I'm putting the 57 F100 away for the winter. I can squeeze it and two others in my two and a half car garage with a little rearranging. For the sake of room, I'd like to put the truck up on stands so I can store some things underneath it. Is it better to load the suspension by putting the jacks under the axles or to out the jacks under the frame and let the suspension hang? I would think loading the suspension would be the way to go.
the rear leaf springs or any other leafs would be ok hanging down so block up the frame and remove a little set, used to do that on my 1955 chev stock car does not last long but dont you think all the weight is a strain then we beat the heck out of them on a rough road, let them relax for a couple months JMHO
I would go with most of the above, in the past I've set the car on jack stands but just enough so the tires just touched the floor. I've seen people place wood between the tires and floor as well. With stock cars, I used to store mine with the springs out (for coils, it would be coming apart anyway) just to take the load off for the off-season. Bob
Storing your truck on jack stands will keep your springs (coil & leaf) stiffer. I race a camaro at a local dirt track. Springs are a huge part of handling. To keep the springs from changing their rating (getting weaker) I keep the car on 4 jack stands 100% of the time. Only time it's off the stands is on the trailer or at the track. Some guys even jack the rear up at the track between races. I think the leaf springs are quicker to lose their arc by leaving the weight on them.
I always kept the back jacked up during the week and between events at the track. Something I got from watching the modified crews. Bob
i heard a story that a guy said he was going to store his car on the second floor of his rickety old barn, when asked if the floor would hold he answered "i'm putting the car up on stands so it would be off the floor" obviously an engineer!
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