GroveKing - the stand is being cast in a 535 Almag (magnesium/aluminum alloy). I'm doing that in part because of some of the concerns I share with people on this thread. Aluminum can be more brittle than steel and give less "warning" of a pending failure. The 535 has greater elasticity and thus would bend before it breaks. That said - I don't want a jack stand that would bend either. The FEA on my stand showed three thousanths of an inch of deflection at 10,200 lbs. You probably know deflection is the shift of any metal that occurs under stress without distorting it from it's original configuration. I don't yet know what load is needed to cause deformation (permanant bend damage), but I plan to have the final stand stress tested to failure so I'll know. I'm not a metalurgist or expert on the steel vs. aluminum debate above. I've worked with a number of experts on this and I can say the issue of ultimate strength is clearly more complex than picking steel or aluminum. The grades, alloys, production methods and designs make big differences. My experience is perhaps representative of anyone on this site over the age of 30 - there are many, many cheap steel jack stands out there. Some are better for the money than others. The best and strongest are usually the heaviest and most expensive. The stand I'm building will be strong - but more important - it is designed to be used on the same jacking location you use to lift the car. I'd be willing to bet there are more guys out there who have personally witnessed damage to a car (their's or someone elses) caused by jacking or supporting a car in the wrong spot than there are guys who have seen a car fall on someone. That tells me the issue for most of us is properly lifting and supporting the car. I might add - having a jack stand in a weak or improper location presents a greater risk of the car slipping. I wouldn't be surprised if many jack stand failures are precipitated by a combination of poor placement and cheap jack stands. I've designed a jack stand that will be used in the same proper spot designated by the manufacturer for jacking the car. It allows you to use the same spot for both. It won't be cheap. But if it isn't strong it also won't be for sale. FEA's are computer tests on the computer duplicate of the actual stand. This week I'll have the real thing in hand and I'll soon know if it will support the weight the tests indicate it will. Assuming it holds 10,000 lbs - I plan to rate it at 3,000. I'd like to have a 3 to 1 safety factor even though ANSI only requires 1.5 to 1. Last point - I'm having it made in my home state. For all that - it will probably cost me around $100 each to have these made in small numbers. That's alot for a jack stand, but how many of you guys are driving $100 cars. I still remember the first car I ever bought. I pulled the carpets out to give it my "new to me" cleaning and found a hump in the floor board caused by the improperly placed jack or jack stand. How many guys would trade that experience for the price of a jack stand design for cars built since the '60s. It will work on vintage rides too. Sorry for the sales pitch, but I've had my head in this topic for over 2 years when I had the first prototype built. It's exciting to see the final product coming. Thanks for indulging my long winded post.
Did Steel Jack stands get Heavier? I would much rather trust a time proven set of those versus aluminum.
