What's the Best Way to jack/stand & Remove All Three Wheels at once?

[Peter Aawen]

Believe it or not, those blue stands on the right seem to be a strictly Australian invention/product. Too bad.

They're easy enough to make. For 2 stands it only takes:

• 2 x about 12-18" of 2" squ tube for the lower uprights/shafts;
• 2 x 14-20" long squ tubing of a size that'll slide neatly inside the 2" stuff for the upper/movable shafts and still leave a bit sticking out the top;
• 2 x 10" or there-abouts square (or maybe round?!) plates of 1/8" or thicker steel for the bases;
• 2 x about 3-4" long, 2" wide & 3/16th or 1/4" thick strap for the top bits on the smaller squ sections (you can bend say 1/4" on each end of each strap up a tad if you want, to help stop it sliding out from under any load - see the pic);
• 2 x 3&1/2 - 4" lengths of 3/8th rod or a couple of 3 - 3&1/2 long 3/8th or so bolts to act as the height selection pins, just pick a dia that works for you (mine are Grade 8 pins); then
• a 3/8th or so HSS drill bit to match the rod/bolt size so that you can get the rod/bolts to slide neatly thru, and drill One (1) hole thru both sides of the lower shaft, about 1/2-1" below the top.

Once you've got all the material assembled/the first holes drilled, it needs a little bit of welding:

• the base plate to the each of 2" squ tubes; and
• the top plates onto the smaller sized tube;

Then slide each of the base & top sections together and using the single hole already drilled in the lower section as a guide, drill saaay, 4-6 holes about 1" or so apart thru both sides of the upper/sliding shaft and make sure the rod/bolts will slide thru to work as the height selection pins; and Bob's yer Uncle! (I think, if I got all that right!) Altho, I guess you could do all the drilling before any welding, but I like to know where the inner section sits solidly in the outer section and on the base too before drilling the upper/shortest height hole - all the other holes then spread down that inner shaft so that as you lift it and insert the pin in each hole in turn, the overall height increases.

Regardless, if you look at it carefully enough to see how truly simple (and easy to make, as well as handy!) a piece of kit like this is, it really isn't all that hard to make/do, and even if you take it to a fabricator instead of DIY'ing, once the components are gathered/assembled (material cost, maybe about $40 for a pair now, I used whatever scrap was on hand) it should take maybe 30 minutes to make a pair for anyone who knows what they're about, then it'll take saaay, another 2 minutes or so to hit them both with some rattle-can paint in your choice of colour to make them all purdy!

Oh, and if you're being real picky, I do have a short length of chain securing each pin to the lower shaft, so that it'll still reach the hole easily and keep the pins from ever being lost. I did something a bit fancier on those in the pic, drilled holes, pressed slots, added split rings, etc, but really, just a dab of weld to secure the chain to the upright, another dab to fix the chain to the pin, and the job's done! There'll be enough 'flex' in about 3-4" of chain to allow them to work.

Go on, Do It!

You know you want to!

 

[UtahPete]

I know you're right Peter. I should have mastered welding instead of accounting.

 

[Peter Aawen]

I know you're right Peter. I should have mastered welding instead of accounting.

This would be an easy project to start on...