Golden Jubilee
Posts: 343
Joined: Wed May 29, 2013 6:50 am
Advice needed - Which tool or procedure do I use?
I finally brought my truck home a couple days ago. I doubt I'll be able to work on it any this year as the weather is already icy during the morning and below freezing at night. So the first thing I wanted to do was to put it up on jack stands and cover it with a good tarp. But I soon realized there wasn't enough room for both a bottle jack and jack stands under the rear axle. How does one normally raise and support the back (or front) of a truck like this?
What I finally did was to use a Hi-Lift jack with a 4 ft pipe as a handle extension. Could not use it anywhere on the body work as it, (the body), would bend. So I sat it next to the tire with the jack's lift platform just inside the rim and lifted that way. It worked, but I really don't think it was very safe. I worried that the jack's lifting platform end might pop out of the wheel rim, or the Hi-Lift jack itself might bend or collapse as I'm sure I was probably far exceeding the designed lifting capacity of the jack.
What's the proper way to lift and support each axle end on a truck like this? I've always been taught you don't lift a heavy truck with a floor jack by its axle pumpkin - is that true? I don't mind spending a hundred or two on some tool, but a couple grand on the hydraulic wheel lifts like they use in a truck tire shop is out of the budget. How should an individual put this truck on jack stands to work on it?
Thank you for any advice you can offer.