How to put the entire car on jackstands?

monk302 · Dec 6, 2003

This winter I am planning on doing a decent amount of work on my car. So far I am going to put on Granada front disc brakes, I am going to pick up a 9 inch rear tomorrow, and hopefully by the spring I will be putting in a t-5, actually just got my clutch pedal assembly this week, thanks Flord. As a result I would like to put the entire car up on jack stands, not only the front or back. So I was wondering, say I jack up the front and put the stands underneath the frame rail, how do I get the back up and put the stands underneath it without the stands in the front giving out. I am worried that with the front up and on the stands, when I lift the rear up, the front stands will want to kick out. Also, along with the jack stands I want to have a back up, just in case something happens and they fail. Should I use cinderblocks, wood blocks or what??

Thanks for the help.

none67 · Dec 6, 2003

your stands won't give out. i have 3 tons under my car (been there for over a year now!) and havn't had a problem with them yet. how many tons are your stands?

none67 · Dec 6, 2003

also put the back up first, with the front up then you won't be able to fit the jack under the rear end

monk302 · Dec 6, 2003

I am not sure on the specific tonnage they hold. I want to say 2 ton though, they are Craftsman so I know they are of good quality. Thanks for the advice.

gp001 · Dec 6, 2003

i always put the front up first because I dont like jacking side to side with the rear up on stands.

Red Barchetta · Dec 6, 2003

gp001 said:
i always put the front up first because I dont like jacking side to side with the rear up on stands.

I agree with gp001. You should be able to fit a jack under your rear end with the front up on stands. It all depends on how high you want the car. You may have to set the jack stands on their lowest setting on the front at first to lift the rear, but then you can raise them incrementally once you have the car on all four.

pabear89 · Dec 6, 2003

If you can afford to get better stands, Do So.
Place the front stands under the frame rails with the U shape crossing it.
When you rasie the rear us the center of the rearend and place the stands under the frame in front of the spring.
With what you have planned to do you will want as much room to work as possiable.

Before any thing is done under it check that it is stable on the stands,
and make up some 4x4 saftey blocks that you can move from spot to spot as a backup.

PB

69 302/351c · Dec 6, 2003

I do it the same way as pabear89, front first then the rear...just be sure you have a good floor jack. Don't try this with a cheap screw jack or bottle jack. You don't want to be under the car until it is safely up on all 4 stands.

pabear89 · Dec 6, 2003

69 302/351c said:
I do it the same way as pabear89, front first then the rear...just be sure you have a good floor jack. Don't try this with a cheap screw jack or bottle jack. You don't want to be under the car until it is safely up on all 4 stands.

Thats as I DID, now it goes up on the lift.

69 302/351c · Dec 6, 2003

Lucky dog!

pabear89 · Dec 6, 2003

69 302/351c said:
Lucky dog!

It was the money for my eng rebuild,
But worth it.

PB

monk302 · Dec 7, 2003

69 302/351c said:
I do it the same way as pabear89, front first then the rear...just be sure you have a good floor jack. Don't try this with a cheap screw jack or bottle jack. You don't want to be under the car until it is safely up on all 4 stands.

My jack is a good one, none of those scissor or bottle jacks. I would be terrified to jack my car up with one of those. As for my stands, I checked them out this evening, they are 3 ton. I am off to pick up my nine inch tomorrow morning.

Thanks guys

nolestang65 · Dec 7, 2003

i agree with all the above,
if possible, use two floor jacks and with a helper, lift
front rails at same time(lower at same process), i use
cinderblocks (strong side up) with 4x8x16 inch wood
blocks for back up only and i keep my floor jacks in place when theyre not in the way, 3 ton jack stands are fine.
good luck

WORTH · Dec 7, 2003

Just a thought, but if your doing all that work, why don't you pull the engine and tranny first. It will give you more room to work and give you a chance to clean up the engine bay as well as take half the weight off the car before you put it up.

Worth

monk302 · Dec 7, 2003

WORTH said:
Just a thought, but if your doing all that work, why don't you pull the engine and tranny first. It will give you more room to work and give you a chance to clean up the engine bay as well as take half the weight off the car before you put it up.

Worth

I was actually thinking of doing that. The only thing was I that I originally wasn't on taking out the engine, just unbolting the c-4 and swapping in the t-5. Do you think I should pull the engine as well?

69 302/351c · Dec 7, 2003

If you don't pull the motor and clean/detail the engine bay now while it's half disconnected anyway, you'll wish you did it later on. This is something you will want to do someday.

pabear89 · Dec 7, 2003

Take the motor out, you will find it easier to check parts for fit
with it where you can see and work.
Laying on your back working in low space and hard to reach and work, is no FUN
after awhile.

Mating everything togeather and installing as a unit is much simpler.
And installing the clutch linkage and other parts is not that hard while standing in the eng bay.

Worth's got a good point.

PB

golf4283 · Dec 7, 2003

I just removed the engine and tranny from my car and i had no problem doing it. I have pics in my post about "Project 347" if you wanna check em out. Im totally glad I pulled it out before I got the car on the jackstands becuase if I had done it the other way I would not have had enough room.

I put my car on jackstands on all 4 corners last weekend too. I did the back end first then did the front. I have four 3 ton jackstands and they are aligned on the frame-rails. its pretty solid up there; I was testing the limits by giving the car a minor nidge in each direction to make sure there were no flaws in my setup. All seemed good.

crushnut · Dec 7, 2003

golf4283 said:
I put my car on jackstands on all 4 corners last weekend too. I did the back end first then did the front. I have four 3 ton jackstands and they are aligned on the frame-rails. its pretty solid up there; I was testing the limits by giving the car a minor nidge in each direction to make sure there were no flaws in my setup. All seemed good.

Thats how i do it No problems yet.

How to put the entire car on jackstands?

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