you need decent jack stands

[grumpyvette]

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=34924


12 ton jack stands #34924

normally $80 for two, now on sale for $55 for two

now theres not much at harbor freight thats well worth the price but these are low tech and well worth the cost, Ive had 6 in the shop for years, they are just the correct height at the lowest setting to work under your car and FAR AWAY MUCH LARGER AND STEADIER, more heavily built, and not nearly as easy to tip the car over with when you use them as the cheap and more comon 3 and 6 ton jack stands most guys use

are you not going to feel like a morron if the car falls from some cheap bargin jack stand when for a few dollars more you could have had substantiaslly larger and strong and much more stabile stands under the frame?

ANOTHER OPTION IS USE OF RAMPS BUT.. your average auto store ramps ,(especially the cheap stamped steel versions)are dangerous and won,t allow the corvettes low approch angle to drive up on them, get the tires centered off/center and they frequently bend or tip, the RINO RAMPS work ok, but are FAR from high enought or stabile enought for serious work, and they tend to skid as you try to roll up on them occasionally


heres some better options

http://www.chapmanenterprise.com/jack_rabbit.html

look closely at the details on these ramps, you could buy those or weld up something similar at reasonable cost and with custom dimensions

http://www.raceramps.com/store/shopexd.asp?id=62
much better but not nearly high enought for serious work

http://www.discountramps.com/sports_car_ramps.htm

http://www.discountramps.com/mini-sp...lift-ramps.jpg

much better
but still too low


http://www.kwiklift.com/

excellent value but expensive at $1600 for the heavy duty set Id suggest as its a small increase in price over the standard set

http://www.chapmanenterprise.com/products.html

these are made to YOUR specs if you want them custom


btw about 75%-90% of the stuff you see on sale at HF is not good quality, but there are a few exceptions, the 12 ton jack stands I think are in that few, that are decent quality, simply because the technology is old, the steel is cheap and theres a significant safety margin in useing a 12 ton rated jack stand on a car that will place less than 1800 lbs or ONE TON load per jack. I would not use the 3 ton rated jacks on a lawn mower, the 6 ton are ok, but a good deal smaller/lighter, and since its MY BUTT under the car I use the 12 ton HF jack stands, and in many cases I leave the two hydrolic jacks supporting the car also, and Ive left the rhino ramps under the front wheels when they won,t cause an access problem, like when changing u-joints, or half shafts, brake jobs, changing a fuel filter ,etc.

iF youve ever checked OUT those 12 ton jack stands closely youll soon see that those are a HUGE EXCEPTION to the normal CRAPPY HF stuff, probably because STEEL, and HEAVY CASTINGS are fairly cheap to produce and the TECHNOLOGY is VERY OLD and EASY TO PRODUCE in CHINA at a VERY reasonable cost

which do you think is a better deal, (4) 8 ton jack stands for $800 with only 3 heights

http://www.asedeals.com/jack_stands.html



or (4) 12 ton jack stands for under $140 68LBS FOR TWO (thats a good bit of steel) with about 8 height choices and a far stronger locking mechanisum

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=34924
BTW,the 12 ton jacks give the clearance for an extra mechanics pad and a mechanics creeper

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...8274_200198274


they do make a 6 ton version, and its far better than your average auto parts store crappy 3 ton stands

"how do you get the HF 12 ton jack stands under the vette?, my floor jack won,t lift that high (20")"


GOOD VALID QUESTION!, PROBABLY WE SHOULD discuss it


most comon floor jacks have a max lift height between 18"-22" I have a pair of 3 ton floor jacks,that originally only lift to 20" and thats really too tight to clear,
your surely not alone in having too lift the car in steps to place the taller 12 ton jack stands or similarly tall jack stands that allow full access under the car.
now in my case I found the darn floor jack won,t fit under the corvette as it sits on the shop floor unless you use some careful planing first, I drive the vette up on plastic rhino ramps to get the necessary clearance, I place the first floor jack and lift the front K-member and place the two front 12 ton jack stands on the frame near the a arms on the frame, I then remove the front floor jack and place it and my second floor jack under the rear side frame behind the doors on each side, I jack each side up a bit, then swap to the other side in several stages IF im alone, (naturally if I have help both sides get jacked up at the same time)untill its high enough to place each of the two or four remaining 12 ton jacks into place under the frame.
now a bit of info Ive installed 1 3/4" thick rubber pads that are approximately 4" in dia. on both my floor jacks to both get the necessary lift and protect the frame from scratches these are made from thick sections of earth mover or dump truck tire tread rubber I found at a dump

"1: why 12 ton? Ain't 6 ton more than enough?
2: how do you jack up the car? do you enroll your wife?
3: what floor jack do you use? Prices vary quite a bit?" (1)
the
12 ton are BOTH FAR MORE STABILE from tipping or the car shifting, AND on the first notch they are exactly the correct height to allow comfortably accessing the under side of the car, place the 6 ton next to a 12 ton and raise both to the height of the 12 ton stands on the first notch, theres absolutely no comparison in your safety under the car, THERES ABSOLUTELY NO WAY YOU CAN COMPARE THE DEGREE OF STABILITY THE LARGER BASE AND STRONGER MATERIALS THE 12 TON STANDS PROVIDE

(2)OK first you DON,T raise a vette one corner at a time! you drive it up on the ramps to get clearance for the jack then slide the floor jack under the center of the front (CROSS MEMBER) and lift the front and place BOTH front 12 ton jack stands, under the frame , wide spaced, then the angle allows you to either use a second floor jack or move the front floor jack to the rear of the vette, and lift the whole back and place both REAR 12 ton jack stands, on the rear frame. now personally I usually leave the rear jack stands and the jack holding the rear up ,and the 12 ton jack stands on the front with the tires hanging just above the ramps, that way theres almost no chance the vette can fall, even if some component were to fail.
Ill ALSO point out I have and have always used two floor jacks, twin rino ramps and 4 12 ton jack stand WHEN I was under the corvette as I don,t want to be doing bench presses with a vette!:WTF


(3)theres several deals available, and the quality varies wildly, youll need to shop, http://www2.northerntool.com/product/200345429.htm

this jack looks good in the info they posted, but if you can afford it ID buy two, so you can jack the frame with a buddies help with minimal frame twist.
I have two craftsman floor jacks and while they have worked well for years Id more than likely have purchased those if Id known about them at the time I bought them