Another vote for harbour freight 12 tons. If you catch them on sale, they're pretty inexpensive. I've got 8 of them that have been used for years. At one time, I had my TJ on 4 for a long time while working on the D60 and 14bolt on the other 4. I also have some craftsman 3 tons...way too expensive.

doc

 

Northern 6 ton double locking are $30 a pair, and sometimes less. These are def the way to go. I've had a Harbor Freight Jackstand fail before. Also I don't like the Mack brand from walmart.

 

What exactly do you mean by fail? I have a set of these.

 

By fail, I mean the cast piece that raises and lowers fell over in two pieces while I was adjusting its location under an axle. I had placed it under my front axle and re lifted to move it to the left a little. When I jacked the axle back up, the notched piece just fell over. Can't imagine what would have happened if I had left it where it was and removed the jack. For $5-10 more, get the northern 6 tons

 

Used a floor jack under the diff, set jack stands under frame by control arms, took tires off, let the floor jack stay under diff. I did put blocks under the axle while I was working under it. When I needed to lower the diff, took the blocks out, frame still on jack stands.

 

A lot of these jackstands look identical, other than paint. I bet most of them are made in the same chinese factory. I have several of the Harbor Freight variety for years and they are solid. It's nice to have a small (read light, easy to move around) one when you need it, but the 6 ton is the most useful size.

 

What a lot of people fail to realize (engineers included): poor design is not usually the reason for shitty chinese products. Lack of quality control is.