DIY Wood Block Jack Stands

Making wood blocks for raising the carback to 1000q: tips for the mechanic

Disclaimer: the wood blocks shown here are not a substitute for commercially available jack stands. Woodblocks are for backup use in addition to jack stands and the safety of the plans shown here apply only to mycar and my exact situation! Since wood blocks can only support the car on its wheels, these are not areplacement for jack stands on the body of the car. Damage to your property, injury, and death, or to a 3rdparty, are possible consequences of not supporting your vehicle properly and/or securely. If you have anydoubt about the safety of working on your car, follow all precautions as listed in the factory service manualand take it to a professional mechanic. (refer to the TOS for the full legal disclaimer)

Introduction

Putting wood blocks under the wheels can spread out the weight over a larger surface compared to only usingjack stands. On my car and my exact situation, they raise the car about 7-8 inches higher than the tallest settingon my jack stands. These blocks are built in two sections so that you can use the first level by itself or raise thecar to the higher level. Compared to using only jack stands, they won't dig into hot asphalt (putting jack standson top of a secure and level piece of wood can help prevent digging) or scratch the undercarriage of the car. The reason they aren't a full replacement for jack stands is because they only support the car while it's restingon the wheels. Doing any kind of suspension, brake, or anything else that requires a wheel to be removed willstill require you to use jack stands. If using jack stands with wood blocks, consider the wood blocks as backupsonly and make sure the car is level, balanced, and secure. They can be especially useful when tighteningsuspension pieces. Generally speaking, suspension bolts/nuts should be tightened when the suspension is in thenormal resting position. Because jack stands let the wheels hang down, tightening a fully extended suspensionwill preload the various parts and wear them out. I used these to have room under the car to work while lettingthe car rest on the wheels and the suspension at rest.

Never get under the car far enough to get injured if it's being supported by any hydraulic lift/support or scissorjack! Many people have been killed when a hydraulic jack suddenly let go or slipped! Hydraulic lifts orhydraulic floor jacks are designed to lift, not support! Never use cinder blocks to support a car since theycannot be easily inspected for weakness and could suddenly crumble. They also have a stronger and weakerorientation - do you want to bet your life that you know which is the strong orientation? Cinder blocks are forbuilding walls, not for supporting cars. Scissor jacks are for emergency roadside wheel removal and in myopinion, are not secure enough to get under the car. At no time while changing a wheel on the side of the roadshould you get under the car far enough to be crushed because they can fail:

Many 6 ton jack stands are about 20-23" tall at full extension and will raise the car about the same height as thewood blocks I made.

A test measurement before assembly showing the general layout.

DIY wood block jack stands to raise the car http://www.myturbodiesel.com/1000q_how_to/multi/woodblock.htm

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Here is a picture of someone else's wood blocks, they raised the car about twice as high as the black rhinoramps. I don't know where they got them and I don't know how solid they were built.

As long as they are well built and in good condition, wood blocks on a hard stable surface such as level, solidasphalt or concrete will be very stable and strong. In this example plan, just the center column of wood on 1block could, in theory, (don't try this it in reality) support the entire weight of my car. Weight is spread outamongst 24 sq in. of wood (middle 2 columns of about 12 sq in. each). Once you add the side columns, it'swithin safe real world limits (for my car only), even after accounting for small defects or imperfect conditions. A well engineered product would make this design as light as possible while still meeting my needs but Idecided to overbuild it for piece of mind. The biggest danger comes from the car tipping over so customize thedimensions and construction of the wood blocks for your car, otherwise it could result in damage to property,injury, or death! These plans are plans for my car only and are not specific to your car. Do not attempt to buildthese without customizing them to your needs and for each car that you will use it on. Do not let any 3rd partyuse them without calculating if it's suitable for their uses and car. Always inspect the wood for any rot,damage, or defects before use.

Most wood can take over 300 psi of compression in the weak direction and thousands of psi in the strongdirection. When someone chops and splits wood boards with their hand, they are focusing energy at one spot


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with the grain, the weak direction. Wood is strongest when stressed perpendicular to the grain and whenoriented like a roof rafter. The main force the wood experiences when used to support the car is compressionthrough the center column. The top wide piece that the tire rests on experiences very little cross grain forcesince most of the compression is transferred through the middle column directly beneath the tire. The 2x4directly beneath the top layer is also distributing that force to the side bars perpendicular to the grain. Thisdesign is plenty overbuilt for my car and my intended use. When used with jack stands, they are very safe andstable for my car but make sure to build them to suit your intended load and use.

How to use wood as jack stand backupsAfter raising the car with a hydraulic floor jack by the jack points as specified in your factory service manual,put the first layer of blocks under all four tires. Once it's raised, use a high lift floor jack to fit the second layerunder the tires. Always rest all four wheels on blocks before raising to the second level to keep the car level. Ifyou try to lift the car while it's at a great angle it could slip and fall. Apply the parking brake, put the car in gearor park, and chock the wheels. Never get under the car while raising, lowering, or adjusting the car. Hydraulicjacks could blow a seal and collapse, get tipped over or slip, or have the jacking point slip, so don't get underthe car unless it is completely secure!

My hydraulic floor jackMy personal hydraulic jack is the costco 3 ton "arcan" ALJ3T aluminum jack. Not every store may carry it, theprice is about $145 after everything. It's about 58 lbs vs. 100 lbs for a comparable steel jack, has a lowerpadded bar to avoid scratching your car, and has a range of 3.7-19" so it will fit under most lowered cars but lifthigh too. It's not a racing "quick drop" jack so lowering it is safe and controlled - avoid racing jacks in general. It also has a quick lift feature. Another good one is the arcan "professional" XL35R. It has a lift of 3.5-21.4"and is rated at 3.5 tons but is steel and weighs 101 lbs. I've heard that it can be found at some costcos for $99but after using a 100 lb jack, lugging it around gets old fast so I recommend the aluminum jack. My experiencewith Craftsman jacks is that many tend to leak and stop lifting after a while due to dirt clogging an internalvalve. They can be cleaned and rebuilt but I avoid craftsman jacks now because of their current design.

Ramp recommendationsThe cost in materials was about $90 for 4, so if you just need to raise the front of the car a little bit for oilchanges and such, a pair of commercially available ramps or would be cheaper and faster since you could buycheap ramps as low as $50-70. However, rhino ramps only raise the car about 6.5", and race ramps (anotherbrand similar to rhino ramps) only raise the car 10". The wood blocks I made raise the car 7" at the first leveland 14" at the second level. This extra clearance is necessary when doing large jobs under the car such asdropping the transmission or subframe. They can also be used for keeping the car level when changing thetransmission fluid or differential in rear/all wheel drive cars.

I don't like Rhino ramps because when driving up onto them with front wheel drive cars or backing up ontothem with rear wheel drive cars, the ramps can slide. Any sliding is dangerous. They also have a 17o inclinewith only a 6.5" lift. Race ramps are much better because they have a 10o incline (much better for lowbumpers and easier to drive up onto) and don't slide as easily across the floor. The Race ramp XT 2 piece alsohas a removable ramp so that it doesn't take up any extra space (the block stays under the wheel). They alsohave composite blocks to raise and support the rear wheels. They are much better than Rhino ramps but the10" lift race ramps cost over $300.

Parts

Disclaimer: These tips are generic guidelines for my car only. You must measure your car to see if a 24"long or 16" wide plank is stable enough for your vehicle and load. You must customize these plans to fit yourneeds.

2x4 wood planks (2x4s are actually 1.5"x3.5", I don't know why, they just are) 24" long 2x4 = 40 pieces 16" long 2x4 = 44 pieces

2x16 wood plank, 24" long = 8 pieces

coarse deck screws, 3.5" longcoarse deck screws, 2" longelectric hand drill and various bits (preferred)

Yields 4 blocks 14" tall, 16" wide, and 24" long each.

Procedure

Many local hardware stores will cut the wood for free when you buy it. This makes for faster assembly andeasier transport.

Test stack the first block and mark it with a pencil. The top layer's 2 pieces act as wheel chocks, you can leave


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these free moving or substitute 8 of the 16x2x4" wood pieces for wheel chocks.

Drill a pilot hole to help prevent the wood from splitting. Use deck screws to hold it together. If you want tomake the overall height of the blocks taller, make sure to increase the width of the blocks to make it morestable!

The first 3 levels

The bottom layer complete with end chocks screwed in. It's all one piece for easy moving and storage. Thislayer can be used by itself.

The bottom 3 sections of the top layer


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Top and bottom layers finished. The middle supports are lined up with each other to support the weight of thecar. Use wheel chocks on the top layer to hold the wheel in place. Total lift in this example is about 14". Youcan put large wood planks below the bottom layer to act as a base and raise it even higher. Make sure anyadditional wood plank underneath is wide/long enough to be stable and secure. Always make sure the car issafe and secure before getting under the car or raising it.

These lift higher than regular jack stands because they are lifting from the wheels instead of the frame. Youcould get 6+ ton jack stands but these don't take up as much space under the car and spread out the weight overmore ground. Below left is the first level with a jack stand pictured for scale. The first level raises the car toabout as high as jack stands. Below right is both levels (after taking the picture I applied wheel chocks to holdthe wheels). Always raise all 4 corners to the first level before raising it to the second level or else the car canget dangerously tilted. This is high enough to drop the transmission on my car and have plenty of room forbigger jobs. To go this high you would otherwise need large jack stands. My personal opinion is that woodblocks can sometimes be more stable when you're lifting this high.

Before each use you must carefully inspect the wood and the floor surface for any cracks, rot, termite damage,or any other defects or damage. Do not use the blocks if they have any damage or defects.

After having used these exact blocks on a number of cars, I would have made the bottom block 1 layer tallerand made the top block 1 layer shorter. This would give a taller lift of 1.5" for normal use while still keepingthe same overall height for major work. Again, these plans are for my car and my use only, modify anythingyou make yourself for your own requirements.


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Here is an example of the front raised to the second level and the rear raised to the first level. It's not safe toraise one end to the second level without raising the other end because the car will become dangerously tiltedon your floor jack.


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DIY Wood Block Jack Stands