2012 3500 Limited Dually Jack and Jackstands

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

Michael J McGinn

Junior Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2021
Posts
10
Reaction score
0
Location
Virginia
Ram Year
2012
Engine
6.7 turbo diesel
Rookie Question. I need to replace the front brake pads and rotors. Powerstop Z36 on the way. My question is about the jacking device. Bottle or floor jack and recommended capacity and reach? Regarding jackstands, capacity and reach. Out of curiosity, would you use Harbor Freight jacks and jackstands or do you have a preferred brand and place to purchase.

Thanks
Mike
 

Mister Luck

cassis tutissima virtus
Joined
Aug 25, 2020
Posts
1,543
Reaction score
516
Location
WEST COAST
Ram Year
2016/2017
Engine
5.7 V8
Reach can be an issue using a jack and any truck,
I personally use 4x4 redwood blocks for cribbing especially if I’m concerned with the ground I’m supported on.
(An 8ft post cut into 4 / 2ft lengths)

A truck that is 5 tons or better and it’s height depends on your suspension and wheel size.

My personal Economical choices would be

Big Red Torin Steel 5 to 6 TON jack stands

Torin bottle jacks
I’d get something rated over 5 TONS

EDIT
NORTHERN TOOL as a source
 
Last edited:

RAZ175

Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2020
Posts
93
Reaction score
68
Location
Colorado
Ram Year
2016 Power Wagon
Engine
6.4L
If you have a Harbor Freight close by, their Daytona Floor Jacks are very good, I have two of them and used them to lift both ends of the truck while doing suspension work. The jack stands listed by Mister Luck are very good also.
 

joesstripclub

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2019
Posts
428
Reaction score
521
Location
Lees Summit, MO
Ram Year
2021 2500 PW
Engine
Hemi 6.4
Harbor Freight had to recall jack stands a couple years ago because they were failing. I don't know if they fixed their issues but I would at least avoid their jack stands. I have a 3 ton jack from them that works well though. Also watch your jack stand ratings as some are rated per pair, meaning they hold half as much as they say they do.
 

Jeepwalker

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2017
Posts
3,137
Reaction score
3,330
Location
WI
Ram Year
2012 Reg Cab, 4x4
Engine
5.7 Hemi
My last pr of jackstands I bought from Walmart. Just because I happened to be there and they were a few bucks off. I liked the saddle and construction seemed pretty good. Went back and bought another pr a year later. But I've had HF jackstands I've been using for 30 years. I wouldn't be afraid of HF jackstands. The owner gave a public apology and they took back the 'defective' ones. I suspect they learned their lesson and have partnered with a mfgr who has better quality control. HF has a lot of 'pull' when it comes to working with import tool companies due to their volume.

For your truck you probably want a pr of 6-ton jackstands just because of the height requirement. 3 ton jackstands are useful for cars and light SUV's.

As for jacks, yeah just stay away from using an undersized jack on your truck. Not that you would. Most jacks these days have a really small saddle on them which IMO makes them somewhat more prone to slipping off, vs jacks of the past which had a larger cup with 'finger's that would keep things from slipping off. I like the jacks with a larger more secure-looking saddle. So, to ensure safety, make sure the saddle is placed firmly on a spot of the vehicle that's properly centered. And keep your eye on it and the rest of the jack ...to ensure nothing is getting close to slipping off as you jack the vehicle up. Remember, the jack saddle moves upward in an arc ...and if the jack cannot move forward (piece of gravel in front of the wheel), or vehicle cannot move toward the jack, dangerous slippage of the jack could occur. So, keep your eye on things.

A lot of problems people ensounter with jacking accidents I suspect are likely caused by their own carelessness and not paying enough attention. Always exercise caution when jacking up and supporting a vehicle. Once set down on jackstands, give the vehicle a good 'wiggle' to ensure it's firmly supported before working underneath. I mean, it's common sense, but worth mentioning since it doesn't sound like you have a lot of experience with jacks and jackstands. Once supported by jackstands you should be good to go.
 
OP
OP
M

Michael J McGinn

Junior Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2021
Posts
10
Reaction score
0
Location
Virginia
Ram Year
2012
Engine
6.7 turbo diesel
Jeepwalker,

I certainly appreciate the tutorial. As you mention, I have little experience doing this so your recommendations will keep me safe.

I’m leaning towards the Daytona 6 ton jackstands from Harbor Freight. According to the product description they meet the prescribed safety standards.

When you discuss jacks, are you referring to a floor or bottle jack?

Mike
 

joesstripclub

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2019
Posts
428
Reaction score
521
Location
Lees Summit, MO
Ram Year
2021 2500 PW
Engine
Hemi 6.4
Jeepwalker,

I certainly appreciate the tutorial. As you mention, I have little experience doing this so your recommendations will keep me safe.

I’m leaning towards the Daytona 6 ton jackstands from Harbor Freight. According to the product description they meet the prescribed safety standards.

When you discuss jacks, are you referring to a floor or bottle jack?

Mike

Sounds to me like floor jacks. That's what I use. Can't say I've ever lifted a vehicle with a bottle jack.
 

indept

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2017
Posts
3,213
Reaction score
4,740
Location
South Jersey
Ram Year
2017
Engine
Hemi 5.7L
My last pr of jackstands I bought from Walmart. Just because I happened to be there and they were a few bucks off. I liked the saddle and construction seemed pretty good. Went back and bought another pr a year later. But I've had HF jackstands I've been using for 30 years. I wouldn't be afraid of HF jackstands. The owner gave a public apology and they took back the 'defective' ones. I suspect they learned their lesson and have partnered with a mfgr who has better quality control. HF has a lot of 'pull' when it comes to working with import tool companies due to their volume.

For your truck you probably want a pr of 6-ton jackstands just because of the height requirement. 3 ton jackstands are useful for cars and light SUV's.

As for jacks, yeah just stay away from using an undersized jack on your truck. Not that you would. Most jacks these days have a really small saddle on them which IMO makes them somewhat more prone to slipping off, vs jacks of the past which had a larger cup with 'finger's that would keep things from slipping off. I like the jacks with a larger more secure-looking saddle. So, to ensure safety, make sure the saddle is placed firmly on a spot of the vehicle that's properly centered. And keep your eye on it and the rest of the jack ...to ensure nothing is getting close to slipping off as you jack the vehicle up. Remember, the jack saddle moves upward in an arc ...and if the jack cannot move forward (piece of gravel in front of the wheel), or vehicle cannot move toward the jack, dangerous slippage of the jack could occur. So, keep your eye on things.

A lot of problems people ensounter with jacking accidents I suspect are likely caused by their own carelessness and not paying enough attention. Always exercise caution when jacking up and supporting a vehicle. Once set down on jackstands, give the vehicle a good 'wiggle' to ensure it's firmly supported before working underneath. I mean, it's common sense, but worth mentioning since it doesn't sound like you have a lot of experience with jacks and jackstands. Once supported by jackstands you should be good to go.
Good points Jeepwalker but let me add for OP's safety sake when talking jackstand safety, best to put jackstand supporting the truck frame not under the lower controll arm or sway bars etc. Once the weight is on it grab the car with both hands and shake the hell out of it. If it's supported safely nothing will happen. If your shaking it causes it to fall then it's good you weren't under it.
 

Mister Luck

cassis tutissima virtus
Joined
Aug 25, 2020
Posts
1,543
Reaction score
516
Location
WEST COAST
Ram Year
2016/2017
Engine
5.7 V8
If using steel rim wheels I would place a wheel under the vehicle..
(according to clearance)
..while elevated for added safety margin.
 
OP
OP
M

Michael J McGinn

Junior Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2021
Posts
10
Reaction score
0
Location
Virginia
Ram Year
2012
Engine
6.7 turbo diesel
Well, I went with a Daytona 4 ton floor jack and Daytona 6 ton jack stands. Successfully got the truck off the ground and the tires removed. Removed the calipers and bracket. The tires were very difficult to get off, but after some healthy beating, they came off. So far, the rotors are kicking my butt. I’ll be spending the day trying to get them off.

They have been liberally douched with PB blaster and soaked overnight. I’ll continue to beat the hell out of them today and try the bolt through the caliper mount trick to free them,

Didn’t look this hard on the YouTube videos!!!
 

Jeepwalker

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2017
Posts
3,137
Reaction score
3,330
Location
WI
Ram Year
2012 Reg Cab, 4x4
Engine
5.7 Hemi
There's no screw holding on the rotor, right? (just to be sure).

They can be hard to get off sometimes. An old-school mechanic taught me in the 80's (lol) ....if ya have a solid piece of steel, say an 8" piece of hardened 1" round-stock ...or super heavy duty punch (large diameter), ...work your way around the center of the rotor, with hard hammer blows (big hammer), and around the studs. You gotta get 'mean'. If that doesn't work, and you have a buddy who has a moble acetylene torch rig, you can heat around the center of the rotor and it usually releases. That's the easy way. Don't use a propane torch. You don't want to apply so much heat you end up 'cooking' the bearings. An oxy/acetylene (or oxy/propane) torch applies heat fast. The rotor basically 'expands' and then it breaks the rust bond (sometimes on the cool-down phase), and then absorbs most of the heat (not the hub/bearings).

So, try hammering the rotor with a heavy duty punch or 1" round stock and a 3-5 lb hammer. A 7 - 8" long 3/4" diam bolt (Grade-8) would probably work fine too. Once you break the rust under the rotor it should release. I use a king pin I got out of a 1960's truck. Those king pins were SO incredibly hard ...I've hammered the heck on that for 30 years and it's barely deformed the end ...lol.

Let us know how it goes...
 

Jeepwalker

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2017
Posts
3,137
Reaction score
3,330
Location
WI
Ram Year
2012 Reg Cab, 4x4
Engine
5.7 Hemi
And also, when I do brakes, I ALWAYS (and have for 20 some years), put a dial indicator on the new rotors to make sure they're running 'true'. Otherwise you could end up putting a lot of time into brakes and end up with a crappy job ...when, with just a little more effort you could end up with a first-class job. I just got tired of 'guessing' and trusting the new rotors to be 'true', when many times they just aren't. I would never just throw on a set of rotors and go.

Reasons why new rotors might not run 'true'?
1) Rust on the hub face you didn't get removed, or a flake of rust fell in as you were installing the new rotor
2) New Rotor came pre-warped! Yeah it happens a lot. I've taken several rotors back to Napa and OReilly's. There was a time years ago where I bet 60% of the rotors I got from the local napa store were pre-warped. Even my buddy there admitted they had a crappy supplier and eventually had to stop selling theirs. That was quite a while ago, and the china quality has gotten a lot better. But I still get an out-of-spec rotor from time to time.
3) Un-true hub. Can hubs really be out of spec? Sure. I bought a hub/bearing assembly 2 years ago at ORelly's (not their cheap version either) and the hub face brand new out of the box was .005 out of spec. A guy would never get a rotor to run true on that hub and the wheel would wobble. But if a guy had a used truck and the previous owner hammered on the hub, he could put deformaties on the hub ...which maybe could be filed smooth (or replace the hub).
4) Hub/rotor manufacturing tolerance differences. A lot of times if a rotor measures out-of-spec initially, you can rotate it on the hub and get it to run 'perfectly'.

Get some over-sized nuts (for bolts), which will fit OVER your truck's wheel studs. Put them on the studs and tighten the lug nuts. Just get them snug, not full tightness. A wheel distributes the clamping pressure across the entire rotor, the over-sized nuts don't distribute pressure as much. You don't want to distort the rotor and get an errant reading. So, just tighten to 30 lbs or so.

A good spec to get your new rotors at would be .000" run-out. I wouldn't settle for anything more than .002" In fact my vehicles, the most I would settle for is .001. And make sure your caliper sliding surfaces are filed clean, esp if your truck has stainless steel sliders (rust can build up under stainless sliders, preventing the pads from releasing away from the rotor). . Watch the 2nd half of this video. Look up a dial indicator and base at Harbor Freight.

 
OP
OP
M

Michael J McGinn

Junior Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2021
Posts
10
Reaction score
0
Location
Virginia
Ram Year
2012
Engine
6.7 turbo diesel
Jeepwalker,

Lots of good info in your response. Thanks. I got the rotor off by beating it with the blunt end of an ax. I’m in the rust removal phase now.

New Powerstop Z36 rotors and pads are here and they look good visually. Awaiting new Powerstop calipers and brackets which arrive Wednesday.

When I reassemble, where do you recommend I apply anti- seize to avoid this difficulty in the future?
 

Jeepwalker

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2017
Posts
3,137
Reaction score
3,330
Location
WI
Ram Year
2012 Reg Cab, 4x4
Engine
5.7 Hemi
I apply a thin coat of anti-seize to the hub-face the hub center and the back of the rotor (hub contact area).

I wouldnt trust new rotors that 'look-good'. That's a rookie mistake in the works. They almost never go on perfect w/o some rotating or swapping side-to-side. They could be .006" lateral run-out. And if the rotor/hub face (where the wheel goes) has even .003 run-out, guess what your whee/tire is going to do once you bolt it on? It's going to wobble 3/8" as you drive down the road (causing a vibration).

You're going to wonder if your tire is out of balance, threw a weight, out of round ...or what's going on. All the shops will re-balance the tires, etc. You'll come on this forum and complain about how you can't isolate a vibration ....shops want to sell you a new set of tires. At the end of the day nobody will ever put a dial indicator on the rotor-face to check it for run-out (which is the FIRST thing they should check!). No amount of wheel balancing can compensate for a wobbling wheel/tire. People don't always put 2+2 together. And shops really don't care. A small run-out at the hub-face causes a much greater run-out at the edge of a large tire. You want to get it right. Ultimately a wheel vibration leads to bearing, diff and driveshaft wear. If it's in the rear, vibration can lead to rear transfer case bearing wear. It's important to get the rotors on as perfect as you can. "You can't manage what you can't measure" [my old boss].

The $25 or so, for a dial indicator & base is a good investment and can be a super cheap investment when you think about the headaches of a bad job. Go to the hardware store and get some oversized nuts (at least 10 ...8 for one hub, plus two to hold the other rotor on tight while you're working on the opposite side). If you do that, test everything dry and once you get them 'perfect' then apply the anti-seize. Then verify they're still perfect before you put on your wheel. Make sure the backside of your wheel is clean too (a little anti-seize doesn't hurt).

Doing brakes 'right' takes time. That's why it's so expensive for a shop to 'do it right'. Many shops skip the important steps unfortunately ..for speed. And then it's up to the owners to do their own troubleshooting. But this is your baby, so you want to treat her right. :cool:
 
Last edited:

buckeyexx

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2015
Posts
677
Reaction score
704
Location
Ohio
Ram Year
2016 Power Wagon
Engine
6.4 Hemi
Just went through the same headache getting rotors off my 2500. What a nightmare but a 3 lbs sledge and a 3 ft pry bar did the trick. I also went with the power stop brake kit z36 drilled and slotted rotors. The truck stops much better and happy I went with them. The only issue I’m having right now is I’m getting a grinding noise when I’m coming to a full stop. It’s only the last 5 ft of the stop and not thru out the entire braking process. I did the break in procedure like it says to do. And also it’s not every time I brake so I’m going to take each wheel back and inspect. I’ve always done my own brakes and never have I had this before so we will see.
 
OP
OP
M

Michael J McGinn

Junior Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2021
Posts
10
Reaction score
0
Location
Virginia
Ram Year
2012
Engine
6.7 turbo diesel
Looking forward to your analysis. Finally got both rotors off so I’m ready to start to reassemble.

Another question. Based on Jeepwalker’s response concerning where to apply anti-seize I think I’m good. I’ve watched numerous videos on how to do this and no two do it the same. Some apply lock tire to bolts, others are silent on it. Some apply grease to pad clips, others don’t. Where would/do you apply these products?
 

buckeyexx

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2015
Posts
677
Reaction score
704
Location
Ohio
Ram Year
2016 Power Wagon
Engine
6.4 Hemi
Looking forward to your analysis. Finally got both rotors off so I’m ready to start to reassemble.

Another question. Based on Jeepwalker’s response concerning where to apply anti-seize I think I’m good. I’ve watched numerous videos on how to do this and no two do it the same. Some apply lock tire to bolts, others are silent on it. Some apply grease to pad clips, others don’t. Where would/do you apply these products?
Good deal. They are a pain. I apply caliper grease to the pins, clips, and back of pads. I don’t put lock tite on my bolts but I can see why others do. It’s not going to hurt as long as it’s the blue and not red. Applying anti seize to the hub where the rotor makes contact is a good idea.
 
OP
OP
M

Michael J McGinn

Junior Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2021
Posts
10
Reaction score
0
Location
Virginia
Ram Year
2012
Engine
6.7 turbo diesel
Front brake job complete. They seem to work properly. I don’t hear any squeaks or squeals and they stop me. Appreciate all the advice. My next endeavor will be the rear brakes.
 

Joshua Collins

Senior Member
Military
Joined
Feb 28, 2019
Posts
244
Reaction score
216
Location
Texas
Ram Year
2019
Engine
6.7
I personally use a 3ton floor jack and stands (mine is a 3500 single wheel). Never had any issues or concerns.
 
Top