new jack stands

[cn90]

Keep your 30-yr jack stand, it was built better back then.

Go to Harbor Freight or Northern Tools and buy a "Screw Jack" for $45. This is AKA "Railroad jack".

Whenever I jack the car up for repair, I always use 2 devices:

1. The standard 4-leg jack stand.

2. The "Screw jack" is great b/c you can place it under the subframe and crank it up until it is snug against the subframe.

The car is now supported by 2 devices, it is bullet-proof.

I posted photos of jack screw in forum.

[abscate]

Like most folks I’ve gravitated to plastic ramps for convenience. That does raise the question of lifetime, as plastic fails catastrophically as compared To metal

Last time Wcm and I used ramps I noticed they are cracked o; the bottom, So I set a jack stand after in ramped up.

That’s not a bad practice with ramps at any age

I’m definitely buying those screw type jack stands.

[cn90]

Don't use plastic ramps.

I built my own wood ramps, 3 layers of 2x10 wood. Bullet-proof.

[cn90]

Re: standard jack stand...

Many people don't realize this, but the weight of the car comes down to the welding joint!
In the video below, you can see when the hydraulic press comes down, the welding joint goes first.

So...if you are worried, then place a piece of wood with the correct height directly below the vertical piece (the piece that goes up and down in the jack stand). This way the weight goes down on:
The vertical piece ---> wood ---> concrete floor.

[precopster]

I've never liked pin stands because of the amount of time you need to spend under a car to fit and release them. I much prefer the ratchet type stands and they were designed to overcome safety concerns with the pin type stands. I know I'm talking about a difference of just seconds here but the redundancy in the ratchet type is that they support weight at any height and you can have a car "fall" on them if the hydraulic jack fails suddenly.

[abscate]

Well , it’s seconds to roll out from under, and 10 mseconds for the car to fall, so you are 500x slower than the Grim Reaper.

[abscate]

Yeah, I kind of feel the same way (I keep way too much stuff) but metal can fatigue over time and after 30 years I'm willing to retire them to a secondary role. They still work - so far. If they didn't I wouldn't be writing this.

I think you are over worrying on this a bit. It’s cycles which fatigue metal, not time. If the paint Is intact and they have been kept indoors, they will be fine.

We have 300 year supply of understanding steel , 1500 if you include Asia which our history books haven’t invented yet, in your favor.

I’m still trying to source the screw types, HF doesn’t have them

[cn90]

abscate,

Google "5-Ton Screw Jack", you will see it for sales at Norther Tool or Amazon for $50.
I like the screw jack much better than "bottle jack" simply b/c the screw type is maintenance-free.
The bottle jack, with its hydraulic seal nature, can leak.
The screw type is basically bullet-proof.

[JimBee]

10 x 10's hold up a house. Plus a couple of 3x's and/or 2x's for exact height. I keep a stack of short pieces in my work area. That's what I use for main support after jacking with my HF aluminum "racing" type hydraulic jack.

[abscate]

When I did my clutch job, involving pulling big parts around with the car up in the air, I had railroad ties under it so I had no chance of playing squished bug.