Hi Chris,
>
> I'm going tonight or tomorrow to buy a good floor jack, ramps and
> jackstands. Having never owned any of the above, I'd like it if someone
> could help me with a quick checklist on their use.
>
> First, can you use four jackstands and bring both ends of the car up, and
if
> so, is that safe? I worry about the car falling backwards off the
> jackstands.
>
> If so, how do you get the car up on four, seems to me that if you lift the
> front of the car up onto stands, the bottom will angle down to the point
> where you couldnt get a jack underneath.
A couple of tricks I learned:
Jack the back first (under the pumpkin) to the height you want. I place the
jack stands on either side of the pumpkin as far out as possible. I've seen
some place them on the spring at the point it meet the bracket, but I always
got nervous that it might slip.
Then jack the front, at the center of the crossover. I place the jack 'pad'
at the very back of the x-over (my jack pad is about 4" square with ~3/8
'towers' on the corners). This way as the car rotates as it rises the jack
wont slip off of the rather flat x-over. I place the jacks under the sping
pan.
If you jack front first, the rear valance and gas tank are too close to the
ground to get the jack under.
Once it's up on jacks, give the car a vigorous shake on all 4 corners. If
the car is the least bit unstable, better to find out this way rather than
with you under it. I also do a belt&suspender and leave the jack under the
x-over with a tiny bit of pressure on it. Adds another point of safety, just
don't lift the car off the front stands.
Jacks: Stay away from cheapie jacks, they WILL leak eventually. Had a Sears
and a Sams Club jack, both of which lasted about a year or so, but failed
with a pool of hydralic fluid on the floor,when I really needed them.
I broke down a few months ago and bought a Norco 71230 commercial grade jack
(http://www.norcoind.com/norco/), ran about $150. Lincoln is another very
good brand but more expensive. In a nutshell, most jacks are made in the Far
East and use cheap cylinders and o-rings, which will fail. Norco supposedly
uses a better grade cylinder. Check out this site for more info:
http://www.hyjacks.com/wichjac.htm. Do a search for Norco Floor Jack on the
web , but buy local. I was quoted $50 for shipping, this guy is heavy. My
local jack distributor matched Net prices, yours may too.
Jack Stands: I went overboard and bought 6-ton stands. Pretty wide base,
which is what I was after and very stable. These were from Sams Club, I
beleive. Look for a well designed locking mechanism, mine use a
rachet/step-type system with meaty steps and a thick catch. Wide can be a
pain as the jack just fits between them at the rear, but you'll work easier
knowing it's stable
>
> I'm going to be pulling the engine, and will have a nice large high engine
> hoist, but I'd like to know, do I jack up the front or front and back
> (assuming that's kosher) during engine removal?
Jack the back up as far as possible and you'll have better clearance. Made
mine easier.
>
> I'll be stripping, painting, sealing, whatever, the bottom of the car in
> this process, is there a better way to do that than jackstands and laying
on
> my back like DaVinci? I've seen plans for chassis rotators that would
allow
> me to flip the car over, (I think barney has a plan for one) but I've
never
> seen any info as to where you attach that kind of device to a B.
BTDT: Lots of fun laying on your back with goopy undercoating dripping on
you. You could try jacking one side up at a time. You can get the 'B up
pretty far and still be stable.
>
> Also, one last thing. How high is too high? Is more better? last time I
> checked I had the choice between 16" max height and 24" max height
> jackstands.
Doesn't sound like much but 20" is a lot. You could always place your stand
on some 2x12's for extra height, but make sure their solid. DON'T use
concrete block (it collapses)
Hope this helps...
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