jack stands advice

[explorev]

For jack stands, that's a no brainer.  I just need taller ones.

Any suggestions for a new jack?  I see a lot of the "hi lift" jacks, but not really sure how or where to engage them on an old truck.  Should I just stick with the hydraulic floor jack, just something with more range than my current one?

A new floor jack doesn't solve the problem of when I'm out on the road.

[Gary Lewis]

What most people refer to when they say "hi lift" jack is one like is shown below.  And while I carry one it is mostly to be able to get unstuck when in the back of beyond.  For lifting a wheel for changing a tire when on the road you want either the original mechanical bottle jack or a hydraulic bottle jack.  I carry one of the latter with a 3 ton rating and it has enough lift to get the wheel off the ground when on pavement.

But for use at home I have a floor jack, meaning the kind with wheels.  And an aluminum one of those would be nice as my steel one is pretty heavy.

[kramttocs]

Get the highest rated jack stands you can justify. I've got a few Craftman pairs (back when Sears was all but giving stuff away) and there is a huge difference in 'beefy-ness' between the light duty ones and the ones with the yellow cradle. For our trucks, it may not be a concern but you never know what you might use them for in the future and they aren't something that goes bad unless left in the elements.

I'll second Gary on the floor jack being the safest and best choice for at home. Even if you need to use on a non-concrete surface you can throw down some 3/4 plywood.

Used one of the hi lifts yesterday to remove the front tire on a tractor and I'll admit that I fall into the category of not liking them (a lot of that is knowing a guy that almost died on the side of the road because of one). Not saying they don't work as they do but they are just a tool where one really needs to think through all the things that could go wrong because they aren't very forgiving. End soapbox  As for our trucks, I honestly don't know how they'd be used without causing damage to the truck assuming factory equipped. Gary has a different bumper than most of us with a solid, flat bottom that lends itself to jacking.
Gary - is the front bumper it or is there another application for that hi lift jack? Asking out of ignorance from one that hasn't used a jack to get unstuck.

[Gary Lewis]

I didn't buy the hi lift jack.  My son thought it would be a good accessory.  But in reality it hasn't been used much.

Helped a friend sell Keith/FORDification an earlier pickup and none of the on-hand jacks would get under the axle to raise the truck because the tire was flat.  The hi lift worked then, but I have a bumper adapter for it that is a j-hook that grabs the bumper.  So it can be useful, but I'd put a hydraulic bottle jack several notches ahead of it.

[grumpin]

I agree with what was said. I recently grabbed my Hi-Lift on a cross country journey towing a cargo trailer in case I got a flat on the trailer.

Beefy jack stands, make for better comfort while you're under the vehicle.

I have two of these and really like them, I would use them on the front of the 86 I had, because the pumpkin isn't centered, then use a floor jack and heavy duty jack stands in the rear.

https://www.powerbuilt.com/products/3-ton-all-in-one-jackstand-bottle-jack

[kramttocs]

That's really neat Dane. Hadn't seen that combo before.