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Dangerous to torque bolts on 4 jackstands?

sdxsdx

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Phoenix
Is it dangerous to put a lot of torque on bolts while the jeep is on 4 jackstands with no tires touching the ground? I feel like the jeep could possibly fall off the stands with enough torque.

I was in the process of taking off the leaf springs, but did not bust the nuts loose before lifting the jeep.

Is it good practice to keep some weight on the front two tires while torquing on the rear and vice versa?
 
If you torque them in a downward direction you'll be fine but if you pull on a torque wrench pulling towards the front or rear I could see that getting sketchy. I guess so long as you aren't torquing to 5000 lbs you should be fine... However breaking those leaf bolts should be done with the wheels on.

Sent from my LGLS775 using Tapatalk
 
Throw a spare tire, blocks of wood, cinderblocks, anything
that's handy under the Jeep so it can't fall. Don't take
a chance on safety.
 
If your jack stands aren't on concert or a solid base it can get dangerous, even hot asphalt can cause issues.

Cheap jack stands aren't to be trusted anyway.

My jack stands are rated at 3 tons for the short ones and five tons for the tall ones. I had 18" square, quarter inch thick base plates cut so they won't tilt or sink into my gravel driveway.

I spent 6 PM one Friday until 10 PM Sunday under my Corvette once, never again.

I often leave my floor jack under the pumpkin as insurance anyway. I guess I'm phobic now. :)
 
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What are you trying to torque? Bushings always should be tightened with the weight of vehicle on the tires, no jack stands. I haven't had any issues torquing things on jack stands where it's appropriate to do so.
 
If you are working loose rear leaf bolts you can do this with the tires still on. Once the bolts start moving you can jack up the rear. I figure anything over a 3 foot 3/4" drive breaker bar is asking for trouble anyway. Our Jeeps aren't 3/4 ton trucks where larger breaker bars come out.
 
I often leave my floor jack under the pumpkin as insurance anyway. I guess I'm phobic now. :)

Nothing phobic about not wanting your head squashed like a ripe watermelon. I can work under my Jeep with no jacks unless I'mm taking wheels, axles off. If I'm working on my Nissan...I can't even fit my gourd under that thing. When it comes to not being killed, I'm INCREDIBLY careful.

I use a big oak round on my ricer to keep it from falling off ramps, stands or jacks...still alive.

:wow:
 
If your jack stands aren't on concert or a solid base it can get dangerous, even hot asphalt can cause issues.

Cheap jack stands aren't to be trusted anyway.

My jack stands are rated at 3 tons for the short ones and five tons for the tall ones. I had 18" square, quarter inch thick base plates cut so they won't tilt or sink into my gravel driveway.

I spent 6 PM one Friday until 10 PM Sunday under my Corvette once, never again.

I often leave my floor jack under the pumpkin as insurance anyway. I guess I'm phobic now. :)
So I'm not the only one I got trapped under my Camero for about 8 hours once. Real picky about jack stand placement now. That being said I have no problems torquing bolts while on properly placed jack stands.
 
So I'm not the only one I got trapped under my Camero for about 8 hours once. Real picky about jack stand placement now. That being said I have no problems torquing bolts while on properly placed jack stands.

I was trying to put the tranny back in, with it balanced on my chest. Guess I pushed a little to hard. One jack stand started to sink in and the other folded like a cheap lawn chair. I ended up with an exhaust clamp bolt half an inch in my forearm. Could have been worse, stinky drawers wash out, I survived. I was always kind of thankful the Fire Ants didn't find me.:)
 
Having all four corners on jackstands is always a bit dicey mostly because you have the weight unevenly on the stands unless you're lifting both ends at the same time with two jacks. This causes the jack weight not to be squarely on at least two stands right out of the gate so when you shift the load in the vehicle by either removing parts or wrenching you may end up causing the stand to fail.

This of it this way. You lift the front end and put it on stands. Now your stands are holding a Jeep that's sitting at an angle. Now you lift the rear end and block it. Now the Jeep is level, the stands up front have possibly been moved and are now sitting with most of the weight on the front legs instead of squarely on all four.

The other thing to watch out for is the jack saddle swings in an arc. If you have so much as a pebble between the concrete and the jack's wheel you could stop the jack from moving under the car and force the car itself to move with the arc. If I have to lift all four corners for clearance (i.e. pulling transmissions) I much prefer to put one end on ramps then lift the other end and use stands.

This post is from experience. Back when I was 17 I watched a jackstand fold like a taco as I was setting the lifting rear end of an '84 Camaro in preparation for pulling a transmission. Upon further reflection I realized that the above scenario is what happened (coupled with cheap stands).
 
I was trying to put the tranny back in, with it balanced on my chest. Guess I pushed a little to hard. One jack stand started to sink in and the other folded like a cheap lawn chair. I ended up with an exhaust clamp bolt half an inch in my forearm. Could have been worse, stinky drawers wash out, I survived. I was always kind of thankful the Fire Ants didn't find me.:)
Funny, I had just pulled my tranny out and was getting ready to come out when one of the stands sank in the grass and down she came. I was able to roll into the space where the transmission was and laid there until my dad came home. After he found out I was ok he laughed from awhile then got the car up so I could get out from under the car. I too had hygiene problems secondary to the situation.:gee:
 
When tightening suspension components either front control arms or rear springs the vehicle should be at rest on the ground,

Just nip them up on jack stands and do final tightening when on the ground
 
Funny, I had just pulled my tranny out and was getting ready to come out when one of the stands sank in the grass and down she came. I was able to roll into the space where the transmission was and laid there until my dad came home. After he found out I was ok he laughed from awhile then got the car up so I could get out from under the car. I too had hygiene problems secondary to the situation.:gee:

This is why I always work with someone nearby. Even if they cant help directly, they can call for help.
 
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