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 .