Projects Concrete blocks for getting more lift

With concrete blocks, you only need one minor flaw near the load concentration and it will crumble.
You can take some old wheels with tire and put them under your wheels to gain height.

The best way I have found is to search Facebook Marketplace and buy a couple of the old air jacks. Two of them will raise your frame quickly or even your whole car. When you are done with the project, resell them and get your money back. They make it very nice for leaning into interiors or raising body panels to a convenient working level.......anything that is hard on your back gets easier as well as all that underneath stuff too. Put a couple tires and wheels under the car if you plan to crawl under it. You can have your whole car 3 feet in the air in about 2 minutes. About $150/$200 each.

 

lots of good info--no concrete blocks!! I used to have two pieces of power pole 14" in diameter and about 16" tall-and and heavy 6X8" crossarm--worked great. Should have kept them--may get some more-plenty stout!

 

Now I'm afraid to even sit my fat ass on my concrete blocks.

I use heavy 2x12s bolted together under my car. Wouldn't be afraid to take a nap under them. Oh wait, I already have.

 

Thanks for the picture - I will look for a pair

 

My Dad taught me years ago about safety. In his shop in the corner was a huge pile of wooden blocks. I still have some of them in my shop now. He told me to never trust a Jack or an hoist, always shore them up before getting under a load!
But I guess I’m getting old, I had an ot car slip off the floor Jack while I was putting on a tire, caught my hand between the tire and fender, a couple of days ago! Nothing broken, but my had is cut up and sore! I know my Dad is looking down at me, shaking his head!






Bones

 

Just to explain myself, I wasn’t saying it was okay using concrete vs cement.
Just drawing a distinction between mixed with sand vs aggregate and other binding agents.

 

I’ve still have many blocks we used when I was a kid, before EPA “awareness “ was around, all the used motor oil was poured over them as they stayed outside. Never rotted

 

On the ranch, that was standard procure! Never wasted any used oil. I painted the wood bed of our 1937 Ford ton and a half many times with it. It is still in good shape, been setting outside since 1956!








Bones

 

Bottom line...don't use anything other than steel jack stands or wood cribbing (properly of course). Many DOT agencies use wood cribbing to support bridges when they need service.

 

'bout half of the rock pile out back of my old farmstead is broken and shattered concrete blocks that failed when used to support farm machinery and old vehicles.
I have 70 years of horror stories, too many. Some my own.
Now when I work under a tractor, truck, trailer or car, it is first cribbed level on carefully placed wood cribbing. Got a nice selection of 12x12x24" oak blocks and 6x6 8' support beams from the lumber mill.
Spending a hour or three getting everything set up securely beats the hell out of spending 6 months in a hospital ....or pushing up dandelions.
I try to avoid supporting equipment or vehicles by the wheels as too many service operations require wheel removal.
A beam or two supported by 3 crib piles will securely support a 30' trailer or a 8 ton tractor. My farm neighbors routinely block up their huge JD tractors and combines to remove and replace tires.

 

You should be OK as long as you spread the load all over and don't have any pointy objects in your back pockets!

 

mentioned using pole rounds and a heavy crossarm. Just talked to son-in-law--they are replacing poles up by Tahoe from Caldor fire--he is gonna bring me a few.

 

and what do your jack stands sit on when holding up your car………….?

I see we’re heading for page 5 …….

 

Concrete floors and driveways spread the applied loads over several square feet. A concrete block does not.
Block up your car with concrete blocks and it will be the blocks that crumble not the concrete floor.

 

This thread is just dumb now….

 

I hope so - I am glad that my question to curiosity as to how to gain more height while avoid being crushed has brought about such joy in others. I stopped reading closely as soon as I got "squirrel"s response - post #1

 

This is actually a very good discussion to have, since threads like this get archived on the internet and people casually searching Google with similar keywords wondering what is safe and what is not will find this and get an education. There's plenty of people out there who genuinely don't know any better, this may even save a life someday. "Up on blocks in the front yard" is such a common expression it's no wonder why some less experienced people might think it's safe/acceptable.

 

Hold on man, don't fuck it up for me, I've got these 2 "stands" for sale with a 2" spacer included!

 

Classifieds Lloyd, classifieds

 

And sitting on concrete causes ‘roids

 

Is "piles" the same thing?

 

Well Gawwwwleeee!

 

recently here in Aussie a person in a BMW SUV got a flat tyre at 2am so he
pulled into a parking lot to change wheel, 6am next morning they found him under SUV,
jack had failed ,he DEAD
maybe he should have used concrete blocks

 

Everyone uses cinder blocks with car sitting on the flat side. Weakest part of a cinder block.
With the block turned with the holes pointed up they can support a whole building. still dont recommend cinder blocks

 

I had 4 years of woodshop in high school. safety was drummed into our heads every day. 45 years later I still go into every project thinking to myself don't maim or kill yourself..... like never stand in line with your bench top grinder until it reaches full speed. had one explode at start up and hit the wall behind me and guess what? I was standing to the side.

many ways out there to kill yourself in this hobby of ours. I try to avoid them.

 

No, they can’t, - only with (engineered) reinforcing steel and concrete involved, do they have any compressive strength, which is why you should not use them.

But this has already been stated……….see my post 86…..
.

 

Think of a cinder block, concrete block what ever you wanna call it ! it’s similar to a pop can.

you can stand on a pop can, that thin aluminum cylinder will easily hold the weight of a full grown man.

but put one small dent in the side and it will fold faster then a lawn chair !

the block with a load concentrated in one spot ( think cross member bolt , rivet , etc in one spot will cause the block to crack and fail.

I have heard people “ laminating “ blocks with 2x12 wood so the load is not resting on the concrete, but on wood . for what jack stands new and used cost and wood cribbing can be made from all sorts of sources why bother with this ?

I get having this thread and asking the original question. Not everyone knows this stuff snd it’s good to have it out there. But 4 pages ?
Let’s just be safe out there !

 

Some of the cribbing posted above just looks scary to me.

 

Maybe concrete blocks are different in New Zealand. A lot of houses around here are built on crawlspaces with 3 or 4 courses of block on the footer with no reinforcing steel or filling the cores with concrete. Never saw any crushed block under those houses unless the footer failed. The weight is evenly distributed on the sill plate.
I still would never use them for jack stands!

 

5