dkasserra

Thank you for all the responses. Where can you find Esco stands to buy them?

JTT

I haven't been able to find a good source in Canada, but to our south, this seem to be the best source I've found, price wise. Pelican stocks them but are considerably more expensive.

wc11

A little expensive but the Jackpoints are easy to use.

http://www.jackpointjackstands.com/Home_It_Works.html

TJ Elliott

I posted this response a couple of years ago regarding a source for Esco stands in Canada so I'm not sure what the current price is but suggest you give Jim a call.

"Call Jim Farmer at Prema Wellington Inc. (519-502-9531). He has a mobile service truck and delivered them to my place of business in Kitchener for less than $50/jack."

PPo

This is a more serious topic then some people think... cars fall and people get hurt.

First of all NEVER go under a car with JUST a jack no matter how cool you are... its not worth it.

One lesson I have learned is, do not go cheap on jack stands. They last a life time. Buy good ones, and keep them clean.

Here is one option to consider if you don't have much space in your garage/shop. But it has drawbacks (see below):

https://www.summitracing.com/oh/sear...e-stack-stands

One thing to consider is the footprint of the jack stand. When you are working on the car, you sometimes end up rolling around on the floor to try and position yourself properly to turn a bolt. You need to be careful not to kick or knock the jack stand. For this reason, I prefer the aluminum jack stands that have one post and a flat base. They have more room around the jack, and have less chance to orient in a funny way.

These Princess Auto jack stands are good. If you don't like the base compared to the Escos, grind a hockey puck to slot onto the bottom, glue it with construction adhesive, and make sure you rough up the top with a grinder.

Finally, how many jack stands should you buy? Six (6). If you plan on putting the car totally in the air, use 4 in the proper place. Place the other two, not actually touching the car, in a position to catch the car depending on what you are doing on the car. I also always try to put rims/tires under the car in areas where I am not working. It's seems like a pain, but the extra jacks and/or tires underneath the car may save your life. Remember that when you pull large parts (engine, transmission, etc..) the weight of the car changes... when you are pulling and yanking on large nuts (not your nuts), I mean nust and bolts (fasteners), weight shifts and stuff happens.

Also, you often need a jack stand to hold up parts while you are working (calipers, engines, transmissions, suspensions, exhaust, etc...). I use them often. I probably have 8-12 or more jack stands around the shop for this reason. (That and sometimes I have two cars on jack stands.)

If you buy 4 good ones, do yourself a favour, and get some less expensive ones to hold up parts and for extra safety, something like this:

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/ce...0010p.html#srp

Experience... I have had a cheap jack stand tilt and collapse, scary. Tires under the car saved my friend. I also had a jack seal fail in mid lift and drop a car... everybody was clear, and tires where still on.

PPo

To get anything better than the jack Rob suggests, you are spending $800 or more. The moto master jack at $165 on sale today is an amazing buy.

Rob is 100% accurate with his posts. Buy the moto master and don't look back.

PPo

Finally... this is the jack I have had for 15+ years:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/...ACHyd1_pg2.htm

Back then, nobody sold low profile jacks in Canada, so I ordered it from the states. This jack is the ****... its really good. The WRC teams use these. I love the quick lift foot pedal, and you can modulate the height very accurately, but you just don't need to spend the money anymore. The Cdn Tire jack is great. I may buy one today after seeing the price...

dkasserra

Wow thank you PPo. In your first response you mentioned some stands from Princess Auto, but did not name them, or provide a link. Thanks again, great information. Off to Canadian Tire now.

JTT

This type of stand make me nervous (likely unfounded), as the footprint is so small and cast aluminium (used in the foot) scares me as it's so prone to cracking. While steel bends and fails, cast alloy fails catastrophically and without warning.

Maybe I'm wrong here, and glad to be proven so, as I do like the pins through design of this style stand.

PPo

http://www.princessauto.com/en/searc...tt=jack+stands

These are the ones I am referring to:

http://www.princessauto.com/en/detai...ds/A-p8536039e

See the review, and the note above. Food for thought. But consider that a jack stand (axle stand) works well when it actually has weight on it. I much prefer 3 legs over 4...

I do have aluminum and steel, or aluminum and tires, under my car at all times. Just this Sunday I had 8 jack stands and two jacks under my car holding up various parts and the car. (Torque tube removal on a 944 requires rear subframe and engine to be supported while it's out...)

Happy to answer any questions... Hope you have a safe and fun time working on cars!

P

NewArt

Sturdy, low profile, long arm that lifts to 24". You will need this if you ever want to drop the transmission and/or the engine.

olegd

Another option: www.liftbars.com

I haven't tried, but its a neat idea.

Gregster

That website..... WOW

Adamant1971

Ya, Ken's siet is not pretty, but he makes up for it with cool products. Everyone that has lift bars loves them.

PPo

Cool idea... the AC Jacks have a bar lift option also.

I like race cars because with the cage, you don't need a lift bar, you just jack the car up at a welded in central jack point and it does the same thing! ;-)

If I had a street Porsche, I would probably buy these...

P