Jack Saddle Extensions?

I'm not happy with adding height to any jackstand shaft because you will upset the ratio of base width to height. Tipping the rig over is not a fun sight. I'm ok with adding height to the base, as long as you maintain the same angle. Using some 1/8" or 3/16" x 6" plate, welded in the corners comes to mind.

I use the 6 t> From the I'm sure someone has had this problem dept.:

In my driveway "shop" I would use a suitably thick timber on spring loaded casters and raise/lower the vehicle in two stages, ie, place the jack on top of the block for extended range. Go for the heavy stands! Gerry :-)} London, Canada

Same idea, but I'd make it with steel pipe (this _is_ RCM). A 6-8 piece of 2" sched 40 upright under each jack wheel, all welded together with bracing. The spring loaded casters are also a good idea. And a good maneuvering handle.

Bob

Roy, I was referring to the jack itself, as opposed to the jack stand. Jack stands that extend to 24" are readily available. Jacks that go to 24+" are harder to come by.

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My experience with wood under saddles is that it cracks. (Simply can't take the compression, saddle digs into wood, cracking sound.) Problem is especially noteable if I use my 15" compact floor jack with its ultra small saddle.

My experience with wood under the jack is that the raised car will try to kick the base of the jack or wood out. On a full size jack, those things are heavy, getting wood under them and positioned is not trivial.

So, my thinking was that if I could simply add/build some sort of extension to the existing jack, that might be a good solution.

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"Barry S." wrote: ...

A full-size base under a floor jack will be a lot more stable than an extension on the saddle. The saddle is not designed to take any significant torque. Adding a 6-8" extension is putting a lever on the saddle. Any out-of-plumb load will create torque on the saddle. 4 6-8" legs spaced apart are a lot more stable than 1 6-8" extension on top of a saddle. Bob

||From the I'm sure someone has had this problem dept.: || ||Let's say I wanted to lift a car 24-25" in the air for service.. (I'm ||really starting to miss not having access to a 2 post hydraulic lift.) || ||Compact Floor Jacks seem to lift to about 15" ||Most floor jacks will go to about 20-22" ||I've seen a Harbor Freight long frame floor jack that claims it will ||go to 31".. And although the price is right, I'm not sure I trust the ||product to last. (Does anyone else make a reasonably priced long frame ||jack that will go to 31"?) || ||I've seen 12 ton jack stands that will go to about 30". (A tempting, ||but probably unnecessary height.) But, most 3 ton jack stands top out ||at around 24", probably enough. || ||I could use a regular floor jack to get the car on jack stands about ||18-20" up. But how can I get an extra 6-8" if I don't have a jack ||that goes quite high enough ? || ||Has anyone ever built a saddle extension? I was thinking something ||like a saddle attached to some schedule 40 pipe welded to the saddle ||base on the jack. Such that you could raise the vehicle to an interim ||height onto jack stands. Bolt on the extension, and take it up the ||rest of the way. || ||Anyone ever built anything like this? (Or has a better solution)

That solution would make me nervous. One thing I have done though, is use a short section of 3" heavy-wall pipe set on end in the saddle cup. You need a good-quality jack to do this, and a lot depends on what you have available for jack points. I use it more for things like raising transmissions and rear axles when the car is already way off the floor.

I recently bought an item made by American Forge & Foundry. It converts your floor jack to the bumper-lift jack, for under $40. Doesn't fit my HF jack, only the better one. #3167 cross-beam adapter

If you have places you can get under with the pads, this thing is great. On my '85 RX7, I use the tie-down eyes on either side of the grill opening. They are plenty strong to lift by. At the rear, the bottom side of the bumper is backed by steel and works fine. I can get the car about 2 feet up in one operation at each end of the car.

Bet the best jack for this purpose is the old Hein-Werner roller bumper jack I bought at a garage sale. Much more stable, and lifts at the same points as above, with two widely-spaced rubber pads.

Again, use of these depends on availablility of suitable jack points.

Texas Parts Guy

I'm getting a general consensus that my original idea simply is not feasible. On another forum, someone suggested sheets of plywood under the casters and not to put anything on the saddle. So I think thats the way I'm headed.

Appreciate all the suggestions from the group though.

Thanks.

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||On Mon, 02 Aug 2004 15:09:20 GMT, snipped-for-privacy@REMOVEtxol.net (Rex B) ||wrote: || ||>On Sun, 01 Aug 2004 08:25:12 GMT, Barry S. wrote: ||>

||>||From the I'm sure someone has had this problem dept.: ||>|| ||>||Let's say I wanted to lift a car 24-25" in the air for service.. (I'm ||>||really starting to miss not having access to a 2 post hydraulic lift.) ||>|| ||>||Compact Floor Jacks seem to lift to about 15" ||>||Most floor jacks will go to about 20-22" ||>||I've seen a Harbor Freight long frame floor jack that claims it will ||>||go to 31".. And although the price is right, I'm not sure I trust the ||>||product to last. (Does anyone else make a reasonably priced long frame ||>||jack that will go to 31"?) ||>|| ||>||I've seen 12 ton jack stands that will go to about 30". (A tempting, ||>||but probably unnecessary height.) But, most 3 ton jack stands top out ||>||at around 24", probably enough. ||>|| ||>||I could use a regular floor jack to get the car on jack stands about ||>||18-20" up. But how can I get an extra 6-8" if I don't have a jack ||>||that goes quite high enough ? ||>|| ||>||Has anyone ever built a saddle extension? I was thinking something ||>||like a saddle attached to some schedule 40 pipe welded to the saddle ||>||base on the jack. Such that you could raise the vehicle to an interim ||>||height onto jack stands. Bolt on the extension, and take it up the ||>||rest of the way. ||>|| ||>||Anyone ever built anything like this? (Or has a better solution) ||>

||>That solution would make me nervous. One thing I have done though, is use a ||>short section of 3" heavy-wall pipe set on end in the saddle cup. You need a ||>good-quality jack to do this, and a lot depends on what you have available for ||>jack points. I use it more for things like raising transmissions and rear ||>axles when the car is already way off the floor. || ||I'm getting a general consensus that my original idea simply is not ||feasible. On another forum, someone suggested sheets of plywood under ||the casters and not to put anything on the saddle. So I think thats ||the way I'm headed. ||

You might look at the C-shaped structural steel that is used in buildings. It looks like C-purlin, except it's steel and heavy wall. A chunk of that about

3-feet long would gain about 3 inches and be very solid under the jack.

Texas Parts Guy

Lost the attribution...

FWIW, I've got one of those 31" Harbor Fright jacks. Works fine for me. Mind you, I don't jack 'em up and down every day, but it'll lift the whole end of one of my vehicles way up in the air. Bought it to pull the engine/tranny out from under a 914 - it was overkill for that...

YMMV, Henry Bibb

Henry,

Thanks for the input.. The HF unit is priced well, and if it doesn't hold up, I won't feel too bad about junking it... Ever had to get parts for the thing?

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||On Fri, 06 Aug 2004 03:35:34 GMT, Henry Q. Bibb ||wrote: || ||>Lost the attribution... ||>> ||>

||>> ||>||From the I'm sure someone has had this problem dept.: ||>> ||>|| ||>> ||>||Let's say I wanted to lift a car 24-25" in the air for service.. (I'm ||>> ||>||really starting to miss not having access to a 2 post hydraulic lift.) ||>> ||>|| ||>> ||>||Compact Floor Jacks seem to lift to about 15" ||>> ||>||Most floor jacks will go to about 20-22" ||>> ||>||I've seen a Harbor Freight long frame floor jack that claims it will ||>> ||>||go to 31".. And although the price is right, I'm not sure I trust the ||>> ||>||product to last. (Does anyone else make a reasonably priced long frame ||>> ||>||jack that will go to 31"?) ||>> ||>|| ||>

||>FWIW, I've got one of those 31" Harbor Fright jacks. ||>Works fine for me. Mind you, I don't jack 'em up and down every day, ||>but it'll lift the whole end of one of my vehicles way up in the air. ||>Bought it to pull the engine/tranny out from under a 914 - it was ||>overkill for that... || ||Henry, || ||Thanks for the input.. The HF unit is priced well, and if it doesn't ||hold up, I won't feel too bad about junking it... Ever had to get ||parts for the thing?

It comes with a set of replacement cylinder seals. Texas Parts Guy

That says alot!

Shawn

||> It comes with a set of replacement cylinder seals. ||> Texas Parts Guy || || ||That says alot!

I guess. I've had mine for maybe 4 years, and used it quite a lot.. I've not been gentle with it. It's been in the dirt getting the trailer tongue off the ground a few times. It regularly lifts one end of a car to full height. I have yet to have a malfunction of any kind with it. I'd have to do some looking to find the seals. Texas Parts Guy

Rex,

When working on a car on jackstands, how high up do you like to have it?

I use to have access to a 2 post lift and found that about 4-6' up worked really well for a bunch of stuff.. On jack stands, I've really never seemed to be able to find a comfortable height. (Which is why I've been looking to see how high I can possibly go.)

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||On Tue, 10 Aug 2004 14:18:32 GMT, rex@@txol.net (Rex B) wrote: || ||>On Tue, 10 Aug 2004 00:24:07 -0400, "Shawn" wrote: ||>

||>||> It comes with a set of replacement cylinder seals. ||>||> Texas Parts Guy ||>|| ||>|| ||>||That says alot! ||>

||>I guess. I've had mine for maybe 4 years, and used it quite a lot.. I've not ||>been gentle with it. It's been in the dirt getting the trailer tongue off the ||>ground a few times. It regularly lifts one end of a car to full height. ||>I have yet to have a malfunction of any kind with it. I'd have to do some ||>looking to find the seals. ||>Texas Parts Guy || || ||Rex, || ||When working on a car on jackstands, how high up do you like to have ||it? || ||I use to have access to a 2 post lift and found that about 4-6' up ||worked really well for a bunch of stuff.. On jack stands, I've ||really never seemed to be able to find a comfortable height. (Which ||is why I've been looking to see how high I can possibly go.)

I get it as high as I can with the equipment I have, which does not include a lift. That usually means about 18 inches, which works fine for all the things I need to do. Transmission changes and exhaust work are the usual projects, plus the occasional suspension re-do. Texas Parts Guy