Been working on a friends car. He saw these and built a set. Perfect work height. Set down are crawl under. I liked them and he built me a set.
They are great, I built a set for my pickup. Safe and stable, now that I'm old, things like safety matter to me.
Excellent.... Stopped by a shop the other day and the fellow was reaching under the car only on a jack.. Sure he wasn't completely under the car, however; I couldn't stand it and I slipped a jack stand under the car frame....
Makes me a bit nervous. I'd be a whole lot more confident if the 2x4's were three per course all the way to the ground-essentially making the entire block a solid stump of lumber without air between each course.. In the picture, I can see where there are 3 2x4's on the course just under the plywood that the tire is setting on. The courses below it only have 2. This leaves a "hole" in the entire center of the block much like a martial arts exhibition where a guy splits a stack of boards with air space between each board. The weight of the car is concentrated on that small surface area where the four tires contact the wood. lots of PSI there.
That is a very safe way to make wheel stands. It is called Box Cribbing and if you do some googleing you will see that it is an elemental engineering design. Don't worry at all about them if you put them together right. they are used in everything from rescue operations to shoring up buildings.
nothing stronger then cribbing,,,i never go under a car even to retreive a bolt without proper support,,,,,i found one friend dead under a car ,he was in a rush too install headers with a bumper jack disc brake crushed him,,,also saved two friends lives when they were installinf exaust on a t bird ,,sloped driveway drive on rumps in front floor jack in the rear,,as they wre shifting the pipes it rolled the car,,,i got behind it and held long enougt to get the one guy out then it rolled and stopped wt the front lower bolt touching his left eye,,,i ran too the pass side and usedall my might ,pulling muscles till he could get free.....jack stands take one minute it takes longer too dig a grave,,,be safe,be here tomorrow
Only time I saw my father tear up was at a friends funeral whom was tighting the driveshaft U-joint and the lowrider was supported only by a bumperjack. His two small children were watching from the porch and another friend happend along to get him out but it was too late........ When I was 13 or my father grabbed me by my ankles and slid me out from underneath my '57 Chevrolet as it was supported only by a bumperjack and preceeded to chase me around the car yelling obsenities(Fatherly love) and loaded up me and my fellow gearhead buddies and took us to town and much to my embarresement made me exchange my new chrome air cleaner and valve covers for jack stands! Oh the nerve I thought! He told us boys if he caught me or them doing something so irresponsible again he would beat us simple! After my friends funeral, I realized how much love my father had for me and my pals. Be safe, if in doubt, dont do it! To this day I use jackstands and shake the car as if it were a earthquake before I crawl under.
we use that style alot in the commercial truck garages (but with 6x6s)... i will be making a set for home now i need to work under the floor pan.
I once helped a friend split a large CAT loader to build up and re-bore the steering pivot bore. With large heavy equipment about the only way to support it is with large hardwood cribbing. We had four built up stacks of 8"x8"x4' cribbing supporting both ends of that large loader...Never moved a fraction of an inch. I've seen huge excavators and dozers supported the same way when being repaired.
So how about a BLUEPRINT on how to build some of these the RIGHT WAY.... I think it is a great idea.. Better safe than sorry...... Thanks.....
I'm with pug man. Would one of you knowledgable guys please clue the rest of us in on the dimensions? Sounds like a great idea.
I am not a fan of this particular one, let's be honest, it is better than what most use but it can be even better. I would go with a larger foot print at the base, a square 12x12 or even 14x14, the higher you go the wider the base, I also would want to capture the tire better, hold it so it can not roll EVER or slip side to side. I would make a pocket for the tire to slip into. I also respect the box cribbing that is fine no problem, I just do not want that crib to be able to kick out under any circumstances.
Made mine 12 by 12, nails,wood glue and 3/8 threaded rod on each corner. If whatever you are supporting dosn't slide off they sure wont come apart. Find them useful for lots more than just working under the car. Threw away my cheap jack stands ,the ones with the little pin on the chain.
I don't understand people's thinking. I don't know how many times I've seen my son getting ready to get under a car with just a jack. I tell him to stop or we're gonna go at it. I tell him I know I can't kick his ass but I can make him kick mine. He thinks a minute and then he goes and gets the stands. I think sometimes it's just laziness.
this is what i meant also, i dont like that the tire can shift on the base it needs to be set into a pocket
.....My son made me a set out of steel.....They are real heavy, but are safe.......I'am not sure how safe wood is....also I think mine are wider and a little deeper....I'll measure later and post again...
Wood cribbing is plenty safe, and organic! Plus you can stack 'em up easy, or drop a door on two for an instant shop coffee table. Make some outta construction-bin cut offs, finished with a low VRC varnish. Feel the green, my brothas.
I'm a firefighter and we use box cribbing all the time. Even cribbed up one side of a lightrail train once.
This is all we use at our place. We build them to whatever size we need, the standard height being about 7 boards high. On ours we put solid wood across the top in case we want to rest a brake drum or something on it. If you make them 15 in by 18 in you will have no waste left frm your 8 ft 2x4. Mike.
(picture stolen from Pro Touring board) Do them like this and the car won't roll off, tire fits between the blocks. 12" X 12" to 16" X 16" seems to be a very popular dimensions depending on the diameter of the tire, than as high as you need.
Wood is a natural organic composite material. It works just like fiberglass and carbon fiber. Interwoven fibers are bonded together on the cellular level with resins and cross linked plant fibers. Probably pound for pound the strongest composite material on earth. If I was building it I would probably make them 3 2x4 wide on all the lower stages and 2 on the top for cradling the tire. That way the center tire patch is supported all the way to the ground and the outer 2x4 are only holding the tire in position and not supporting the weight. With 3 boards across, the exact center of the crib is supporting no weight and the crossed 2x4 are only transferring the weight all the way to the concrete floor.
A friend and I built some of these. They look exactly like the pic "hotroddon" posted. They were 16"x16"x16". Took about 10 sticks of 2x4x10 pressure treated. Cut them all to 16" long. Started by squaring them up, and using wood glue and wood screws to hold them together. Put his truck on them as soon as the last one was finished up. They worked great and are VERY sturdy. He also made lower frames out of 2x2" steel angle iron with 4 casters each. The box cribbing stands sit inside them, and he can roll the vehicle around in the shop by himself. For less than $50 in lumber, screws, and glue he built his stands, and for another $40 or so in casters and some scrap angle iron he built his roller bottoms.
What do you guys think about these? They give me enough clearance to slide under the car, but I can still roll it around and I feel safer with these than stands. Bill
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