Sizing jack stands for wind load?
I often camp in windy places. In my current, small van, I sometimes have to lift the tires off the ground to get stability. I use jack stands that are each rated for my whole gvw, to allow for th...
Forum Discussion
DrewE wrote:
Wind isn't going to put more than the full vehicle weight on any one jack stand, since the applied force on the van is in the horizontal rather than the vertical plane. Your approach is safely conservative.
Do bear in mind that jack stands are often sold in pairs and rated for load for the pair, with each of the stands actually rated individually for only half that weight. It's sometimes a bit misleading, with the small print taking away what the big print giveth.
Oh, dang, I did not know that!
So the 3ton stand I have are really 3000lbs each... that still might be ok for the front, where gaw is around 3000lbs? And for the back, where gaw is around 6000, are 5 ton / 5000 jacks ok?
I do know to go with steel. I was exited over the lightness and high weight rating of those screw top aluminum jack stands -- until I saw a couple break in two when a jack slipped. Not good for sudden shear forces.
