Jacking up the transmission

[aeg]

Looks like I will finally have a chance to replace my transmission solenoid in a week or two. What do people put under the transmission when jacking it up? Is 2x4 lumber wide enough? 2x6, 2x8? How long? I'm probably overthinking this...

[MarinerMan]

When I had to jack things to replace the mounts, I used a piece of 2x4 between a bottle jack and the trans. It worked well enough. All you need is something softer than aluminum. And it doesn’t really distribute the load any more to have a larger piece than you need. But any decent chunk of 2x material should work. Be careful on the fasteners. The steel bolts like to dig in to the aluminum and can tear or break if you aren’t careful. Penetrating oil and small movements help. Break it free without breaking things.