Concrete or cinder blocks with a board on the top of them. If I just need room to get under and don't need to pull the tires I use a wheel under the tire.
I use more jackstands. They're not that expensive, and I buy them whenever they're on sale, or I see them for a few bucks at garage sales.
Cinder blocks will get your ass killed. I put a car on cinderblocks a OT 300Z . 2 minites later she did belly flop on the shop floor. I'll stick to jack stands . Harbor Freight sells them to cheap not to have a few sets
I only have 4 I could use a couple more myself. On a side note I have only been trapped under a car twice in my life. once was my own fault using two bumper jacks to lift the rear off the ground to change gears. I got my first set of jackstands right after they got the car off me. The second time a jackstand folded up on me.
Good jackstands and a few 4"x6" blocks of pressure treated wood. The wood blocks are nice cause that won't take the paint off your frame and provide a larger surface area of support.
When I needed them yesterday afternoon, my jack stands were right where I left them a few days ago. I wasn't surprised, either.
Jackstands. I feel paranoid enough trusting my life to jackstands, I certainly don't trust my life to cinderblocks or chunks of wood.
This subject comes up every now and then, BUT it's good that's so, 'cause we all need to remind outselves of safe options. Jackstands are good, so long as they are on a level, solid surface that won't give way. Beaner is right that an inflated tire will keep your butt from gettin' squished. And Chuxx has a good idea about solid wood blocks, too; I used to keep several about 2-foot sections of kreosote-treated RR ties around for blocks, as well. I also believe in "redundancy," meaning chock your wheels, even though you've set the park and emergency brakes, jack the car up, then put at least one type of block/stand device under, leaving yourself enough room to work. Last but most important, jackstands are NOT the place to go cheap, since your ass may depend on them. As 26Roadtser said, pay extra for automotive-rated, name-brand stands -- not the cheap Chinese-made things.
I got rid of my old cheesy stamped steel one's for the beefier forged pair... I'll probably buy 2 more later on at some point.. Anyone ever make a set of stacked wooden drive up ramps???
Jimi Parking brake and park, in gear all bring up an amusing story. I have a friend that I have raced and built with for about the last 15 or 20 years. When his oldest boy was in high school and working on his first car (a lifted bronco) I happened into the driveway about the time he dropped the driveshaft. I guess it didn't occure to him that park didn't work if the drive shaft wasn't hooked up. DOH. I managed to pull the door open and mash the brake with my hand before it steam rolled him. He was busy trying to hook the driveshaft up with the truck rolling down the driveway. Pretty damned funny I don't care who you are.
I remember years ago scooting around under a car when I heard a stand move from me hitting it with my foot. Got the hell out of there, and after trying to reset the stand found that there was no way to get all 4 points on the car's frame to actually sit on a stand. It reminded me of the geometry rule that explains why a stool with 3 legs will never wobble but a chair with 4 legs usually does. Ever since then when I have a car on stands with all 4 wheels off the ground, I put the rear pair of stands under the axle housing. That way, since the rear springs are involved, all 4 points sit solid on the stands. YMMV and all that ...
Oh shit, Beaner! That IS funny. It's hard to tell youngsters much, 'til they make some mistakes on their own -- hopefully non-fatal! I stepped on my, er, you-know-what a few times as a kid. But I learned, sort of like the ol' mule that had to be hit in the head a few times before he'd LISTEN! LOL
I think I have four pair now, I needed to change a U-joint one day and couldn't find my first set (we were moving and they were boxed up) so I went to Schuck's and bought a set with the creeper, I think they cost me $20.
I have a 41' and 39' empty transmission case which I've used for 30 yrs or so. They're heavy ( cast iron ) have a nice wide round base so the'yre not going to tip over. With a block of wood on top they are as safe as any factory jack stand. Metal on metal will slip. Wood on metal does not slip. I also have four wheel rims I use to prop up my cars. That's usually high enough for me to do what needs to be done.
X2 on this. I bought 4 US made jack stands several years ago that are RV rated. I would never trust my life to anything made in china.
I'm still using the same four stands I got in the mid '70s. Two are tall, two are short. Also have a couple more high quality stands and two more Harbor Freight stands. The only stand I've ever had fail is one of the HFs....
old steel wheels, possibly w/ old tires. i have jackstan, but a wheel has more surface and i feel safer w/ them. nothin else thou
I actually have a pair of A axle bells that when I get around to it I am going to cut to make a pair of jack stands. My first jack stands were made out of A axle bells. Sturdier than any I have owned since. Actually pretty hard to find genuine American made jack stands any more. Sounds like a good diea for a cottage industry doesn't it. They don't need to be forged just sturdy.
Where I work, there is always a heavy wood block or board between the stand and the car. Part of that is for adjusting height, since the stands are solid, and because of the way the stand is made. But it's also because the wood will compress slightly and spread the load more evenly, and is less likely to split. I should also mention that I don't work on passenger cars or trucks, I work on railcars, which are around 30 tons empty. It's all about how you place the board, and I would NOT use something like the OP has in the lead photo, which has the car running with the grain. There's a much greater chance of splitting, you ONLY want to set stuff on wood against the grain.
I have 4 pairs of good ones. Sears used to have real good ones years ago, so I stocked up. When I was younger, my neighbor used to work for NY State and he'd bring home these highway divider wooden blocks. I set many a car on chunks of those, no idea what they were made of. The best one was when I was married to wife #1. I asked for a set of jack stands for Xmas and even showed her which ones to get. What did I wind up with? ONE stamped steel jack stand. I never used it and it wound up on the pile when I was doing a scrap metal run. Bob
I don't know if this works or not, but somebody sent me this info, supposedly you CAN tell if something is "foreign" made, versus made in the U.S. or Canada. It said, to wit: "If the first 3 digits are: 690-692 ... MADE IN CHINA 00 - 09 ... USA & CANADA 30 - 37 ... FRANCE 40 - 44 ... GERMANY 471 ... Taiwan 49 ... JAPAN 50 ... UK BUY USA & CANADIAN MADE by watching for "0" at the beginning of the number." That's a quote. I hope it really does provide a way to KNOW. Guys are always asking how the hell to actually know. Maybe somebody will have a chance to LOOK at some bar codes soon and let all us HAMBers know if it's so.
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