dumb question but where do I place a floor jack

2+2GT · Jun 28, 2009

yeloxr7 said:
At the back, under the center of the differential.

I wouldn't. I saw someone who should have known better do it there last year, and it slipped off, damaging the trunk floor and destroying the gas tank.

brianj5600 · Jun 28, 2009

Most people don't carry a floor jack with them when on the road. By the front of the car I thought that he meant both tires. If I was on the side of the road I would not have a floor jack and I would not be trying to get both tires off the ground at once. I would have a scissor jack and would do one tire at a time.

A floor jack on a level garage floor on the thin tube behind oil pan has serve me well over the last few years. No drama of any kind and well over 50 lifts in the last 3 or 4 years.

brianj5600 · Jun 28, 2009

2+2GT said:
I wouldn't. I saw someone who should have known better do it there last year, and it slipped off, damaging the trunk floor and destroying the gas tank.

How in the world do you get the rear up in the air? Do you work on your own car?

jerry S · Jun 28, 2009

brianj5600 said:
Most people don't carry a floor jack with them when on the road. By the front of the car I thought that he meant both tires. If I was on the side of the road I would not have a floor jack and I would not be trying to get both tires off the ground at once. I would have a scissor jack and would do one tire at a time.

A floor jack on a level garage floor on the thin tube behind oil pan has serve me well over the last few years. No drama of any kind and well over 50 lifts in the last 3 or 4 years.

The whole front end was my question. I understood from what I was being told by most here that I needed to lift the front end off the ground by jacking one side of the car, inserting a jack stand, and then moving to the other side.

brianj5600 · Jun 28, 2009

I have done it one side at a time, but it scares me. The car is teetering on two corners if you already have stands under the rear. If you have the rear on the ground and jack one side up and put it on a jackstand, it sits at an angle. Then when you start the other side it puts side loads on the first jackstand. I like the car to go up evenly on both sides and come down on jackstands level. I believe that is the best way to have the car stable w/o any side load on the jackstand.

2+2GT · Jun 28, 2009

brianj5600 said:
How in the world do you get the rear up in the air? Do you work on your own car?

jerry S said:
The whole front end was my question. I understood from what I was being told by most here that I needed to lift the front end off the ground by jacking one side of the car, inserting a jack stand, and then moving to the other side.

That's how.

brianj5600 said:
I have done it one side at a time, but it scares me. The car is teetering on two corners if you already have stands under the rear. If you have the rear on the ground and jack one side up and put it on a jackstand, it sits at an angle. Then when you start the other side it puts side loads on the first jackstand. I like the car to go up evenly on both sides and come down on jackstands level. I believe that is the best way to have the car stable w/o any side load on the jackstand.

Thats why you do the front first, since 60% of the weight is in the front. And of course you don't set the jackstand at full height, you go up in stages. The twisting force from doing this is less than pulling out of the Sears parking lot at an angle.

brianj5600 · Jun 28, 2009

2+2GT said:
Thats why you do the front first, since 60% of the weight is in the front. And of course you don't set the jackstand at full height, you go up in stages. The twisting force from doing this is less than pulling out of the Sears parking lot at an angle.

If there is a jackstand under each frame rail in the front and you start jack up the left rear, weight will be taken off the left front. Now that weight is transferred to the right front jackstand. When doing it that way I have seen the car lift off the jackstand on the left front. Not good imo. I think comparing it to pulling out of a drive is way over simplifying things. The springs, tires and bushing All combine to lessen the forces on the chassis. I am more concerned about the stability when the weight is concentrated on opposing corners. I am not sure how some one had a car fall off a jack under the rear end. I can not see that happening with my floorjack. Please share your concern with using the front crossmember too.

2+2GT · Jun 28, 2009

brianj5600 said:
I am not sure how some one had a car fall off a jack under the rear end. I can not see that happening with my floorjack. Please share your concern with using the front crossmember too.

As for the jack, it won't take much to figure how the slightest off-level between the bottom of the diff and the plate on the jack can allow the greasy housing to slide off the jack. maybe your jack has a huge clawed cup.

The crossmember is not built to take the weight. It can easily be dented or distorted. This could effect your wheel alignment. I'm just real big on using the jack points Ford engineers intended.

dumb question but where do I place a floor jack

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