the stands under the lower control arm.
What is bothering me is no one said to leave the car in neutral and have NO brake set. Place blacks near a wheel fore and aft but not so the wheel can not roll at all! Raising car makes it roll towards a jack, and it must roll or the jack most roll if you raise any pair of wheels at once..
If not you are in danger of having the car slide off the jack, or tipping a jack over!
The jack that comes with the car is meant to change a flat and that is about all it is good for if that... if you were to use 2 jacks like that on the same side you would see the other side drag towards the jacks...
Raising 2 wheels on the same side is not standard...
A half decent floor jack cost about $125.00 and if you intend to work on a car for more or less any project a good jack is what you want. It is Safer and it works faster....
If you raise the front or the rear it matters not.. Once stands are in place under one end it does matter that the jack rolls towards the stand in place!
If the jack does not roll then you are pulling the car OFF the stands.. Stands will not slide.
It might be you think the jack cost is high, but it isn't compared to a trip to the morgue....... Mac
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Hi Mac,
152USD is a bit much for my budget right now.
I saw at Sears a hydraulic automotive jack for 15USD, is that any good and any improvement over the emergency jack? It's cylindrical and the part that connects to the car is round shape, somewhat bigger than a US quarter.
Any point of view on these?
Now I use the jack stands to do maintenance work and not major repairs -- just for coolant flush, manual transmission oil change, O2 sensor replacement, etc.
So mostly front work.
The way I used the jack stands was as follow :
1) level ground such as my garage
2) car off with emergency brake on and engaged in first gear (should I go in reverse maybe?)
3) raise the car with emergency jack
4) placed jack stand under car, lowered car and did other side same way
Is that safe when I have only 2 wheels off the ground?
Thanks Mac.
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'89 244DL M47 158K miles
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Any link to the sears jack? From what you say it appears as a bottle jack, but I have no idea what it really is... I don't like the sounds of it much.. A floor jack has a pan which grips a car...
Never get under a car on any jack ever and I don't care how new and good or trusted the jack is.. Unless of course you can pick up the car with one hand tied behind yer back...
Using the jack that comes in the car you can use the brake and be in gear, as the jack pulls side ways. Then you want the car to not move forwards or backwards for sure or the jack will tip over forwards or backwards..
It is not a great idea to raise one wheel and place a stand under that side and then go and raise another. Doing that the stand could tip and or the jack could tip.. Either way it will raise your blood pressure...
Most of the work you are doing, you could do by driving up on a few planks..
There are ramps as well but IF you consider these bolt them to a pair of planks so they don't tip over as well... I hate ramps my self and they limit what you can do... A good deal of jobs can not be done on ramps...
With good stands and I mean good ones and not el cheapo junk which is dangerous, and a good jack used wisely you are safe... Anything else is far from safe IMO...
Stands that are good have 4 widely spaced floor contact points not 3.. the ones with 3 points of contact are for storing boat trailers off the ground and like things.. whimmpy pipe stands are not what you want your life to depend on.
I can't stress this enough... I hate the jacks cars come with... They should be outlawed, not be included or be well made... The entire industry thinks they are quaint I guess, but none offer a decent jack as far as I am concerned.
I believe the industry does not think for a second any of these jacks will ever be used... To use most of them is a effort in frustration if you ask me.
I am rather blunt I know, and not too many like what I have to say much, but for a long time I earned a living working on cars...
I burnt out and can't remember lots of it, and so make errors when it come to what year had just what... When a car is in my face I can and do deal with it...
Once it is out of sight it is as if it was never there to me these days...
I enjoy trying to help, and the last thing I want is to see a guy crushed.
I have seen that before and it is far from pretty.... I don't expect details are in order....
I know for a fact if a bottle jack is used and you lock the set of wheels that you intend to remain on the floor, can not move the jack will tip over at a point, or slip....
Depending, one way brings the car down fast, and the other way the jack and the car are both damaged and if you are under it you won't care much.
In my opinion the 15 bucks will be spent poorly... You may include a link and I will look.... If you prefer my e-mail is mac_muz15@hotmail.com ...
After I raise any vehical I give it a good shove to be sure it is going to stay put... Be safe Live long eh? Mac
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Like Mac, I too give a thumbs-down to bottle jacks. Spring the money for a trolley jack. Another plus to the trolley jack, is that it sets on four wheels, so it can move as the car is lifted without losing stability.
I like to use ramp stands for a number of things (e.g., changing the oil). Making your own out of wood (e.g., 2x12's) is an option, but the plastic ones can be had for not too much money, are much lighter, and I like the recess and lip that hold the tires in place.
An example of what I recommend as far as jacks and stands can be found by searching the Sears website for item #00950134000.
"After I raise any vehical I give it a good shove to be sure it is going to stay put... Be safe Live long eh? Mac "
GREAT ADVICE!!!
Good luck,
Keith
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1983 245 Turbo, 165K miles; 1987 244 DL, 272K miles; 1980 244 DL (RIP); 1966 Ford Bronco- straight six, three-on-the-tree, NO frills
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Thanks Keith.
What's the difference with an item like
#00950523000
also a floor jack but much cheaper, under 40USD, (without jack stands of course, but I already have them).
Will that do? And is that an improvement over the emergency jack?
100USD for a floor jack is too much for me, looking for something cheaper.
Thanks.
--
'89 244DL M47 158K miles
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That jack is certainly a vast improvement over a scissor jack. I think that I might actually have that one, or maybe it is this one (item#00950143000). I am at work, and the jack is at home. The advantage of the bigger jack is the bigger size of both the jack itself and the lifting cup (more stable).
Good luck,
Keith
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1983 245 Turbo, 165K miles; 1987 244 DL, 272K miles; 1980 244 DL (RIP); 1966 Ford Bronco- straight six, three-on-the-tree, NO frills
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Your jack should be fine on level ground. If you are going to use it a lot, make sure it is well lubed...wheel bearing grease should be fine. When using other types of jack, I like to use a wood or rubber pad between the jack and car when possible.
Jacstands...If you will be using them in the mud, weld a peice of plate steel across the bottom.
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On the front, it is possible to get a jackstand right behind the emergency jack points. On the rear there is no such framing member, so I like to use the rear axle. The exhaust pipe makes the passenger side a bit of a tight fit, but it works.
Although it's possible to get by without a good hydraulic floor jack and just use the emergency jack, I'd really recommend a good floor jack as a pretty basic necessity in any garage. They aren't that expensive, and there are certain jobs like clutch work where the emergency jack just won't cut it.
Despite the Bentley manual's thoroughness in other areas, its diagram for jacking points is a simple sketch of the car from the side with two arrows pointing to the front and rear of the car.
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I always put the stands under a frame rail or under the axle, depending on which tires I need off the ground / which part of the car I need to access.
I like to use a trolley jack, and I place the lifting cup under the jack points or under the "pumpkin." A hydraulic trolley jack is easier to use and more stable than the scissor jack.
Take care,
Keith
--
1983 245 Turbo, 165K miles; 1987 244 DL, 272K miles; 1980 244 DL (RIP); 1966 Ford Bronco- straight six, three-on-the-tree, NO frills
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I assume by "pumpkin" you mean the differential?
I always struggle with finding a good jack point, essentially I am using it to jack the car, then have to search for another place to put the jack stand. I like the idea of using the rear axle. I'll try it and the differential (if it's the pumpkin) the next time I need to.
Thanks,
Mike
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Yep, "pumpkin" = differential.
Keith
--
1983 245 Turbo, 165K miles; 1987 244 DL, 272K miles; 1980 244 DL (RIP); 1966 Ford Bronco- straight six, three-on-the-tree, NO frills
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Thanks Keith.
The frame rail? Is that behind the jack point and running all along the car on both sides?
I saw that the rubberish undercoating was off on the frame rail, should I apply some new undercoating there? Should I put something on my jack stand so that it does not damage the undercoating, such as a small piece of carpet or rubber? Or it does not matter really.
Thanks.
--
'89 244DL M47 158K miles
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"The frame rail? Is that behind the jack point and running all along the car on both sides?"
If you are looking at the car from the side, then yes, the frame rail is "behind" the jack point. And it runs front to back.
I would not put anything between the jackstand and the car for safety reasons. "Fixing" the scraped undercoating is your call. I don't think that the jackstand will hurt anything, but bare metal is obviously prone to rust. Some undercoating in a spray can or a rattle can of black paint would probably work fine.
Keith
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1983 245 Turbo, 165K miles; 1987 244 DL, 272K miles; 1980 244 DL (RIP); 1966 Ford Bronco- straight six, three-on-the-tree, NO frills
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