I have a craftman 3 ton Jack set. I tried lifting the car up from the rear the other day from the rear center lift point but realized my jack doesnt raise it enough for me to slip in the two jackstand at the two rear side points. Does anyone else have this issue? I've seen some of you guys are able to put the car on 4 jackstands on the side jackpoints...I just cant figure out how you can do that. When you guys put jackstands to the rear, where do you apply raise point? I think if jack is occupying the jackpoint, you can't really slip in the jackstand in the same position because the area is very small.

Oh I had no issues with the front center jack point, it gave me more than enough clearance to slip in two jackstands. The problem with the rear center jack point is that it is too high off the ground, therefore it limits how much the jack can raise it. Any inputs are welcome. Thanks.

 

If required I guess you could use some wood blocks between jack cradle and jack point, but do NOT get under the car until you have both rear sides on jackstands.

The rear jackpoint is the tow hook, IIRC.

 

Use a high lift, low profile floor jack.

 

My jack is suppose to lift up to 19 inches maximum. I thought that was enough since the craftman's high lift low profile jack lifts 20 inches (only 1 inch difference). I was wondering if its a good idea to put something undernearth the jack (between the jack and the floor) to elevate the jack's body. I know the unit moves around while in operation, so i was thinking of something like a couple of layers of wood board or maybe a steel surface for reinforcements? Any ideas?

 

I would rather put something between the jack cup looking thing and the jack point. If you noticed when you jack up the front, the jack moves slightly foward. you would need to have a larger surface to allow the jack to move or else the jack will fall off whatever your using to raise it up on. and no, thats not good.
If you use a piece of wood to elevate the jack cup or lower the jack point, this will be better because you only need a small piece of wood. I have done this many times and i have had no problems.

 

thanks for the comments! I was a little worried of placing a block of wood on the jackcup because the rear center jackpoint is actually a tow hook, therefore it is has an uneven surface area.

 

Maybe you could chisel/cut your block of wood so that it fit around the tow hook perfectly--no worries then.

 

If you are placing a block of wood to raise the height, make sure the floor jack saddle has enough support for it. If the saddle is small, it's not safe.

 

well i didnt consider the shape of the tow hook. like jswim99 said maybe you can cut a slight shape into it if you can. if not then like JTso said, the wood can be small but still has to be bigger then the jack saddle/cup then i think you should be ok. just be careful, jack it slowly and dont wiggle the car until its on jack stands.

 

What about using car ramps in reverse, backing-up the car–with someone guiding you?

 

My jacking procedure:

Jack left front tow hook, put jack stand in support point.
Repeat on right front.
Jack right rear jacking point, and you'll see both rear wheels come up off the ground. I put jack stand under right rear subframe where the rear lower control arm bolts in. There is a u-shape that fits the jack stand just right. One jack stand will hold the whole rear of the car up.

It looks odd with the rear end on only one stand but it works perfectly. If you are only jacking the rear up you may not see the left rear wheel come up, but once you put the car on the jack stand under the subframe it will come up off the ground.

Marcus

 

like a dog pissin'?

 

More like a dog with both back legs up standing on the ween.

Marcus

 

Ah, a three-legged dog pissin'...