This is great John. Many years ago my brother in law was using a jack and axle stands, his only mistake was that he jacked his Torana XU1 up on a flat grass surface. The axle stands and jack slipped when he applied rotational force to the differential housing nuts. The car moved cushing him by the chest, unable to breath he was killed. He was a good man and I miss him still. If you think this story will save a life please use it to stop the pain and suffering of other family should they not follow your rules. Thank you John you are a life saver.
I'm very sorry to hear about that tragedy in your lives Tim. Please accept my sincere condolences. I do hope this information prevents similar sad events from occurring.
I once knew a bloke who told me how he was nearly killed jacking on a concrete surface. The concrete gave way. Luckily he wasn't underneath at the time. So make sure the concrete itself is not dicky, or spread the load somehow. I always try to use two or three supports before I get under a car.
Dear John, I was rather stunned when I noticed from 06:26 to 06:43 into your video that you jacked up your car at the differential's housing. The manual to my 4x4 truck state "never do this" with several ! and a warning triangle. Back then, when I was young and stupid sitting in the German Navy's engineers school to become a naval engineer as a second profession after allready being an aircraft engine technician and later studying geology/paleontology - back then as a studend of naval engineering we of course did not bend our brains around on shore vehicles' drive shafts, yet the all of us had cars to work on and the general advice given by the professor teaching us in mechanic was: "never lift anything at its differential gear's housing with a 'never' like in 'never ever'." Of course decades went by since and the 4x4 I drive is 53 years old, but did technology really improved that much that it now is okay to lift a car at its diff, putting all the axle-bending-stress on to the joints? Enjoying your contributions to the world I do look forward to your beer garden physics' explanaition on this issue and bag your pardon if I missspelled or missgramared one or the other "thing" in my message, yet I'm not a native Angloamerican language speaker. Sincerily, Stefan, Kiel, Germany.
I've found it often 'depends on the vehicle' Older diffs made of steel will probably be ok, as are most solid axle vehicles or off-roading ones built to take a bit of a beating. When it comes to some modern cars they can have alloy plates in their construction which won't really play well with some torsion and minor flexing from a highly focused application of force, so they could cause a bit of a leak between the two surfaces later on. Usually this is in most repair manuals as well, if the manufacturer shows it as a legit jack point you're ok, otherwise use the smaller ones near the back wheels for getting it up in the air. Legit question though
Interesting. Been working on and off reading Jeeps for a long time and that’s where everyone I’ve ever seen jacks those from. Seems gentler than the rocks I bash it into.
That is interesting for sure, I have never seen one not be able to be center jacked from the diff, and from that, you can put the jack stands at any point on the axel, but normally to the outer side to give more of that sideload protection.
I have a Ford Falcon and the diff housing has axle tubes which are pressed in, and wouldn't jack from the centre of the diff, but I also have a Nissin Patrol which has a solid diff housing and I do jack from that. Just use common sense.
Having five cars and working on them for years finally drove me crazy in my old age. So, I installed a two post hoist in my driveway...best thing I ever did!!!
G'day John, My Dad taught me (if you are on the side of the road, no workshop handy) to put the spare wheel under the car at your 1 of 4 corners of activity after jacking it up - before you do ANYTHING else.... At least that way if the crap OEM jack fails, your legs won't be amputated if the vehicle falls. Take off the flat tyre, shove that under the car in the good one's place, then put on the spare. Ghetto jack stand. Also, timber blocks are used by crane operators (cribbage blocks) I know you know this, but it's best to just say "NO" to wooden blocks to the "great unwashed" when decent supports are available. Cheers.
Good video John two pro tips for you buddy Pro tip number one I might stand corrected but when Jack stands are marked 4000 kg 9.9 times out of 10 that is not per stand that is when they are used as a pair so they are only 2000 kg each and it’s the same for 2 t stands 8 t stands etc Pro tip number two I like that trolley jack but get yourself down to Bunnings and go into the plumbing section and buy a suitable length of that black spongy installation stuff you see on copper pipes as insolation take the handle off the jack and pull the insolation over the full length of the Jack handle and that way you’ll have a nice protective spongy coat all along the length of the handle so that when the handle bangs against the side of the car it won’t chip that $20,000 paint job……!! Have a good one mate PS - I know They do come from factory with a small length of spongy stuff but it’s not very long and it’s not very thick PPS - Yes I have purchased a new set of Jack stands recently for myself to do the brakes on the old Fairlane - and I was disappointed to learn the weight rating refers to them operating as a pair not individually……!!!
In the early Triassic. Before 1985. I used to be what was called a Motor Mechanic. Definitely not a gun spanner twirler by any means. I love watching your how to stuff.
My only objection here john would be the metal on metal contact on the jack cup/jack stand to the chassis or axle will chip paint off which in time will rust. I add this rubber pads to my tools to prevent this or fold a big ish cloth a couple of times to protect the paint of those parts.
I always use a small block of wood between the jack and the vehicle. The jack bites into the wood making slipping unlikely, and the wood protects the car's underside coating. It also gives you more "lift"
This is a must see video for all the so-called RU-vid and internet experts to watch. Perhaps such people will stop using homemade supports, bricks, and timber. Your video may well save a life. I only use pin type stands as some ratchet stands have proven to suffer more from manufacturing issues. In the aviation industry only pin type support stands are used. The tool you call a cross brace is called a spider when I served my apprenticeship. Look forward to the follow-up videos
Always always always be safe when jacking up your car and putting it onto stands, I lost a great mate many years ago who was crushed and died when the jack failed whilst he was under the car removing the stands. RIP Mate.
That can easily happen, I'm always super uncomfortable sliding the trestles in while the car is still only on the jack. I try using only my arms, and don't get under the vehicle. Remember the tyres are still on at that time. Removing the stands, I like jacking up, and then using the shop broom to pull those "bokkies" out. Bokkies =South African name for jack stands. Think; little bucks. Lol ☺👍
Good advice for beginners. 55 years plus of fixing farm machinery, cars and trucks still have all the working bits. Went to TAFE learnt how to weld, work on Diesel engines and now have a new bat cave not farming anymore…. Hare and Forbes have all the good stuff new cave stuffed full….
Can confirm testing of these is tedious, the first one we did the 200 cycle test to find at about 180 cycles it could no longer lift the required amount due to the hydraulic unit overheating and leaking, upon inspection links had permanently deformed, pins showed damage along with circlips breaking loose. The next unit we decided to do the overload test first, much quicker to reach a potential failure point 😁
Seemingly simple stuff but very important , thanks . From a guy who knows it all 😂🙄me. I’m in Canada our brains stay frozen year round . You reminded me of a great but forgotten point . My driveway is asphalt , and I had all tools including me . I proceeded to lift SUV and watched as my heavy duty Jack sunk deeper into the asphalt . Good point on the flat cement floor for stability !
A hilift jack in an offroad environment is a wonderful tool and amazingly dangerous. It can flick you in the head and rotate a load offbalance side ways. I just purchased the LX200 Induction headlamp. Great for hands free playing with your tool in the dark…..dude!
Pro Tip John regarding that Jack and to be honest most you buy is to remove the wheels and grease the shafts as they are put together dry and will bind up relatively quickly with use. I go through 1 a year as a mobile mechanic and have the same jack as a garage spare and its worth the 20 minutes greasing them
For those weekend warriors who don't have the benefit of a perfectly flat, smooth, level concrete surface upon which to place jack stands, I recommend Esco tripod-style stands as they have very wide feet to spread their load across a wider surface area and keep from sinking into asphalt or hardpack gravel. And since they have three feet instead of four, they will stabilize across a slightly uneven surface much better than a 4-footed stand. The three legs spread a full foot (12" or or ~30cm) apart from each other so they will not tip, even if you're a few degrees off level.
great, but for dummies, potentially worse, cuz they may overtrust it therefore, when in hardpack/gravel it can still suddenly sink--- THUS, always always ALWAYS put those stands on a small piece of plyboard or similar, to spread that load. SPREAD ThAT LOAD, when on non concrete/asphalt
@Auto Expert John Cadogan I've been following your channel for more than 7 years. I respect in you the fact that you speak about the things you are knowledgable of. Your style is entertaining, and your content is always relevant. I recommend this video for any shop owner/supervisor for training purposes.
I live in Japan and a few years ago I was changing the front springs, shockers and bump stops on my MG RV8 in my garage. Being an ex mechanic I know about jack and axle stand safety so the car was supported on 2 stands under the chassis legs and the rear wheels were chocked front and rear. The trolley jack was used under the lower suspension arm to take the weight while the shockers and uprights were released in order to change the springs etc. I was sitting on the tyre with my head and legs under the car spannering away when suddenly a decent sized earthquake happened, not unusual in Japan. The cars started rocking from side to side and I was out from under there PDQ, I'm a big guy and I didn't know I could move so quickly. All was well, the car didn't fall so after a check on the stands I carried on and finished the job, rather warily. Another story from way back when I was an apprentice, I saw another mechanic put the trolley jack under the back axle of a 3 wheeler Reliant Robin (think Del Boy Trotter) and jack the car up quite high. Having only one wheel at the front it teetered and then fell on its side.
One thing to add. The weights shown on jack stands refer to the pair not the individual stand. So those 4000kg stands for example is 4000kg spread across both stands as a pair, not one. Also stands should always be used in pairs.
Thanks for enlightened me/us on the 2016 Australian standards & promoting a local company. 👍🇦🇺 I've been guilty of the occasional dodgy jack hack, going back to the '60s when on a $29/fortnight apprenticeship wage, there weren't any standards back then & still around to tell the story. I urge any young car nuts who don't have the immediate financial resources, to not take risks, let your parents know that the proper gear is essential & you'd appreciate the right gear as Christmas &/or Birthday presents over time, & wouldn't use it until you're fully kitted out.
Great work John. You may want to have a word on hydraulics and hydraulic oils/fluids and their functions and properties. I have come across a number of people that seem to think that everything "hydraulic" needs to be filled with "hydraulic brake fluid" AKA glycol Ester. When in fact items like hydraulic jacks are filled with mineral oil. I have heard of cases of someone refilling a hydraulic jack that was low on oil with brake fluid and the seals failing in double quick time at the worst possible moment. A fatal mistake.
Don't forget, there was a story where a bottle jack went through the floor of a garage, it fell between the reo mesh in the concrete, there was polystyrene wafer pods under concrete, the culprit, sheet of 6mm steel, 300 x 300mm may help, thanks for all your help on all information on everything.
If you use a floor jack under the centre of a Salisbury type rear axle of yesteryear it will leak subsequently at the assembly points which often were a press fit with a single plug of weld holding the parts together. I don’t know if this situation has been remedied in the last 50 years, Stavros
Great video. Unfortunately can't find pt. 2-4 and youtube search sucks too. Would you be able to link the other parts in the description please. Thanks
Great video. Unfortunately can't find pt. 2-4 and youtube search sucks too. Would you be able to link the other parts in the description please. Thanks
Don't forget to bang in the tab on the side and then the base captures the shaft and they never seperate even at full extension. See the white sticker and tab @13:02 . FWIW, those look EXACTLY like my Harbor Freight Daytona 6 Ton jack stands, except the secondary pin is black on mine (and has a THIRD-ary safety pin to kepe the secondary from sliding out) and I got mine in Orange to match my jack.....speaking of which that Jack also looks familiar to the Daytonas at Hazard Fraught, er. I mean Harbor Freight here in the States. (seriously, the jacks and stands have a good reputation, but old habits of making fun of the Chineseium Emporium die hard 🙂)
Good advice John. Ma.ny years ago when I changed my first ever flat tyre I hacked the car up on grass and after I got the tyre off the jack sank into the ground and the car was resting on its axle. I was lucky I wasn't hurt.
Perfect timing as I bought my 1800kg jack at Christmass and haven't used it yet. I think I'll upgrade my stands as the current ones are 40 years old and don't have any ratings on them. I really need to know where to place the front stands when the jack is in the nominated jack area.
I learned NOT to use the jack that came with the car for regular maintenance - scissor jack that is. They wear and become wobbly. Had the front on ramps and was getting the back onto stands using the scissor jack when the vehicle started moving west - trying to pin me between it and a brick wall. Fortunately I was able to arrest it's movement by pushing on it, but it scared the crap out of me and made me buy a trolley jack asap !
Great video. Something I'm always aware of too is the car rolling around the pivot point if lifting high. Think ahead of where the jack pad will be when at full height. May be centre when you start but may roll off by the time you're at full height. Also make sure your concrete floor is clean when jacking with a trolley jack. Doesn't take much crap to stop those little wheels turning.
Always torque your nuts after a shop has had a wheel off your vehicle. I watched one guy rattle gun on my vehicles nuts and then use a torque wrench that never turned them and only clicked. He knew nothing of how a torque wrench is used. My 500 ft lb rattle gun struggled to remove those nuts, had I a flat tire id never have removed them
On the other side of the planet , in Pennsylvania , we lose lots of Dudes a year that get crushed by their Demolition Derby cars . Natural selection at work .....
Mechanics don’t always pay attention to lift points on vehicles and assume all are similar. Cars with polymer body panels you can’t lift under the front fender where it attaches to sheet metal as it bends it over. How can you mark the point to not use as a lift point?
I am guessing you went to the new store in waitara. It was pouring when I went there and the guys fixed my problem outside without complaint. Good service, although the store looked too new and shiny. Oddly enough I looked at those stands to work under a van.
Watched a video by Robert Pepper the other day on hi lift jacking. He had a flash pair of Jack stands. I have saved it as I will buy 4 of them. Turn upside down and the adjustable saddle stays in them.
Hey John: can anyone use jackstands on dirt or gravel driveways for those of us without a concrete flat garage? Is there anything you recommend to put under Jack's and stands on gravel/dirt that is safe. I don't like getting under my SUV 02 Jeep that's 4050lbs. I generally do work from outside with the wheel off like changing out: ▪︎ Sway Bar Link's ▪︎ Lower Control Arm ▪︎ Shocks ▪︎ Coil Springs and Coil Insulators ▪︎ Rotors, Wheel Hubs, Calipers, Brake Pads, TIe Rods/Pitman. I generally don't mess with engines or things I have to be directly under the SUV and reaching up into it. Had the 3 Ton trolly jack shifting on me last time I did it on gravel and I moved back, had stands on axel frame and some pressure on hydrolic jack.
Being in the commercial tyre industry for 20 year's, jacking up and not off OK, was always a good time especially as the vehicles didn't do poos poos in their pants 💩💩💩💩, and land on one's head, strangely enough I survived many occasions especially 30 to 50 tonne moving equipment, my truck had a stack of wooden blocks with handles, plus steel plates and wheel chokes so I wasn't run over, because I was actually run over by a car at 8 year's old 😠, thank you John again for your truly unique videos mate, regards Wassa from sheep's shagastan, 🐏🐏🐏🐏🐑🐑🐑.
Hey John just wanted to know what you think about changing a wheel on the 4x4 on the way to Dingo Piss Creek and not to forget changing a wheel on the mobile effluent trailer. Thanks for all your great work in Making Australia Less Shit (MALS).
I understand that the world standard "metric" is superior and simpler than US standard (SAE) "Society of Automotive Engineers" but I struggle with understanding some of the metric unites because I've lived in the US my entire life. I prefer metric sockets and wrenches when working on cars or anything really. But converting the miles/lbs/yards/Ft-Lbs, over to: Kilometers/kilograms/Meters/Newton Meters(ηM) is challenging for me. I'm familiar with bolt/lug torque specifications in Ft-Lbs or Impact Wrench torque strength measured in Ft-Lbs not NM. Same with 5000km/3100miles (looked it up) which happens to be when I change my motor oil.
Yeah, I once had to pull a 6×4 mechanical horse on ramps to be steam cleaned, and as I was driving up, the one ramp decided to slide forward due to the grease and oil under the ramps. That was scary, and thankfully the truck didn't topple over, it just fell in between the ramps. Could easily have killed someone if they were under the vehicle ready with the power washer.
Gold John! I hope your future episodes includes reference to crappy jacking points on VW beetles etc where they were never any good so using your recommended jack where else can you jack up a car? Cheers, Carl
I put the kettle on. I have a biscuit. Tea is brewed. Now I’m ready to read the hilarious responses from “comment experts” about jacking the car on the diff. Thanks for setting up the entertainment.
Great mate, probably worth mentioning the caution required if your house is built with waffle pods. I have heard of jacks collapsing through garage floors because of tese. Went to install a safe in mates new home, it was to be dyna bolted to the concrete floor, concrete was only about 30 mm thick over a waffle pod🤦🏻♂️
Either the slab with 30mm coverage is non complainant or someone is talking rubbish. The concrete coverage for M spec slab is 85mm.I never seen firsthand or seen any evidence of a jack or stand breaking through a correctly constructed waffle slab.
What about a segment on a leaf to coil suspension change on a Landcruiser VDJ79R,, bolt on not weld on, I'm sure you could make this look easy. Cheers.
I only have a basic 1600kg trolley jack and 2 x Supercheap jack stands. I only ever jack up a corner at a time so I was lead to believe the load ratings were sufficient. I guess you'll correct me in the next two videos. I can't afford much better atm sadly. The garage floor in my new home also has a 2 degree pitch to deal with, so jacking up the car is even more iffy.
o comment about Australian standards, there has been a push to reduce the cost of the availability of the standards to an affordable cost to the masses because the cost makes them unavailable to the masses. ultimately the privatisation of the said standards distribution to an offshore distribution partner has made Australia more shit. get onto it ;)
I never use the jack that comes with the car I have a small trolley jack and stands in the boot I always put stands underneath even just changing a tyre
I too frequent that fine automotive spare parts and accessories shoppie and yes it’s a beauty and extremely helpful type people run this wonderful shoppie 👌 A four part series YESSSS I’ve ordered in some extra popcorn and settled in as I do love a good series full of dangers and all that stuff 😁 I think you’d 🫵 agree to quote somebody 🫡
Morning Mr Cadogan, slightly off topic but l remember watching one of your videos a while ago where you had these wheels which attached onto the legs of your workbench which could fold up and down. Would you be able to let me know where l could find them please? I've been trying to find the video where you mention them but aren't having too much luck. cheers man
John, as you are the engineer and I am not, please clarify this point for me, I have been told by mechanics et al to never NEVER jack a vehicle by that pumpkin/differential , true or false?
Hey you should touch on domestic garages with waffle slab concrete floors when jacking up a car. I've heard of someone who died when the floor caved in on the jack stand..
John's using a 2000kg jack to lift a 2900kg Triton. The opposite end of the vehicle is supporting some of the weight. Weight within vehicles will vary, but is there a rough calculation that can be used to determine the minimum lift rating required for a given weight?
Most vehicles have a 50/50 or 60/40 split in weight biased towards the front. Even if the Triton was 70/30 split biased towards the front that leaves the front at 2030 kg (70% of 2900) on the jack. I seriously doubt the car has a 70/30 split or it would be undrivable.
Thanks for the reply Mike. I thought one of the advertised 2500 or 3000kg jack might be a safer choice, but as you say, 70% split is unlikely and 60% is within spec.
I learned not to use jack stands with the cutouts at the base. I was given a pair with 10000 pound rating and on the second use on my 6000 pound sport utility vehicle I noticed one corner did not look like the others. They went in the meltdown pile and I went back to the old solid base heavy jack stands.
Good on ya John Might I say from a sedentary position…….. I see the Thor hammer logo is turned around the other way…… Had a phone call have you….? they are not a fan of the “Cadogan flavour”…….. DUUUUUUUUUDE Oh and pro-tip viewers…… A lot of elevated UnderCar visual inspection can be superseded by simply parking over a piece of clean cardboard and any drips will soon reveal themselves for you to point out at the mechanic at the next service…… Second pro tip I’m old enough to remember made in Australia Sidchrome and if you go on eBay you can get the long knuckle bar for 60 to 70 bucks landed probably a bit expensive but being a sentimental old fart it reminds me of the 80s which is a good time….. Point being it’s a bloody good breaker bar as well…… John- i think you’d agreeeeeeeee
Always good to be reminded of the simple things that can potentially kill you. I literally just went out & inspected my jack & stands as there about 20 years old. Awesome video John.👍👍👍
Hello John , your new fat cave is our old electrical "orifice" . i did wonder if it was you that brought it. love your work . time to watch the new lemon list!
