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MG TD TF 1500 - Tall jack stands?

I was reading the threads on various auto lifts, 4 post, 2 post, single post and scissor jacks. The single post and scissor jacks look pretty unstable to me, and it occured to me that maybe people have used tall jack stands with a scissor lift to get a more stable setup?

http://www.amazon.com/2-Ton-Tripod-Stand-SHORT/dp/B00IE9KLYO/ref=pd_sim_sbs_auto_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0ZN1JFZHDRD48NRGKARZ

This model raises from 30-53 inches, right in the scissor jack range.

I see there are 2 ton tripod jack stands that can raise up over 7 feet...

Geoffrey M Baker

Hmm. Well, it's a good thought, Geoffrey, but looking at those stands I'm afraid they'd have a very narrow base and with 4 of them, not connected together, I'd be worried that a good shove in the wrong direction could bring the whole thing down in a crash. I've used stands like this in the past when working on cars under a lift - we used them for holding up the back of a motor while replacing the transmission or motor mounts, for example, but I don't think we ever used them to hold whole cars.
Kevin McLemore

To knock something off of 4 standard height jack stands that are setting on concrete, you have to work at it! Bumping the car is not going to knock it over on 4 stands. Notice I said STANDARD height! Those tall stands are supporting something while the car is on a lift, such as back of the transmission, drive shaft etc. PJ
Paul S Jennings

GEOFF,
PLEASE DO NOT USE THESE TALL STANDS TO HOLD UP A CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HOSPITAL ROOMS DON'T ALLOW INTERNET USE AND WE WOULD NEVER KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!

steve
Steve Wincze

I was trying to wrestle the engine and transmission in to am MGB 30 years ago during a clutch job. The MGB was on 4 standard Jack stands, and I was under the car on a creeper trying to guide the transmission in. I was pushing and prying, when I happened to notice the car was swinging in the tipping jack stands. It almost toppled off the stands on to me. I certainly would have been killed. If not crushed to death, I would have not been able to draw a breath.
You have to be very, very careful with Jack stands. At least with a lift you have a fighting chance of jumping out of the way should the car fall.
David
D. Sander

Folks, neither a lift nor jack stands are in my future. I was just wondering what people here used... and it seemed to me that tall jack stands as a backup to a scissor lift (which looks tippy to me anyway) might be a good idea.
Geoffrey M Baker

A little hijack here but it concerns safety:

One of my co-workers died while working under his car at home. He had it on ramps like you see at HF or the discount auto stores.

He was going to replace a U-joint and forgot the fact that "Park" would be lost once the drive shaft was disconnected. The car rolled off the ramps and slowly crushed him. When they found him he had kicked out the side of the garage trying to get someone's attention.

That was over 40 years ago. He was an airline mechanic and a pretty good and safety conscious one but he had a fatal lapse.

Sorry for the morbid post.
JE Carroll

I had a cross-brace on a jack stand let loose once and the car came down on my bent knee trapping me to the ground for a few hours until someone showed up to rescue me. Was one time I was very happy to have a prosthetic left leg! Made me very picky about what I crawl under after that one.
David Sheward 55 TF1500 # 7427

This thread was discussed between 15/11/2014 and 17/11/2014

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