I've got my grandfather's S&R from the 40's still working great, I also had a Big red that has never let me down, but I loaned it out and never got it back... cruddy neighbors...
my jack stands seem to walk away also, I use the 6 ton ratchet style, and the 12 ton ratchet style, and the 3 ton ratchet style. I always stablize the vehicle before preforming work, and I always have a backup to catch if something goes wrong.

as for floor jack, remember, ALWAYS use the jack where it can roll as you lift, or where the vehicle can roll as you lift. it's an arc lift device, so it WILL slip off if neither can roll... also, remember, as you lower onto jackstands, the vehicle will arc away so monitor the stands' position as you lower...

__________________
John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

I have one HF Floor jack that bleeds off, going in the dumpster one of these days. I bought a 2 1/2 to jack back about 82, and it was made in Japan and has never given me a problem and I have used the heck out of it.

The last two I got at Costco are 3 1/3 ton, and paid $99 each. great floor jacks and are a low profile.

I have 2 3 ton ratchet Jack Stands.

I have two 3/4" rods that fit into the jack Holes, and have a 15deg bend to make them level. I jack up the car, and then set the jack Stands on these. works great. then there isn`t the problem as to where to place the stands under the vehicle.

Now if you have rusted out jack Holes, this this will not work.


There was that story a year or so back, where this young guy was under his BMW, and the Ratchet Jack Stand dropped. they think he may have bumped the handle when under the car.
any one remember that one?


Charlie

__________________
there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

I've always had good luck with jacks and stands from HF. The only piece that ever crapped out on me was one of the aluminum "racing" jacks.


The ACH jacks are so drool-worthy. If only I had the $$$

__________________
1983 240D - For Sale!
1994 Ford Bronco - Awaiting a refresh
2012 Jetta TDI - Wife's MPG machine
2002 BMW M3 - Weekend/track toy
2014 Ford Fiesta ST - DD

Properly set and built ratchets shouldn't drop without lifting the post. Both of my sets require almost a 1" lift to disengage the mechanism. Partially engaged and that's anyone's guess. Hard to do but with a poor forging on the post i could see a perfect storm where a slip might occur.

__________________
1991 300d 2.5 Turbo OM602

I fail to see how a ratcheting stand can fail without a sledgehammer hitting the lift handle... and I don't even think THAT would dump a car load because the shear pin would break before lifting the car off the stand enough to release the load...

__________________
John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

I bought my aluminum racing jack from Summit.It for low profile vehicles too.I have kids all the time wanting to borrow it to lift their lowered cars. The jackstands I will buy from Sears.I don't trust my life with Chinese steel

__________________
1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran, deutschland deutschland uber alles uber alles in der welt

I have only gravel, dirt, and lawn on my farm. Is there any safe way to put my car up?

shertex,

Too bad you're not in Sherman Texas as I think of every time I see your moniker. If you were, I have a floor jack and jack stands I would give you. Since I put in my lift they have just been in my way.

BTW, they are all Harbor Freight that I got probably about 22 years or so ago and still work fine.

It's a hassle, but you can use a length of 2 X 12 to put the floor jack on and distribute the load. I've done it out in the field working on farm equipment. You have to be careful though.

Hope this helps.

My in-laws actually live in Sherman....they own the big antique mall on the square.

__________________
14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 157k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 175k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 144k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 70k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

gravel I have steel plates for my small jack stands I put down..I had gravel too

__________________
1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran, deutschland deutschland uber alles uber alles in der welt

I use my arcan on gravel seems to work ok. Plywood is your friend on dirt. Thats what i mean about levers dropping you would have to have the dog barely toothed in for a failure. Once they're set they're set.

__________________
1991 300d 2.5 Turbo OM602

I've got two sets of stands that I got from the Advanced Auto Parts store. A 3 ton and a 2 ton. Then I've got 2 floor jacks. One a small red craftsman I think.. and the other a big yellow one from HF. All of it works well and I've not had any problems. The HF jack's release valve is not all that graceful but it works.

What I really want is a nice home garage type lift. Maybe one of those MaxJax things. But you know by the time I get around to actually buying and installing that I wont have a need for it.

__________________
Cruise Control not working? Send me PM or email (jamesdean59@gmail.com). I might be able to help out.
Check here for compatibility, diagnostics, and availability!

(4/11/2020: Hi Everyone! I am still taking orders and replying to emails/PMs/etc, I appreciate your patience in these crazy times. Stay safe and healthy!)


82 300SD 145k
89 420SEL 210k
89 560SEL 118k
90 300SE 262k RIP 5/25/2010
90 560SEL 154k
91 300D 2.5 Turbo. 241k
93 190E 3.0 235k
93 300E 195k

They have a cruise night in that area and show old movies in the theater occasionally, so I have seen a few of the antique shops there.

If you buy a lift, don't settle for anything besides a Two Post. They allow you to do most anything under a car. A four post is not NEARLY as versatile.