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Old 05-05-2014, 05:16 PM   #1
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Jacking Points

Where should I place the jack to remove a tire so I can check my bearings on my 2013 Tracer 240 Air? I read many different places to not jack it up on the axles so do I pick a spot on the frame near the tire and can I use stands?
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Old 05-05-2014, 05:49 PM   #2
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You don't want to jack right in the middle of the axle as that can bend it. However, you can jack on it right next to the spring shackle bolts that go around the axle tube, just before you jack it up make sure there's room to put the stand on the tube between the axle bolts.

If you have four stands, you can set up one side at a time, and if you're work area is on a slant sideways, I'd do one side at a time. If it's on a slant where it can roll downhill then hook your TV to it and set the parking brake since once you start jacking chocks are of little use.

Good luck, feel free to ask if there's any questions!
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Old 05-05-2014, 07:59 PM   #3
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The other option is jacking on the frame with some wood to spread the pressure out. Both are good.
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Old 05-05-2014, 08:07 PM   #4
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If you have springs, you can jack on the axle directly between the U bolts holding the springs to the axle. If you have torsion axles, you can jack between the axles on the 2 x 4 steel tube the torsion is mounted to. I made an adaptor for this.
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Old 05-05-2014, 08:12 PM   #5
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wood between jack and frame? BAD idea. When the wood splits or slips out of place, something bad will happen.
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Old 05-05-2014, 08:29 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by davel1971 View Post
wood between jack and frame? BAD idea. When the wood splits or slips out of place, something bad will happen.

As a non-mechanically inclined person, I find these "where to jack" threads fascinating. I'm a computer person at heart.

What I find interesting is what I said is what was said to me last year when I had the same question. It seems that each recommendation is met with a dire death and destruction warning. I've yet to read one suggestion that everyone agrees with.

I don't mean to say or imply that you're wrong and I'm right- just sharing that these threads are highly divided in their recommendations usually.
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Old 05-05-2014, 08:36 PM   #7
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wood between jack and frame? BAD idea. When the wood splits or slips out of place, something bad will happen.
X2 on the wood, a pc of steel OK as long as it can't slip. That's why I welded a "keeper" on my jack adaptor, it can't slip and can't come off the jack.
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Old 05-05-2014, 08:44 PM   #8
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wood is soft and bends. You aren't spreading the load out with it. Large blocks UNDER the jack are fine
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Old 05-05-2014, 08:55 PM   #9
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Picking something up off the tires is dangerous, which is why we take precautions such as my saying to hook the tv up to help hold it steady. Direct jack pad contact is best but with caution a single block of wood as a spacer isn't the end of the world.

Single biggest key is to not get under it while jacked up except to place jack stands and don't get under it at all while the tires are off.
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Old 05-05-2014, 09:00 PM   #10
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[QUOTE=SKnight;604528] a single block of wood as a spacer isn't the end of the world. QUOTE]

uh, it very well could be for the one doing it.
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Old 05-05-2014, 09:04 PM   #11
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[QUOTE=davel1971;604532]
Quote:
Originally Posted by SKnight View Post
a single block of wood as a spacer isn't the end of the world. QUOTE]

uh, it very well could be for the one doing it.
X2, under the jack, but not on top of it unless it's a floor jack with a big pad.
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Old 05-05-2014, 09:16 PM   #12
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Explain this to me, as obviously I'm ignorant in this area. A career as a mechanic must not qualify my experience.

How are wood blocks, somehow placed under a jack that could weigh up to 80 pounds for a wheeled floor jack, more stable than a wood block placed on the pad?

Trust me, there's a point to this question.
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Old 05-05-2014, 09:24 PM   #13
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first, what does it matter how much the jack weighs? Second, a large block under any type of jack has the load spread evenly across it. If you put a block on top of a "floor jack" type of jack, most of them have 4 tabs on the plate which puts extreme pressure on those points. You just made a wood splitter. If using a bottle jack, that's a lot of pressure on a 1 inch circle. Since you feel to list your occupation to back your experience, I jack up 40,000 pound tractors every day. 1 misplaced jack, I don't come home to my family.
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Old 05-05-2014, 09:27 PM   #14
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...How are wood blocks, somehow placed under a jack that could weigh up to 80 pounds for a wheeled floor jack, more stable than a wood block placed on the pad?...
No need for the sarcastic remarks sir.

Block of wood under a post jack, not under a floor jack. Block of wood on top of a floor jack.
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Old 05-05-2014, 09:49 PM   #15
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I do all of the afor mentioned given the nature of the task performed, conditions, ground type and equipment used to perform the lifting task.
No one answer for all cases, or jobs.
And blocks work great on top of some jacks to help even, uneven surfaces, depending on lift type, wood type, pressures and object to be lifted. Obviously, it doesn't work on all jacks, and or all situations.
Safety is always key.

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Old 05-05-2014, 10:02 PM   #16
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C'mon OC, nothing I said was sarcastic.

First, reread this.

Quote:
Originally Posted by SKnight View Post
Picking something up off the tires is dangerous, which is why we take precautions such as my saying to hook the tv up to help hold it steady. Direct jack pad contact is best but with caution a single block of wood as a spacer isn't the end of the world.

Single biggest key is to not get under it while jacked up except to place jack stands and don't get under it at all while the tires are off.
Bold and in italics. The ears on a floor jack pad will compress into the wood that up to 1/4" until it hits the ring, but my experience the ears push in about 1/8" on typical loads. But once you struggle that heavy floor jack onto the blocks, those wheels are concentrating that pressure in a single spot for each board. If that wood splits, the jack shifts. It's just as dangerous. Plus, all jacks travel in an arc, even a bottle jack leans as the object is lifted. So our floor jack wheels are digging into the wood, not able to roll and relieve the shear force in place. The bottle jack, while not able to roll, is still experiencing the arc shearing force especially when jacking on the frame since it has to not only lift the tire a couple of inches, it also has to overcome the suspension travel first. Sharp edge of the bottle jack foot, or the rounded head? I've never had a wood block split so long as it's properly aligned and some caution is used.

Lastly, the plain bold text. Dave, since you lift 40,000 tractors every day you really should know this part. Spacer, no spacer, top bottom or on the roof, you never get under a load until it's properly supported on stands and never set those stands unless the tires are still on it. Keeps you from getting squished if it slips while placing the stands. I've been pinned under a car before, trust me I'm a believer in jacking and supporting safety. Never, ever trust hydraulics to keep you alive.

I'll say it again. Picking up a load to work on it is dangerous no matter how you slice it. But we mitigate that danger, direct pad contact is best, use stands at all times, if spacers are necessary then over or under, exercise enhanced caution. One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet, I wouldn't space more than a 4X4 block. Don't stack two 2X4 pieces. That just adds potential failure points.
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Old 05-05-2014, 10:03 PM   #17
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I just run my trailer up a ramp made from my yellow plastic leveling blocks. On our dual axle trailer, I put the wheel with the good tire on the ramp and leave the flat hanging in the air. Takes maybe 5 minutes and absolutely no muscle to get the flat off the ground and the truck is hooked up to move the trailer, so no concern for trailer movement off the ramp. When I had to do it in Alaska last summer, it took me longer to get Rockwood's decorative white plastic covers off the lug nuts than it did to change the tire.
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Old 05-05-2014, 10:08 PM   #18
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C'mon OC, nothing I said was sarcastic...
"Explain this to me, as obviously I'm ignorant in this area. A career as a mechanic must not qualify my experience."

I'm going to go get the popcorn machine warmed up. Have fun!
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Old 05-05-2014, 10:16 PM   #19
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Oc... you forgot to say "Bazinga"

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Old 05-05-2014, 10:18 PM   #20
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I've picked up everything from motorcycles to D9 Cats over the course of the career. As Millertime said, you do what you gotta do for the job and I can honestly say I've never dropped anything off a jack due to improper lifting. I had a jack mechanically fail but the tires were still on it, no harm no foul. And I got pinned due to youthful stupidity on my part and a helpful guy that didn't see I was under it. He let the car down to pull it out, realized I was under it when I started screaming. I didn't know the lock was broke on that lift. Luckily, it was just my leg. Poor guy was more upset than I was too.

Yet I'm hearing I don't know what I'm talking about. I did it professionally for 20 years, many years before that as a teenager and I'm still involved in the industry.

Either way you slice it, spacing a jack is dangerous, top or bottom. I prefer blocks on top.
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