Axle Stands Are Needed For A Safe Repair

If you like to do most of the things on your car that a mechanic does, it won't take long and you will need to perform some kind of maintenance or repair where you have to work under your car. That's why it is a must that you have axle stands that can handle your car's weight so you are safe while working under your car. A reliable and durable set of these stands should be present in your tool kit since this car tool can save your life. These stands can prevent the scenario where you are working on your car and the jack slides down and the car falls on your head.

When you are looking for axle stands, there are two factors that you should evaluate. First of all, you should check how much weight the axle stand can handle based on its design and the second factor is the area size of the base. All axle stands show the amount of weight they can handle on the packaging and this figure is also stamped on the axle's frame. It is surprising how the stand can support such great weight even if it's just a light stand. Actually, it's because of how the engineers designed it. The engineers include bracing in all places where it is needed so that the weight from the post where the car is resting can be transferred to the floor or the ground underneath it.

The axle stands that you can buy have load limit that usually range between 8000 and 10,000 pounds and these are enough for most automobiles. Heavy highway trucks and construction equipment require more heavy duty stands in order to have the support needed while they are held up. You can find the axle stand for your application in any auto parts store.

The base is another factor that you should evaluate. One thing you should never think of doing is to jack a car or support it while it's on a side hill position. The gravity forces can easily effect the car's stability and it can easily slide off from its supports. Also, make sure that the surface is hard so that the stands do not go into the ground and tip over. The base of the axle stand should be spacious enough to give a good and stable fitting for your car. The available stands in the market are already tested to determine if they can handle lateral support so you don't have to worry if you use it on a hard and level surface.

If you are planning to do any maintenance or repair work on your car be sure to buy a good set of axle stands. Before you know it you will be wanting to crawl under your car for something and this is very dangerous if the car is not supported correctly. In some locations these are called jack stands but they are really the same thing.