Modifying an axle stand.

Rorschach · Post by **Rorschach** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 7:41 am

I have a pair of Axle stands, not modern chintzy stuff that looks like it is made from tin foil, proper English made solid ones using thick steel, they are heavy and sturdy.
However they have an annoying little niggle when combined with my car/jack. There are 3 pin holes, spaced 2" on centre. Whenever I jack the car up, there is never a hole in the right place and I always end up having to jack the car up another 2" because the lower hole is always a fraction too low for the job at hand.
You might not think that a problem and sometimes it isn't, but I don't always work in idea conditions and sometimes I run out of travel with the jack or get close to it and I would really like a little more adjustment in the stands.

So my plan is to drill another 3 holes, bisecting the current range, giving me 1" increments. Drilling them in between the current holes would introduce weakness clearly as the pin holes are large and take a substantial sized pin, which is good. So I thought I would drill them at a right angle to he current set of holes. I don't think this would introduce any significant weakness to the tubes, they have a 3mm wall thickness which is much thicker than I have seen on modern stands. Crazy idea?

ayjay · Post by **ayjay** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 8:13 am

I'm no engineer so can't really comment on how drilling holes would affect the strength, (but I'd be a bit wary of doing it myself).
Why not a shaped hardwood block fixed to the top? A piece one inch thick would give you the flexibility you're looking for.

mikew1972 · Post by **mikew1972** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 8:18 am

I'm pretty sure it would be stronger (and less annoying) with all the holes in a straight line.

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 8:45 am

I thought about this and I think I would be inclined to offset the new holes to give as much strength as possible. The logic is that the pin and surrounding metal takes what is a compressive load so I would have thought that more metal would make it stronger. Having said this I have no reason to suggest that in line holes would be a hazard but you want to be reassured if you are under a heavy vehicle on the stands.

DWD

Rorschach · Post by **Rorschach** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 9:36 am

mikew1972 wrote:I'm pretty sure it would be stronger (and less annoying) with all the holes in a straight line.

What makes you think this? Genuinely curious here. Drilling 10mm holes between the holes already there significantly reduces the material between each hole making it weaker in my mind.

Also I don't think it would be annoying having the holes on the side :dunno:

Rorschach · Post by **Rorschach** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 9:38 am

ayjay wrote:I'm no engineer so can't really comment on how drilling holes would affect the strength, (but I'd be a bit wary of doing it myself).
Why not a shaped hardwood block fixed to the top? A piece one inch thick would give you the flexibility you're looking for.

I did consider this as I have used wooden blocks with a jack in the past. My main issue with that though is that they tend to slide off and/or get jammed on the pinch weld which is where I most often use them.

ayjay · Post by **ayjay** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 9:49 am

Rorschach wrote:
ayjay wrote:I'm no engineer so can't really comment on how drilling holes would affect the strength, (but I'd be a bit wary of doing it myself).
Why not a shaped hardwood block fixed to the top? A piece one inch thick would give you the flexibility you're looking for.
I did consider this as I have used wooden blocks with a jack in the past. My main issue with that though is that they tend to slide off and/or get jammed on the pinch weld which is where I most often use them.

Drill a couple of holes in the wooden block and the top plate and drop two bolts through the whole lot, if it's going to be permanent, put a nut on it as well.

Rorschach · Post by **Rorschach** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 10:23 am

ayjay wrote:
Rorschach wrote:
ayjay wrote:I'm no engineer so can't really comment on how drilling holes would affect the strength, (but I'd be a bit wary of doing it myself).
Why not a shaped hardwood block fixed to the top? A piece one inch thick would give you the flexibility you're looking for.
I did consider this as I have used wooden blocks with a jack in the past. My main issue with that though is that they tend to slide off and/or get jammed on the pinch weld which is where I most often use them.
Drill a couple of holes in the wooden block and the top plate and drop two bolts through the whole lot, if it's going to be permanent, put a nut on it as well.

If it's permanent then I am still stuck with 2" height increments. I want to be able to easily raise the stand in 1" increments. I would have to remove the block every other notch.

Bob225 · Post by **Bob225** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 11:08 am

don't do it your weakening the steel

A wooden block or some adjustable stands, yes they do make decent ones (draper 2 ton ratchet type) what are £25-30 or a set of ramps, if your doing regular work a set of quick jack lift may be a option

Dave54 · Post by **Dave54** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 12:37 pm

Isn't there some rule of thumb for putting holes in stuff like that?
I vaguely remember something about so many diameters of hole between holes. (Or I think I do).

Anyway, whatever, I wouldn't be keen on drilling holes in axle stands to hold up a vehicle I would be climbing underneath.
I don't like working under vehicles on stands at the best of times

Rorschach · Post by **Rorschach** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 2:13 pm

Dave54 wrote:Isn't there some rule of thumb for putting holes in stuff like that?
I vaguely remember something about so many diameters of hole between holes. (Or I think I do).

Anyway, whatever, I wouldn't be keen on drilling holes in axle stands to hold up a vehicle I would be climbing underneath.
I don't like working under vehicles on stands at the best of times

I don't work under the vehicle on stands anyway, or very rarely. It's only on stands for doing things like swapping wheels, or brake work etc. Anything that isn't wheel related such as an oil change or when I recently had to replace part of the exhaust and the car goes up on ramps instead.

If I were to need to go under the car without ramps then I would add blocking as well as the jack stands.

I think I'll give it a go and take extra precaution the first time I use them. If they break then I'll just get a new set of ratchet stands instead. I really don't think they will, these are old school 2 ton stands made of thick steel and are used to hold half the weight of a 1.2 ton car.

Rorschach · Post by **Rorschach** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 4:40 pm

If I die, feel free to say I told you so.

Hitch · Post by **Hitch** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 5:23 pm

There's loads of meat there. I wouldn't be worried about it in the slightest.

Rorschach · Post by **Rorschach** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 6:02 pm

Hitch wrote:There's loads of meat there. I wouldn't be worried about it in the slightest.

That's what I thought. There 1.5" centre to centre between the new and the old holes and the pipe is 3mm wall thickness. It was nice to drill too, not gummy or anything.

mikew1972 · Post by **mikew1972** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 7:08 pm

Rorschach wrote:
mikew1972 wrote:I'm pretty sure it would be stronger (and less annoying) with all the holes in a straight line.
What makes you think this? Genuinely curious here. Drilling 10mm holes between the holes already there significantly reduces the material between each hole making it weaker in my mind.

Also I don't think it would be annoying having the holes on the side

Was thinking the overall resistance of the tube to being bent or crushed. Don't know. There'd be some pretty complex maths involved to be sure. Maybe Hitch knows?

Surely it's easier to see which is the lowest hole you can put the pin through if you don't have to start twisting it back and forth to see all the holes?

Anyway it looks plenty strong the way you've done it so problem solved and all good?

Modifying an axle stand.

Modifying an axle stand.

Re: Modifying an axle stand.

Re: Modifying an axle stand.

Re: Modifying an axle stand.

Re: Modifying an axle stand.

Re: Modifying an axle stand.

Re: Modifying an axle stand.

Re: Modifying an axle stand.

Re: Modifying an axle stand.

Re: Modifying an axle stand.

Re: Modifying an axle stand.

Re: Modifying an axle stand.

Re: Modifying an axle stand.

Re: Modifying an axle stand.

Re: Modifying an axle stand.