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Been under it four times now: oil change twice, x-pipe once and skip shift eliminator install once. It is scary at first for sure. Proper placement of the jack stands on level ground is critical to doing it safety. Another option is using ramps, even if you can't drive the car onto them you can jack it up and put the wheels on the ramps.
I recommend at block of wood with notches since most jack stands don't offer much surface area when placed in the correct location.
Hopefully JerryU will chime in... he is the jacking expert around here.
Did I see you post a drawing of this block of wood? I am very interested in getting a copy. This is the best jack stand wood block I have seen. So easy to make (easier if I had the drawing). I have these same aluminum HF jack stands.
Did I see you post a drawing of this block of wood?
Glad you like them. Here are the dimensions... its not super detailed or precise but good enough to get you in the ball park.
The blocks on the top are just screwed into place (not structural) to provide alignment with the holes in the cradle / subframe. Unlike the puck locations there are no obvious alignment marks on the car to aid in positioning the jack stands so I used JerryU's famous drawing to get me started here. The notches were just cut out deep and wide enough to accommodate the jack head.
The first time I jacked the car I noticed the jack heads were notched for a unibody car's pinch welds, which is not good at all for the flat C7 locations. The wood acts as adapter that converts the curved jack head into a wide, flat surface which is ideal.
The main goals in the creation of these pieces were:
1) to ensure the jack stands are placed correctly in the factory locations every single time without measuring
2) distribute the vehicles weight along the width of the hollow aluminum cradle with no stress or pinch points
3) reduce the risk of the jack stands moving due to slipping, tipping, or twisting as you lower the car onto them
4) keep the metal jack stands from damaging the soft, thin aluminum cradle
Some have suggested an improvement would be putting high density rubber foam or an old tire tread on the top for addition slip resistance. What I've noticed (and you can see in the picture) is the wood is soft enough that grid pattern on the cradle digs in slightly so I don't think they could slip as is... however an extra safety margin is never a bad idea.
Glad you like them. Here are the dimensions... its not super detailed or precise but good enough to get you in the ball park.
The blocks on the top are just screwed into place (not structural) to provide alignment with the holes in the cradle / subframe. Unlike the puck locations there are no obvious alignment marks on the car to aid in positioning the jack stands so I used JerryU's famous drawing to get me started here. The notches were just cut out deep and wide enough to accommodate the jack head.
The first time I jacked the car I noticed the jack heads were notched for a unibody car's pinch welds, which is not good at all for the flat C7 locations. The wood acts as adapter that converts the curved jack head into a wide, flat surface which is ideal.
The main goals in the creation of these pieces were:
1) to ensure the jack stands are placed correctly in the factory locations every single time without measuring
2) distribute the vehicles weight along the width of the hollow aluminum cradle with no stress or pinch points
3) reduce the risk of the jack stands moving due to slipping, tipping, or twisting as you lower the car onto them
4) keep the metal jack stands from damaging the soft, thin aluminum cradle
Some have suggested an improvement would be putting high density rubber foam or an old tire tread on the top for addition slip resistance. What I've noticed (and you can see in the picture) is the wood is soft enough that grid pattern on the cradle digs in slightly so I don't think they could slip as is... however an extra safety margin is never a bad idea.
Congratulations on finding a lift at the Navy’s hobby shop . Depending on which lifts they have the lift arms “could” be too tall to get under the C7s jacking points especially if you have jacking pucks in place. That would mean you will need to jack up the rear of the car high enough to get the lift arms under the car. If you need to do that you’ll need a 2x4 with rubber pad (like the one I pictured above) which you place on the top of the jack cradle BEFORE jacking under the rear cradle suspension cross section. Why is that important? The cradle suspension cross section is a light weight HOLLOW CASING and can be cracked if jacked improbably which would be a extremely costly mistake!
Remember to use/install jack pucks in the four C7 jack points. Do not use the bare lift cradles to lift the car unless you have jack pucks in place.
Yep, as I posted that is where to lift BUT I would not get under a car supported by 4 jack stands. In fact one of my quality pair has a specific warning against doing that. If messing with the exhaust the loads placed on the car make the thought even worse.
For oil changes I made stanchions from a 2X6 and plywood. You can buy them but my wood ones weigh less than 10 lbs.Pic of my Grand Sport shows them being used for the rear tires and jack stands for the front. I now use two hydraulic jacks progressively lifting each side. For added safety I leave the jacks in place with a light load.
I just purchased something similar from CostCo. Since the lift takes up all 4 pucks, where would be the best place to put jack stands? I don't care if I don't "need" them, I'm not getting under a car without every possible safety measure.
Originally Posted by cdominguez
I purchased one of these on Black Friday. I received it yesterday and tried it out. It’s amazing!
I always try to use both a hydraulic and mechanical support devise at same time where each is capable of supporting weight independently. As leaves almost no chance both would fail at the same time.
I just purchased something similar from CostCo. Since the lift takes up all 4 pucks, where would be the best place to put jack stands? I don't care if I don't "need" them, I'm not getting under a car without every possible safety measure.
Been under it four times now: oil change twice, x-pipe once and skip shift eliminator install once. It is scary at first for sure. Proper placement of the jack stands on level ground is critical to doing it safety. Another option is using ramps, even if you can't drive the car onto them you can jack it up and put the wheels on the ramps.
I recommend at block of wood with notches since most jack stands don't offer much surface area when placed in the correct location.
Hopefully JerryU will chime in... he is the jacking expert around here.
personally I would never block with wood. I had a friend who would do this, and one day while helping him lift his car, the wood decided to split and car dropped a bit. There was no indication on the wood itself prior checking, etc. Thank God either of us was under the car. They sell rubber caps that fit on jack stands for this very purpose. In another story, a guy in the area a number of years ago had the same thing happen, same setup. The only issue he had different was he didnt survive. Also, like noted above I always back up the stands by leaving tge jack slightly unloaded under the car as safety. I dont worry so much anymore.....bought a Quickjack. Best setup other than a lift.
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I use jack stands when needed,, but prefer Race Ramps. For the Vette,, jack up front put half blocks in,, jack up rear put full block in,,, jack up front put another half in. You will need a 24" jack.
More room getting in and out, it'll never fall,, very light weight and easy to store.
I just purchased something similar from CostCo. Since the lift takes up all 4 pucks, where would be the best place to put jack stands? I don't care if I don't "need" them, I'm not getting under a car without every possible safety measure.
So if you were only using jackstands, would you use eight of them? Because that's basically what you're talking about doing.
So if you were only using jackstands, would you use eight of them? Because that's basically what you're talking about doing.
With 4 jack stands if 1 fails then 1/4 of the car isn't supported and it would be unlikely to injure or kill me. If a lift fails then only half the car is supported and there's a higher chance of injury or death.
[QUOTE=Akcajunz;1600518385]I have my new AWE X-Pipe that I am very anxious to get installed. I’ve looked around to find out if anyone close by has a lift of some sort that I could rent for a couple hours.....
I installed my X pipe Saturday myself by driving up on my Race Ramps (10 inch) and had zero issues reaching anything. I have a 2019 garage queen so no rust/corrosion to deal with.
personally I would never block with wood. I had a friend who would do this, and one day while helping him lift his car, the wood decided to split and car dropped a bit. There was no indication on the wood itself prior checking, etc. Thank God either of us was under the car. They sell rubber caps that fit on jack stands for this very purpose. In another story, a guy in the area a number of years ago had the same thing happen, same setup. The only issue he had different was he didnt survive. Also, like noted above I always back up the stands by leaving tge jack slightly unloaded under the car as safety. I dont worry so much anymore.....bought a Quickjack. Best setup other than a lift.
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I agree and NEVER block with wood as adds additional risk of splitting/slipping etc. I will sometimes use a cutting from a tire.
Last edited by Kevin A Jones; Dec 30, 2019 at 11:52 AM.
With 4 jack stands if 1 fails then 1/4 of the car isn't supported and it would be unlikely to injure or kill me. If a lift fails then only half the car is supported and there's a higher chance of injury or death.
I just installed my headers and X pipe with the quick jack , along with the pistons that hold everything up and the locking mechanism that you engage I put jackstands on the rear cross members also , since I could not put anything in the front of the car as it would seriously get in the way I did put jackstands under the quick lift, just in case something failed , and the safety failed .. the quick lift would just come down on the jackstand . Not a likely course of events to have both fail but ...
Think about it , you dont put jackstands under the car when using a real lift right , it's the hydraulics and the safety that is holding every thing up just like the quick.lift
I just installed my headers and X pipe with the quick jack , along with the pistons that hold everything up and the locking mechanism that you engage I to put jackstands on the rear cross members, since I could not put anything in the front of the car as it would seriously get in the way I did put jackstands under the quick lift, if thebpustons failed , and the safety failed .. it would just come down on the jackstand . Lit if u likely events
Think about it , you dont put jackstands under the car when using a real lift right , it's the hydraulics and the safety that is holding every thing up like the quick.lift
Dave
I think a common misconception about the QuickJack is that the hydraulics are holding the car up. They're not. You can literally cut the hydraulics apart and the load won't even twitch.
I'm sure it's possible for these to have some kind of one in a billion catastrophic failure. But I'd consider those odds much more likely on a $90 floor jack or some $30 per pair Chinese made jackstands.
With 4 jack stands if 1 fails then 1/4 of the car isn't supported and it would be unlikely to injure or kill me. If a lift fails then only half the car is supported and there's a higher chance of injury or death.
I have never heard of a serviceable jack stand failing under rated load. I guess it is possible, but so is getting hit by lighting on your way back from cashing in the winning powerball ticket.
I think a common misconception about the QuickJack is that the hydraulics are holding the car up. They're not. You can literally cut the hydraulics apart and the load won't even twitch.
I'm sure it's possible for these to have some kind of one in a billion catastrophic failure. But I'd consider those odds much more likely on a $90 floor jack or some $30 per pair Chinese made jackstands.
BendPak isn't exactly new to this.
I agree with you Jeff , but it was a little disconcerting the first time I crawled under the car and my floor boards were 36 inches above me lol , the thought of the car crashing down on top of me can pinning me under the car was hard to displace …. at least with a normal lift you have some time to run like hell lol
. Depending on which lifts they have the lift arms “could” be too tall to get under the C7s jacking points especially if you have jacking pucks in place. That would mean you will need to jack up the rear of the car high enough to get the lift arms under the car. If you need to do that you’ll need a 2x4 with rubber pad (like the one I pictured above) which you place on the top of the jack cradle BEFORE jacking under the rear cradle suspension cross section. Why is that important? The cradle suspension cross section is a light weight HOLLOW CASING and can be cracked if jacked improbably which would be a extremely costly mistake!
