can anyone tell me where the best points are to place a floor jack on my 2006 king ranch. at the rear i know the differential is out of the question so i guess that leaves the axle itself as close to the tire i can get or under the shock mounts correct???? (i was thinking right between the four bolts on the leaf support bracket as shown in the pic???????) as for the front on the second pic could i use the cross member just off the a-arms as the jacking point (pic 2) any help would be greatly appreciated
many thanks
bob

 

On my 2004 I had a jack under the U-bolts that holds the leaf spring to the axle. I have also placed the jack under the rear diff to get both back tires off the ground.

On the front I used a board on top of the floor jack and went under where the bottom a-arm connects to the frame.

I have also used a block on top of the floor jack and put it under the middle of the left or right frame rail to jack up the whole left or right side at one time to get both the front and rear tires up at once.

Pretty much anywhere that I could get the jack I put it there.

 

i dont see any harm in putting the jack under the diff. i do it all the time on every vehicle that pulls into our shop for tires..... in the front i usually put in right under the lower controll arm.

 

I always go under my shock mounts it hasnt ever hurt anything

 

Under the diff and the lower CA??? Un-real... There's a reason the manual says not to do that (page 206 specifically).

From the workshop manual:
They come with specific jacking points called out in the owner's manual, specifically, anywhere on the horizontal tube of the rear axle, not including the shock mount or the u-bolts, and for the front, the flat portion of the frame directly behind the rear wheel. Sure, people have been picking them up by the diff for a hundred years, but that doesn't make it right. The diff housing is not designed to support the weight of the vehicle for any length of time. Why anyone would do it any other way is beyond me.

As for the lower control arms, do you realize that they are aluminum?? They're not designed to be loaded in that manner either. The only way to safely lift the front end of the 04-up trucks without damaging the control arms is by the frame. The cross member that the LCAs are connected to is probably sturdy enough to carry it, but why bother?

For guys at the tire shops, it means taking an extra 10 minutes to do the job right. If I saw someone at a tire shop jacking my vehicle by the diff, it'd be back on the ground and out the door before they knew I was leaving. Take a second jack out for the rear wheels or invest in a set of stands so you can use the same jack to lift all four corners.

Now, another thought on teh matter: Who in their right mind relies on a hydraulic jack under the diff to support the vehicle when you're working on it? Shouldn't the vehicle be secured on stands when you pull the wheels off anyways? There's a great big beefy frame rail there, why not use it??

-Joe

 

What about jacking from under the trailer hitch