Had a bitch of a time setting X3 down onto jack stands today

[crystalworks]

^That's how I do it, but with the caveat of the ramps to speed the process. I don't like the nose dive situation when gravity is involved.



As to work confining with the lift... some things would suffer a lack of access, but I still think it's a very handy time saver to have in the garage for 90% of the things you'd need the car in the air for.

[onthefence]

Originally Posted by bcredliner

I use a 3 ton jack and extra tall jack stands. I jack up the front to full extension of the jack from the center lift point and put jack stands in place.

So you go to full jack extension, yet do not suffer from the car "walking" horizontally? This doesn't make sense. Are you sure you're going to full extension? If you did, you'd have the same issue of lower the car and moving away from the jack stand saddles.

[bcredliner]

Originally Posted by onthefence

So you go to full jack extension, yet do not suffer from the car "walking" horizontally? This doesn't make sense. Are you sure you're going to full extension? If you did, you'd have the same issue of lower the car and moving away from the jack stand saddles.

I don't know what you mean by car walking horizontally. If by horizontally you mean the car moves sideways, I don't have that problem. Yes, jack goes to full extension. Only thing I do is lower the jack slowly so I can reposition the stands to be sure they are still is the proper location.

[onthefence]

I described the walking in the first post.
The car moves backwards and you need to keep repositioning the stands.

[cn90]

No matter what car you own, you need to chock diagonal tire both on the fore and aft parts of the tire.

For ex, if you are working on RF tire, chock the LR tire.
This will prevent "Walking" business, which can bend the arms enough to destroy a brand-new 2T or 3T floor jack.

Floor jack is designed for vertical load, not so much sideways load...

[bcredliner]

Originally Posted by onthefence

I described the walking in the first post.
The car moves backwards and you need to keep repositioning the stands.

Sorry you are having a problem. I read the first post and didn't understand that one either. And, yes, I jack it up as high as the jack will go and don't have any problem.

With the vehicle chocked or in park, at full extension of a good roller jack vehicles don't move sideways, forward or back. However, because the angle changes when it is lowered onto the stands it is always necessary to adjust the location of the stands if the stands were positioned directly under the pad when the jack was fully extended.

I seldom guess right where they will meet the jack points on the car so I lower in small increments until I have the stands exactly where I want them. Obviously, the closer I can extend the stands to the pads before I lower the jack the easier it is to position the stands correctly. I am very careful to be sure the stands are properly positioned and always keep the roller jack in place as a backup. I use the extra tall jack stands so there are not extended very much.

[onthefence]

Originally Posted by cn90

No matter what car you own, you need to chock diagonal tire both on the fore and aft parts of the tire.

For ex, if you are working on RF tire, chock the LR tire.
This will prevent "Walking" business, which can bend the arms enough to destroy a brand-new 2T or 3T floor jack.

Floor jack is designed for vertical load, not so much sideways load...

I always have both the wheels chocked in the start, when the car was fully on the ground.
However, when the jack is maxed out, you're right, the car has rolled forward a few inches.
Maybe resetting the wheel chocks at the top of the jack travel will prevent the car from walking as the jack is now lowered

[cn90]

- Actually as you jack up the car, the floor jack slowly rolls INWARD, toward the center of the car.
- Basic geometry...

[andrewwynn]

i bought the 2T aluminum jack from HF, it lifts about 3" higher than the 1.5T but also isn't at 105% capacity when lifting the whole back axle. If you can't quite lift high enough wood has a compressive strength of about 4000psi and will hold up the front of a car just fine. (i did make a cube of 4x4 explode this year trying to lift a commercial truck so there are limits).

I've had the same problem when my dad's 1.5T HF aluminum jack lost a little fluid (trying to lift higher than it's max under load apparently there is some limiting valve it will squirt out a little fluid and then won't lift quite as high the next time); putting a 2x2 on the top of the jack under the front lift point i could lift the x5 high enough to get jack stands in place and also lift high enough to get them out.

[onthefence]

Originally Posted by cn90

- Actually as you jack up the car, the floor jack slowly rolls INWARD, toward the center of the car.
- Basic geometry...

It's both.
Next time you jack the front, go look at the rear wheels.
They will have rolled forward.
Depends on which has more friction, the jack wheels or the rear tires.
Basic physics.