Viper on jack stands

[TQMonster]

Here is a few pictures of my 2013 GTS up in the air, i think the build of the underneath of the car is amazing

[Next Phase]

What kind of jack stands are those and how did they get it in the air??? I've never seen that before...

[Zybane]

Looks like they used the regular lift and then slid those stands underneath and then wheeled the car to an open bay.

[A2008]

Scary if you ask me. I can't imagine wheeling that car around with those stands. Hope they have a good insurance policy!

[Fatboy 18]

Scary if you ask me. I can't imagine wheeling that car around with those stands. Hope they have a good insurance policy! + 1 Health and safety in the UK would have a field day with that!

Im surprised there are no cross braces between the Jacks! I guess its all down to how smooth the garage floor is, but I would not feel comfortable around that car! If another car bumped into one of those jacks and your car fell off you would not exactly be happy! YIKES!

[AZTVR]

Yes, the jack stands also impressed me more than the underside of the Viper, LOL ! (which looks great, BTW.) Looks like some of those mobile Rotary lifts in the background to grab it, lift it, set it on the stands, and then move them out of the way.

[Zybane]

I also don't like how close the rear stands are to the center of gravity of the car. They are holding most of the weight.

[Steve M]

I also don't like how close the rear stands are to the center of gravity of the car. They are holding most of the weight.

Those are directly under the jacking points...most of the weight is forward of those (engine, transmission, clutch, etc.), so it really isn't an issue.

[ViperTony]

Those are directly under the jacking points...most of the weight is forward of those (engine, transmission, clutch, etc.), so it really isn't an issue.

And these stands are designed for this purpose as well as for 15,000 capacity. Surprised nobody has seen these before.

[Steve M]

And these stands are designed for this purpose as well as for 15,000 capacity. Surprised nobody has seen these before.

I've never seen stands like these, but they are seriously impressive.

[mblgjr]

Impressed and slightly scared all at the same time.

MORE impressed that your concrete floor is level enough to allow it in the first place...

[Zybane]

Those stands are impressive, I guess I don't really see the point though. You need another lift just to get the car above them, and purchasing an electric lift in the open bay you are going to move the car to probably wouldn't cost much more than those four stands.

Did remind me of this though:


http://www.my914-6.com/crap/PICT0081.JPG

[FSTENUF]

Those stands are impressive, I guess I don't really see the point though. You need another lift just to get the car above them, and purchasing an electric lift in the open bay you are going to move the car to probably wouldn't cost much more than those four stands.

Did remind me of this though:


http://www.my914-6.com/crap/PICT0081.JPG

NOW YOU DON'T KNOW FOR SURE.. THIS COULD HAVE BEEN A BLOW OVER FROM A SHOP FAN:lol2:

[GBS]

Impressed and slightly scared all at the same time.

MORE impressed that your concrete floor is level enough to allow it in the first place...

Agree, I'd be a little scared to see my new Gen V up on those jack stands. I'm not sure I would even be comfortable working on my car.

[Blue T/A 2.0]

I have a 4 post drive on lift in my garage and it is bolted to the ground even though you can put wheels on it and move it around. I used a friends lift at his garage that was not bolted down and the lift was moving the whole time which worried me, but he did not think a thing about it. I want to be as safe as possible when I am under a car.

[sparkrn]

Don't get me wrong, I love my viper. But if you ever get to see under a 2005-06 GT, you wouldn't be impressed anymore.

[TQMonster]

What kind of jack stands are those and how did they get it in the air??? I've never seen that before...

This was at the Dodge Dealer and they just did a complete renovation of the shop which included a new lift system where they lift the car in the air by the tires and then place the large jack stands underneath the jacking points. Very safe set up

[TrackAire]

This was at the Dodge Dealer and they just did a complete renovation of the shop which included a new lift system where they lift the car in the air by the tires and then place the large jack stands underneath the jacking points. Very safe set up

If you have any info on the new lift system that lifts the car by the tires, I would like to check it out. It appears once on the jack stands, the lift is somehow moved away.

Pretty cool set up, you could have one lift and multiple Rotary jack stands to keep vehicles up in the air.

[AZTVR]

If you have any info on the new lift system that lifts the car by the tires, I would like to check it out. It appears once on the jack stands, the lift is somehow moved away.

Here is what I think that I see in the photos: http://www.rotarylift.com/LIFTS/MCH413/

[Zybane]

Here is what I think that I see in the photos: http://www.rotarylift.com/LIFTS/MCH413/

Oh ya, interesting.

[TrackAire]

Here is what I think that I see in the photos: http://www.rotarylift.com/LIFTS/MCH413/

Thanks for the type of lift they use, actually that is pretty smart as you can set up the car and jack stands anywhere on the shop floor your have space at that moment. One set of lifts and multiple jack stands would probably be a huge money saver. I like it.

I'd have no issues working under that car with those beefy and triangulated Rotary jack stands. They have an incremental up/down adjustment so you get full contact at all four corners since most floors are not perfectly level (or your cars frame).

So many here work under their Vipers using small flimsy jack stands while lying on their backs. I would think you'd have a better chance of getting away from a falling Viper while standing on your feet rather than while laying on your back. A Viper falling 18" or 54" is going to squish you just the same.

[Zybane]

I would think you'd have a better chance of getting away from a falling Viper while standing on your feet rather than while laying on your back. A Viper falling 18" or 54" is going to squish you just the same.

Ya, that's why I always work with two complete sets of jack stands. One set actually holds the weight of the car, the other set a safety.

[GBS]

Ya, that's why I always work with two complete sets of jack stands. One set actually holds the weight of the car, the other set a safety.

I do the same. I know guy who was working on his car and it fell on him and crushed in his scull. It didn't kill but it definitely changed his appearance. It's good to be safe.

[Camfab]

That set up looks like a death trap to me. Four individual stands that look like they are four of five feet up! No thanks, I guarantee I could push that thing right over. Start pulling weight out of either end and that thing is going over. Just because idiots work under their cars without proper equipment doesn't make this right. Rotary makes great products and I could see these stands being used to stabilize a car that's on a two post lift. On the original note, the bottom of the Viper is amazingly aero smooth. The Gen V never stops impressing me.

[SilveRT8]

Looks very safe to me, but why pay for expensive stands ?
I did it my way !!!!!!!!!!

[AZTVR]

What kind of jack stands are those.

I wondered the same. Here is as close as I could find: http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/12-Ton-Vehicle-Support-Stand


As others say, that would be too scary for me to work under and around unless I saw it tested first.

[TrackAire]

I wondered the same. Here is as close as I could find: http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/12-Ton-Vehicle-Support-Stand


As others say, that would be too scary for me to work under and around unless I saw it tested first.

They are available from Rotary, a pretty big name in the vehicle lift business for commercial applications. Rotary also makes the individual vehicle lifts that lift the vehicle from the tires. Very cool is they are 24 volt rechargeable units so you you don't have to have multiple power cables everywhere and makes them very portable. I'm sure the lifts are going to be pricey.

One of the key features of their jack stands is the ability to adjust them up or down millimeters at a time....very important for a car like a Viper that has a very stiff frame with nearly no flex.....plus, most floors are nowhere perfectly level either. This allows the full weight of the vehicle to be supported evenly by the 4 jacking points on the Vipers frame. If set up correctly, that car isn't going anywhere.....I would consider it as safe as being on a 2 post lift.

This is probably 10 times safer than being under the car with standard jack stands that have 1/2" vertical adjustments and a base footprint smaller than your dinner plate....plus the quality control of the discount auto parts units leave a lot to be desired.

[Roddy]

That's nuts. Looks beyond dangerous.

[Troublemaker]

I do the same. I know guy who was working on his car and it fell on him and crushed in his scull. It didn't kill but it definitely changed his appearance. It's good to be safe.

I friend of the family was killed a long time ago under a car hauling trailer that was being repaired. To this day I have multiple safeties in place when under a car and that gets doubled when my sons decide to help.

Those stands are cool, but make me nervous just looking at them. There is no margin for error. I guess having a job that is unsafe by nature has changed my view of things. When looking a risk assessment/mitigation, I know there is no way in hell we would ever put ourselves in that line of fire.

[ViperGeorge]

Has anyone actually determined if the Viper's 4 jacking points balance the weight of the car front to rear? Or are the jacking points simply in the best spot to jack up one wheel at a time? I wouldn't even get under my Viper with 4 shorter jack stands under those points unless I also had several floor jacks on the frame in other spots just in case. Saw a car fall on a guy once, not good.

[Zybane]

Well considering the Viper is pretty much a perfect 50/50, all you would have to do is draw equal distance inboard from the center of the wheel hubs to get proper weight distribution points.

[Camfab]

I friend of the family was killed a long time ago under a car hauling trailer that was being repaired. To this day I have multiple safeties in place when under a car and that gets doubled when my sons decide to help.

Those stands are cool, but make me nervous just looking at them. There is no margin for error. I guess having a job that is unsafe by nature has changed my view of things. When looking a risk assessment/mitigation, I know there is no way in hell we would ever put ourselves in that line of fire.

So many good points here, I too work in an industry where continuous risk exists on a daily basis. If you look at and read the link to the Greg Smith site, it clearly states that at least in the Greg Smith example the Stands are to be used as vehicle stabilizers for two or four post lifts. These stands are in no way as safe as a two post lift. The stands are not firmly bolted to the ground like a two post. If you live in earthquake country your really taking a risk. They say "Safety is no Accident", but I say B.S. because safety comes from accidents occurring all the time. Trouble is even if your load is 100% balanced, what happens if you start removing parts from either end, you'll not only have a car go over but you'll have five foot stands flying as well. I had a ten dollar switch fail on my four post lift that caused the switch to weld itself in the "ON" position. Not so fortunately for me, I had a relatively low ceiling. By the time I had the ability to shut the unit off, it had compressed my lifted Jeep into the ceiling. It took hours of careful winching with tire deflation, etc. to get the Jeep out. I consider myself very safety conscious, but in my haste to get the lift operational I put my emergency disconnect too far away. The floor littered with parts made it virtually impossible to get the lift quickly turned off.
I now have the disconnect within a foot of the factory switch, and I've also welded shackle points at each corner of the lift. I use span set slings at each corner securing the car to the lift. If an earthquake or any other failure occurred while the car is on the lift, it can't fall off. If you think this sounds like over kill, it's only because you haven't had an accident yet....

[TrackAire]

So many good points here, I too work in an industry where continuous risk exists on a daily basis. If you look at and read the link to the Greg Smith site, it clearly states that at least in the Greg Smith example the Stands are to be used as vehicle stabilizers for two or four post lifts. These stands are in no way as safe as a two post lift. The stands are not firmly bolted to the ground like a two post. If you live in earthquake country your really taking a risk. They say "Safety is no Accident", but I say B.S. because safety comes from accidents occurring all the time. Trouble is even if your load is 100% balanced, what happens if you start removing parts from either end, you'll not only have a car go over but you'll have five foot stands flying as well. I had a ten dollar switch fail on my four post lift that caused the switch to weld itself in the "ON" position. Not so fortunately for me, I had a relatively low ceiling. By the time I had the ability to shut the unit off, it had compressed my lifted Jeep into the ceiling. It took hours of careful winching with tire deflation, etc. to get the Jeep out. I consider myself very safety conscious, but in my haste to get the lift operational I put my emergency disconnect too far away. The floor littered with parts made it virtually impossible to get the lift quickly turned off.
I now have the disconnect within a foot of the factory switch, and I've also welded shackle points at each corner of the lift. I use span set slings at each corner securing the car to the lift. If an earthquake or any other failure occurred while the car is on the lift, it can't fall off. If you think this sounds like over kill, it's only because you haven't had an accident yet....

These are all good points, my car was on the lift (four post lift and a car under it!!) when we got hit by the Napa earthquake last year but it was no where near as intense here as it was in downtown Napa. I did watch a surveillance cam video on the news of a car in an automotive shop sitting in the air on a two post lift go through the earthquake and miraculously it didn't fall off.

You mentioned Greg Smith equipment.....they are strictly a distributor and the "stands" they list are not like the Rotary units used by the Dodge dealership. They were using the Rotary units which are classified as jack stands and have sizes big enough to suspend a full size 18 wheeler tractor rig in the air. I'm all for safety and always us multiple jack stands (always more than 4 if I'm under the car) just to be extra safe. I've set up a system on my four post lift that uses 4 screw jacks at the jacking points and an addition 4 jack stands on the frame. I don't trust the small base plate area of the screw jack and small jack stands I use, I feel safer in case there is an earthquake and I'm under the car. If the car falls off the jack stands, I still have the four post lift runways to hold it up as a last resort.

Always err on the side of caution and safety......if any doubts or concerns about your ability to put a vehicle in the air safely, don't do it!!

[Jack B]

This post dovetails with your Jeep accident. That same issue with the control happened on my lift, however, I was able to disconnect the power before the car hit the ceiling.

As a side note, the National Electrical Code requires a disconnect visible and within 50 ft. Lastly, I had a car fall off of jack stands and break my collar bone, I do not like them.



So many good points here, I too work in an industry where continuous risk exists on a daily basis. If you look at and read the link to the Greg Smith site, it clearly states that at least in the Greg Smith example the Stands are to be used as vehicle stabilizers for two or four post lifts. These stands are in no way as safe as a two post lift. The stands are not firmly bolted to the ground like a two post. If you live in earthquake country your really taking a risk. They say "Safety is no Accident", but I say B.S. because safety comes from accidents occurring all the time. Trouble is even if your load is 100% balanced, what happens if you start removing parts from either end, you'll not only have a car go over but you'll have five foot stands flying as well. I had a ten dollar switch fail on my four post lift that caused the switch to weld itself in the "ON" position. Not so fortunately for me, I had a relatively low ceiling. By the time I had the ability to shut the unit off, it had compressed my lifted Jeep into the ceiling. It took hours of careful winching with tire deflation, etc. to get the Jeep out. I consider myself very safety conscious, but in my haste to get the lift operational I put my emergency disconnect too far away. The floor littered with parts made it virtually impossible to get the lift quickly turned off.
I now have the disconnect within a foot of the factory switch, and I've also welded shackle points at each corner of the lift. I use span set slings at each corner securing the car to the lift. If an earthquake or any other failure occurred while the car is on the lift, it can't fall off. If you think this sounds like over kill, it's only because you haven't had an accident yet....

[Camfab]

If it can happen, it will. I knew the code, and even with my experience, I was so excited to get the lift up and running I cheated. I've also had jack stands topple over, but thank god I was really young and quick. If it can happen, it's happened to me.