My dad was a mechanic by trade and always stressed to me the importance of jack stands when a vehicle is up on a jack. I get it! My 68 has, by far, made me the most nervous about crawling around under it when it's up in the air. I often have all four wheels in the air, supporting it with four jack stands. And more often than not I leave the jack "just" engaged under the front cross member. Long story long... today I lifted the front and put a pair of stands in the lowest position under the front frame area, behind the front wheels. I raised the rear higher than the front and placed stands under the rear frame, in front of the rear wheels. I went back to the front and raised it higher. I raised the stands accordingly and started to lower it, slowly. The front started to slide off of the jack stands to my right (the cars left). I pumped the jack quickly and caught it between the front crossmember and the passenger a-arm. Disclaimer - I was using rags on the tops of the stands because I don't want to scratch the frame. I ditched the rags and did it again. The car was sturdy, my confidence about getting under it... not so much. What I'd like to know is how you fellow members are supporting your cars in the air and feeling confident about crawling under them. What are you using? Where are you placing your supports? I've got myself freaked out about that thing crashing down on me now. What's the best way to do this (short of buying a quick lift or something similar that I don't have room for)? Thanks in advance, Jason

 

I put the jackstands under the front lower control arms with a thick piece of carboard in between to protect the finish. And the weight of the front end is on the arms just as it is when it sits on the ground. The rear jackstands I put them on the frame just in front of the rear kick ups.

 

When raising up my vettes I jack them up on the side. One side goes up high enough to get stands under, then the other side all the way up then back to the first side and raise up all the way. Some times the front stands are under the front sway bar mounts other times just behind the A-arms depending on the project. T

 

I won't be much help here Jason other then to say your right when it comes to setting the car up on stands. It is a very nerve racking process. Then you have to think about putting your butt underneath to work. Maybe some 6x6 blocks under the frame portion including the jack stands as a backup. I'll be watching to see what members come up with.

RVZIO

 

I use 2 jacks....Lift the front and place the stands under the frame right behind where the stabilizer bar connects.....I then move to the rear...I place stands right in front of the kickups. I then make sure I have weight on all 4 stands.....My garage floor isn't quite level and a plywood shim is needed under one stand. All 4 of these are 6 tons stands....I then add 3 tons stand under the frame under the side grills.

Brian

 

From the floor, I use 2 piece 56" RaceRamps at the front. I can then jack the rear either with two jacks, or one with a bar attachment to straddle the exhaust and lift by the steel spring. Then I can leave the front on the RaceRamps, or jack it by the front crossmember a few more inches to get stands in front of the wheels, and the wheels off. Never do I need to pivot on a stand more than a few degrees.

Thinking that continued jackstand use might hasten my demise, i now use a Qwik-Lift full length ramp system. I can get the car onto jackstands on top of that using bottle jacks.

 

I've never had any problem getting it up on the stands but you have to pay close attention to what you're doing. No matter, I'm always nervous about getting under the car depending on the stands not to fail. If the tires are off, I slide them under the car. Otherwise I stack 4x4 lumber under it.

 

Thanks for the many suggestions!!!

 

Ive seen buddies do stupid crazy risking death stuff that still makes me cringe,

In the cases i cant just have it on ramps,
I am a huge wuss when in comes to crawling under, i do jack stands but add ramps under the side rails and leave pressure on the jack, eben slide wheels and tires under,
Never cinder blocks ive seen them bust,

I make sure several things would have to fail before i could get smashed,

 

But what a way to go. Old song: Sit on my face, and tell me that you love me! When I first saw thread title, I thought it was about money, not jack stands...

 

LOL, I thought it was about money too...i.e., getting a side job or selling my blood!

Come to think of it, I've never had all four corners off the ground on my 82 or the Z16...just one end at a time. Guess I'm too chicken to attempt or just never had a project need requiring me to do so.

However, I believe the urban legend about popping the T-Tops and opening the doors before jacking up the car...old habit that has stayed with me and my tops have not broken 😁

 

LOL, I thought it was about money too...i.e., getting a side job or selling my blood!

Come to think of it, I've never had all four corners off the ground on my 82 or the Z16...just one end at a time. Guess I'm too chicken to attempt or just never had a project need requiring me to do so. I built a set of low-profile ramps for oil changes and use a floor jack/jack stands for anything requiring a wheel removal.

However, I believe the urban legend about popping the T-Tops and opening the doors before jacking up the car...old habit that has stayed with me and my tops have not broken 😁

 

I basically over do it, was on the company safety committees for 35 years, i use 2x6's nailed together along with the jack stands.
To install my old hooker headers i had to get it up about 2.5 feet, felt very safe under the car.

 

If we`re not taking the tires off, we use ramps & the wood blocks, a (genius idea we saw on Richard454`s post)
If we are taking tires or suspension off, we use jack stands, with the wood blocks as a "safety" net.

 

This is mostly what I do.

You have to be careful of what machinists who align pumps call a "soft foot'. A soft foot is when one of the 4 corners is not carrying any weight and can easily be kicked out. One time I was looking at a 76 in Tampa in the sellers driveway and while inspecting underneath, I accidently kicked one of the 4 jacked corners so that the 76 was only held up by 3 corners. Nothing happened, but could have rocked over.

So after you jack it up like above, you need to make sure all 4 corners are solid and not able to slide out.

And I double jack, that is 2 jacks at each corner, plus a 9th under the front crossmember.

Hope this helps and good to be very careful on this.

 

Those are good tips. That is why, when possible, I prefer to leave one end on the suspension. If I do jack up all four corners, I count notches to make sure that both sides are raised up the same amount. Lifting from the front or rear, vs. the side, also helps.

When I don't use my Qwik-Lift, I do this. The 2x8s under the rear tires are to get the clearance for a lift under the rear that can lift by the rear spring. The 56" two-piece Raceramps will work with my 80, despite the front spoiler. Steeper ramps didn't fit.