Jacking up all 4 wheels at once safe?

spederman · Mar 12, 2008

I'm planning on painting my calipers this weekend. It would be soooo much faster and easier if i could put the whole car on jack stands and take off all the wheels at the same time and paint them all in one pass.

But something in me says thats prolly not the best idea and seems not safe, plus with a lowered car, i dont even know how i would get under one end with a jack after the other end is raised. What do you all think? Anybody ever done it or is it not a good idea?

CobraRed_96_GT · Mar 12, 2008

Why wouldn't it be safe? What do you think those of us who rotate our tires do? My car sits on four stands. Just make sure it's level

98COBRA281 · Mar 12, 2008

thats how i did my clutch

spederman · Mar 12, 2008

CobraRed_96_GT said:
Why wouldn't it be safe? What do you think those of us who rotate our tires do? My car sits on four stands. Just make sure it's level

Not safe because I guess its because i'm doing it, haha. OK, so how do you get it up on 4 jack stands and where do you place the jack stands for max support/safety?

I was thinking raising the front end and then putting one under each shock/strut tower support and then raising the back end from the pumpkin and placing one under each axle. sound about right?

H What 4.6 · Mar 12, 2008

your supposed to jack it up off all 4 wheels when storing a vehicle for an extended time and thats what occurs at any shop anytime they work on a car??? so of course its safe..... just make sure you put the stands in the correct spots!!

spederman · Mar 12, 2008

H What 4.6 said:
your supposed to jack it up off all 4 wheels when storing a vehicle for an extended time and thats what occurs at any shop anytime they work on a car??? so of course its safe..... just make sure you put the stands in the correct spots!!

I know shops do it, but usually on a lift, not jackstands unless the shop is totally ghetto, haha. Ive never heard about the storage thing, but makes sense so you dont get flat spots on the tires. So what are the correct spots to use for the jack stands?

rugster · Mar 12, 2008

H What 4.6 said:
your supposed to jack it up off all 4 wheels when storing a vehicle for an extended time and thats what occurs at any shop anytime they work on a car??? so of course its safe..... just make sure you put the stands in the correct spots!!

That is not how you want to store a vehicle. That was back in the days of old ply tires. Tires these days (especially sport tires on a mustang) will not flat spot. It is worse for your suspension to be extended for a long period of time so anytime you store a vehicle you want all 4 wheels on the ground if possible.

H What 4.6 · Mar 12, 2008

rugster said:
That is not how you want to store a vehicle. That was back in the days of old ply tires. Tires these days (especially sport tires on a mustang) will not flat spot. It is worse for your suspension to be extended for a long period of time so anytime you store a vehicle you want all 4 wheels on the ground if possible.

That's a controversial topic as far as my knowledge goes. I know our tires on modern vehicles will not develop flat spots unless stored for years... but many say taking the stress off the suspension is also a benefit of jacking a car up for storage. Others say it hurts the car, mainly the shocks more than it helps..... either way my point was to use this as an example that using jack stands to elevate all four tires is a practice that has been done for countless years and is perfectly safe as long as the stands are properly placed.

rugster · Mar 12, 2008

agreed, my car is on 4 jack stands as we speak.

CobraRed_96_GT · Mar 12, 2008

Dont jack up from the pumpkin, the cover is really flimsy. There's a solid point right in front of the pumpik (towards the front of the car from the pumpkin) that you can use. As for stand points many use the axle - but you will have to extend the stands mugh higher to be level with the fronts to do this and you wont be able to get it as high over all. Plus the axles tubes are hallow. You can put them under the suspension via the shock bottom brackets i believe - dont quite remember what it is

Red35th · Mar 12, 2008

Even with 4 jackstands, always have a jack putting pressure on the car if you are under it. No such thing as overkill when you are sitting underneath a 3500lb object.

spederman · Mar 12, 2008

Actually i just remembered i have MM full length sub frame connectors. Couldnt i just use each end of the sub frame connectors as a good spot for all 4 jack stands?

Flghtmstr1 · Mar 13, 2008

spederman said:
Actually i just remembered i have MM full length sub frame connectors. Couldnt i just use each end of the sub frame connectors as a good spot for all 4 jack stands?

Yes. If they really are the "full-length" subframe connectors, you can use them like frame rails. Supposedly, you can jack from any point along the connectors. I have been using mine like this for the past 2 years without issue.

tfalk · Mar 13, 2008

spederman said:
plus with a lowered car, i dont even know how i would get under one end with a jack after the other end is raised.

Get a 2x8x8 or 2x10x8 and cut it into 4 pieces. Put 1 piece in front of each tire,
then drive the car up onto the 2x's. It will give you an extra 1.5 inches to get
a jack under the car

I have to do this with both my Saleen and my Daytona... the Daytona is so low that
I can't get a jack under the frame rails without doing this.

flstang65 · Mar 13, 2008

when i have mine off all fours on jack stands i leave the jack under the car somewhere along the same side of the car that i working on. ive never had any jack stands fail but cant hurt being too safe. now i have a buddy with a lift so i dont rally use em anymore. Thats my 2 cents...

flstang65 · Mar 13, 2008

lol, sorry red. i missed your reply from earlier

spederman · Mar 13, 2008

flstang65 said:
when i have mine off all fours on jack stands i leave the jack under the car somewhere along the same side of the car that i working on. ive never had any jack stands fail but cant hurt being too safe. now i have a buddy with a lift so i dont rally use em anymore. Thats my 2 cents...

yeah, really good idea. I used to never use jack stands. Then for some reason, just started putting them underneath with the jack just for safety but wouldnt lower the car on to the actual stand, just there incase the jack fell/gave out. When i went to lower the car, i went to grab the jack stand and noticed that the car had actually lowered on to the jackstand and that the jack would slowly loose its height. I've always used jackstands since then.

Jacking up all 4 wheels at once safe?

spederman

Member

CobraRed_96_GT

Active Member

98COBRA281

spederman

Member

H What 4.6

New Member

spederman

Member

rugster

New Member

H What 4.6

New Member

rugster

New Member

CobraRed_96_GT

Active Member

Red35th

Member

spederman

Member

Flghtmstr1

Member

tfalk

flstang65

flstang65

spederman

Member

Similar threads

Jacking up all 4 wheels at once safe?

Member

Active Member

Member

New Member

Member

New Member

New Member

New Member

Active Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Similar threads

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency