Featured Technical Skip The Jack Stands, make Riser Blocks

I've had a set for years, although not quite as high as some of those posted. My problem was getting a jack to raise the car up enough to get them under the tires!

 

This (above) is how I did it.

 

I had a neighbor that worked in the Jones Beach NY carpenter shop.

He would bring home these m***ive blocks of wood leftover from highway dividers. Those were his jack stands.

 

I built mine out of treated lumber because I don’t have the room for them in the garage so they live under the carport. Still out of the weather and sun as such and they should have a long life but the rascals are heavy. I’ve put my OT F150 Supercrew on them and they’re solid as a rock.

 

You guys are overthinking this.

 

If you want them to last forever, you can cut up all your pieces and "paint" them with used motor oil and let them dry before ***embly.

 

I use cribbing under the wheels as well and I love it, but mine are solid, no space in the center. Mostly 4x4's tied together but I have some base pieces that were cut up from a huge engineered beam. My top ones always have ends screwed down so the car can't roll forward or back. Great for exhaust or floor work, stands tend to get in the way for stuff like that.

Would probably be way more expensive to make if you didn't have a bunch of free wood s****s, and they are kinda heavy. But I think weight and cost is the only reason to build them with that negative space in the center, and to me it's worth it for the peace of mind.

 

at my age, i realize i'm not immortal. i just use decking screws and wail away. jack stands make me nervous!

 

Yup, I have a couple of sets like that as well. They work great for a project that's going to hang around for awhile.

 

I put small cuts of 2x4’s for the in between the boards on the front and back of the cribs just because the negative space had me nervous.

 

Yikes!!

 

Made this set in 2001 to drop the trans out of a 55 olds… made them as a stackable set. When I need a little more height I add another set on the bottom and lock them together by inserting square blocks vertically in the voids.

 

MANY moons ago, we used wire milk crates with 2" x 12" lumber on top of them. Perhaps on the foolish side, but at age 19 it seemed like a good idea .

 

Best bet for your bucks is to go to a manufacture that builds truss's for roofs, they use number 1 pine or spruce and usually have a large supply of s**** on hand. As we all know pine and spruce is not good wood to burn in wood stoves so there should be a lot of s****. I would pre-drill and use screws to put them together.

 

How are you feeling Dan?

 

Better, recovery is slow maybe another week? according to my Dr.
Dan

 

I just found I out I have Raynauds syndrome? Wtf I'm not liking this getting older sh!t.

 

This getting old ain’t for wimps
Hence the cribs on here. Now if @Marty Strode would come with something to get me back up off the floor I get down easy enough.
Dan

 

Somehow, "LIKE" is not appropriate here. At 81, I resemble that remark...

Russ

 

Wonder if there's much to be gained by doing a "glue and screw" job on them? Maybe calling it a screw and glue job sounds better . . ?

 

Sounds like your shop was built over one of those pesky "Gravity Hot Spots".

 

It’s gravity alrighty the gravity hasn’t changed but my antigravity stuff doesn’t work like it used to
Dan

 

It's these same "hot spots" that also pull tools and fasteners down to an inaccessible area beneath the center of the car!

 

Don't forget your cheap harbor freight furniture dolly so you can roll them to all 4 corners of your car.

 

Made these from s**** lumber. They were heavy, so I drilled holes in 'em.

 

I'd glue them as well... I was a woodshop major in high school, so I know things.
I have a bunch of 2x4's I was going to put out front with a FREE sign. now I'm going build some of these to put my 1949 Chevrolet on so it looks like I am working on it.

 

My old buddy Ernie, had ropes hanging in his shops from the ceiling, so he could roll on the creeper over to one, and pull himself up. He died at 84, and used the ropes the last few years.

 

A third option when scavenging the neighbor’s lumber stocks. What he’s got will dictate how I proceed. The conversation will start with, “Hey Bob, let’s take a look at what you have in the way of wood!” Lumber that is… keep your minds clean!

 

Hello,

Wow, what a cool idea. The build looks very sturdy and with the equal weight all around, a good elevation level for a “no bend concept” project. Even as a young teen with a flexible body growing up, those cars and projects were all, mostly, “waist bend” level work. It was a good thing we were so flexible as teens.

But, as one gets older and wiser, everything comes into play. Floor jacks were wonderful when we had room to roll it in place with whatever worked for us. No, heavy lifting to get something “up” to fit or just be able to put the item in place when the car was on jack stands.

Jnaki

But, as most homes we have owned are two car garages with limited extra space all around the two cars, there is limited space for storage of a floor jack, even with the arm at level stance. So, it had to go to a young kid who was a great mechanic, but lacked a floor jack. He had his own garage workshop and had a one car space with plenty of room for a standing handle floor jack sitting off to the side walls. No bumping as one walks by and the floor jack was right there when needed. So, I gave it to him to continue his hot rod builds.

He had a fast OT sedan and built racing VW bugs. He came over several months later with his latest creation. A full fledged off road VW bug ready for the Baja 1000 race event. He put on a legal muffler for the “test” drive when he picked me up. When we got to a straight away, he floored it and the front end came up off the ground. I was looking above the street level and now it was blue sky. When it came back down, I was impressed with his power and build. An still a teenager… wow!

Note:

So, remembering that time when our son was a toddler, I created a wooden box made out of strong 2x4 pieces, similar in fashion. My floor jack was gone and the jack stands were also given away, so I needed the wheel to be higher to be level with my chair. So, I made a 2x4 stand for use with each wheel. No, not four 2x4 box stands, only one. The concept was to do one wheel at a time and space required it to be that way.

The 2x4 box is the second oldest thing in the garage, still doing duty, but now it is a sturdy stool when needed to get to the top shelf of the tall cabinets.

It fit in the p***enger seat to raise his toddler car seat so he could look out of the windows and yet still use the seat belts. Then after he out grew the stool, he used it as his favorite seat to sit in the small dining area of the kitchen on hot summer days eating/dripping his popscicle on the tile floor and stood. The stool had several coats of polyurethane and was virtually water proof. So, any drips were hosed off for air drying and now a clean seat for the next time.

Now, as he became a father and we had to transport our granddaughter around to her activities as a toddler, we also used the block stood to raise her car seat higher. She also used it to brush her teeth and to be able to step up to the sink when she needed to use it. A multi-use stood. No worries about it slipping or moving when stepping up on it. She had it at her own house as she got larger, but still needed help getting to the sink handles.

The final resting place is back in our own garage to use a a stool. 20 years ago, after using it as a individual wheel level work, it now rests in its final place for now.

Back 30 years ago, I needed to raise the wheel of one of our cars to do some repair and detailing. The car jack raised it to fit and now the tire fit inside of the two taller sides and became a “no roll” floor brace for the one wheel I was working on that day. So, over the years, it has paid its dues and now sits proudly in the garage.

When our son and granddaughter come over for a visit and they happen to be in the garage, the stool is a chuckle on their faces, as they knew what it was used for when they were “toddlers.” It is over 50 years old… YRMV

 

When we were all little kids, my uncle made a few stools for us so we could reach the bathroom sink. My brother was going through a "shut up" phase, and scrawled "shut up" on ours, and we always referred to it as the "shut up stool" after that. Mom eventually gifted it to him, and he pawned it off on his daughter. Now he has a grandson, and we wonder if the stool will influence him...