I usually just jack mine up on the rear diff, put stands out by the shock mounts, then go to the front, jack it up, put stands under the A arms and lower the jack down most of the way (leaving some pressure still on the jack). This is all of course if I am doing it at my house- at the shop it is hoist with the arms on the frame as far forward and as far back as I can go where it is all flat and am good-

 

I usually just jack mine up on the rear diff, put stands out by the shock mounts, then go to the front, jack it up, put stands under the A arms and lower the jack down most of the way (leaving some pressure still on the jack). This is all of course if I am doing it at my house- at the shop it is hoist with the arms on the frame as far forward and as far back as I can go where it is all flat and am good-

Never ever ever do this and get under your truck. You should ALWAYS make sure the jack stands are properly rated, positioned and capable of supporting the full weight of the truck. Should a hydraulic jack fail you want to be sure positive supports are positioned correctly and will not slip. If you don't place the full weight of the truck on them you will not know. You can use the jack as a back up but it should be only touching the load and not supporting weight.

 

For me, I also use the differential to lift with a floor jack and then use jack stands near the shocks.

For the front, I jack with the floor jack on the frame and use jack stands as far forward as possible on the flats. Allows me to turn the steering wheels to lube a couple of the zerks as well as it lets me check to see if there's any movement (12 o'clock/6 o'clock) on the front hubs (there shouldn't be any movement).

Easy to rotate tires with the truck off the ground. Just be sure to use jack stands rated to hold our trucks.

For safety, I also use the floor jack on one side of the frame rail (in addition to the jack stand) as an extra safety measure. It's there so why not use it?

Be sure to also set the parking brakes and block the tires when you initially start lifting the truck.

 

...and use jack stands as far forward as possible on the flats.

What do you mean by 'flats'? Lost me there.

Thanks for the replys so far, I think next time I will use the rear diff as a jack point but I'm still not sure where to place the jack stands for the front. I have 3-ton rated jack stands - is that enough?

 

He means the flat section of the frame rail.

Yes, a crew cab 4x4 HD truck weighs about 7500 pounds total, so jack-stands rated for 6000 lbs will be fine WHEN USED AS A PAIR, EACH SUPPORTING PART OF THE LOAD.

Example: two stands supporting the back end might be supporting 3500 pounds, and divide by two for the stands means approximately 1750 each. More than enough safey factor there. The front might weigh closer to 4000 pounds; two stands up front only support 2000 pounds each. Etc.

 

He means the flat section of the frame rail.

Yes, a crew cab 4x4 HD truck weighs about 7500 pounds total, so jack-stands rated for 6000 lbs will be fine WHEN USED AS A PAIR, EACH SUPPORTING PART OF THE LOAD.

Example: two stands supporting the back end might be supporting 3500 pounds, and divide by two for the stands means approximately 1750 each. More than enough safey factor there. The front might weigh closer to 4000 pounds; two stands up front only support 2000 pounds each. Etc.

I think you might be suprised how much over 4000#s you'll be on the frt.

Mark

 

k9duramax, Looking back at my post I can see where it sounded a little crude. I apologize for that. : My only intention was to stress the importance of support equipment placement before getting under a load. I would hate to see someone killed during a situation gone bad. I now understand what your saying about just touching the jack to the load.

 

:beerchug: None taken man- I would rather have something clarified so people know (especially in a case like this where someone could get hurt!). Sorry to anyone on my part for possibly misleading them in my post!!!!!

 

Thanks for the replies. For those of you who put a jack stand under the A-arm, where exactly under the A-arm? Would one of the pivot points be okay? I'm just worried about bending something that shouldn't be bent.

 

Any part of the A arm will work for you! You won't bend anything on it- I usually try to go as far out as I can, staying a couple of inches at least away from the wheels.

 

Disco, is that a 4X4 or 2 wd ?

 

4x4

 

My 3500 2wd CC dually with 2 people, nearly full of fuel, and the camper loaded is 4760 on the front. I haven't weighed it empty.

Mark