Jack Stands

Home Depot and Lowes both sell great jack stands.

An 8-foot length of 6" x 8" rough cedar or redwood yields eight 12" pieces, enough for two at each corner. Stacked on each other, two raise the car fairly high and are pretty solid.

My son, who now works for Snap On, used to own a body shop and he told me there are two types of jack stands: those that have fallen over and those that are about to fall over.

When he saw my Craftsman Deluxe Self-Adjusting 15" jack stands and Craftsman 1.5-ton floor jack I used for my 308, he threw them all in the trash and went and bought me the lumber and a 2.5-ton Mac Tools floor jack. (Such love, huh!)

For additional safety, you may want to use four 12" x 6" x8" at each corner.

Personally, I use one 12" 6" x 8" with a smaller 10" 4" x 6" on top of it just in front of the rear wheel or just under the front of the door - it's the perfect height for doing wheel and brake work on the 308. I make sure they are centered under the tubular frames before lowering the jack.

Once the lumber is solidly under the car, I raise the jack back up until it just contacts the jack point, then fold the handle up against the car. A 4-foot length of hot water pipe insulation fits perfectly around the handle of the jack.