Rear Jacking and jack stand locations

[woody79]

Hey there...

I was wondering if someone could help me out here. I have never jacked the rear end of my truck up before and I need to do that to do some maintenance. Now from what I have gathered reading on here and looking at pictures, the best place to put the jack to raise the rear is directly under the rear diff.

View attachment 21103

Now when it comes to placing the jack stands, I get a bit confused. My Haynes manual states to place the jack stands directly under the axle tube. My issue is, that the stabilizer bar seems to be in way. I am able to just get the right jack stand under the axle tube ...

View attachment 21104

but the left side is extremely tight. I am able to get it under the axle tube right next to the rear diff as shown below, but it wouldn't be in the same location as the other side.

View attachment 21105

Can anyone give me a clue as to what I am doing wrong?

 

[DucatiSS]

I believe that when I did my brakes, I was able to slip the jackstand all the way to the left, however the SS may have a different configuration.

Another word of advice. Lower your spare for 2 reasons; 1) gives you more room to work. 2) gives you a chance to extend and lube the cable and operator prior to finding out it's frozen inside when you really need to use it.

 

[The_Roadie]

Floor jacks can indeed be placed under the differential housing, or to cut the effort in half, under some side location.

Jack stands can be put on the axle tubes, but they're MUCH safer placed outboard, not inboard near the differential housing.

Side locations for the jack OR the jack stands can be any strong location. Frame rails are excellent locations. Lower control arm mounts are another. DO you have any experienced friends nearby to point out the strong places and avoid hitting the thin sheet metal parts of the floor pan?

 

[jimmyjam]

if you take the wheel off you can fit the jack stand in between the end of the axle/backing plate and the shock mount.

 

[woody79]

Thanks for the quick replies (yet another reason I love this site). The reason for jacking the truck up was to do an oil change. Now, I know you don't really have to do that, but I felt like I needed the little extra clearance underneath as it was my first time doing my own oil change. Well it didn't really work out like I had planned. The oil filer band wrench I had gotten didn't close tight enough around the filter to get lossen it up. I'll have to take a trip to Harbor Freight and get one of these instead - 2" to 4-1/4" Oil Filter Wrench.

View attachment 21113

if you take the wheel off you can fit the jack stand in between the end of the axle/backing plate and the shock mount.

I did think of this when I was under the truck. I might do this next time. Thanks!

Floor jacks can indeed be placed under the differential housing, or to cut the effort in half, under some side location.

Jack stands can be put on the axle tubes, but they're MUCH safer placed outboard, not inboard near the differential housing.

Side locations for the jack OR the jack stands can be any strong location. Frame rails are excellent locations. Lower control arm mounts are another. DO you have any experienced friends nearby to point out the strong places and avoid hitting the thin sheet metal parts of the floor pan?

Thanks for the reply Roadie. I don't really have to many friends close by who are experienced. I do on the other hand have a brother-in-law who is a diesel mechanic, I should try and get a hold of him.

I do think next time I will place the rear stands on the frame rail. I should be able to place then so they don't hit the sheet metal of the floor pan.

I believe that when I did my brakes, I was able to slip the jack stand all the way to the left, however the SS may have a different configuration.

Another word of advice. Lower your spare for 2 reasons; 1) gives you more room to work. 2) gives you a chance to extend and lube the cable and operator prior to finding out it's frozen inside when you really need to use it.

Thanks DucattiSS. I was able to slip the stand under the axle tube barely. I will use the frame rail next time though as it seems easier.

The spare tire .... I would have lowered it, but I was only working on the front end, so didn't really need the extra clearance in the rear. As for the winch and cable for lowering the spare ... I check that frequently so I don't get stranded if I get a flat. Thanks for the advice anyway Always good to throw that out there to let other people know.



On a side note, I did find that the bottom of my oil pan and the bottom of the front diff near were what I think the drive shaft enters seems to wet (not on the side of the diff that goes to the drivers side tire, actually the rear of the front diff). I have never noticed any evidence of a leak under the truck when parked. So this leads me to believe that the seal is just seeping? Again I am not to experienced with this so sorry if its not to clear. I guess this issue deserves another thread.