Quote:
Originally Posted by LoneWolfGal
Thanks for chiming in, Tom. New concrete 12" x 12" x 3" pavers set on level concrete are unlikely to fail. I tried to break one in half to fit a space and gave up when the sledge hammer merely chipped it. And 2x10s alone wouldn't work, due to the jack stands' large footprint. Which is not to say a solid platform couldn't be constructed with them.
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I strongly suggest you don't use concrete. Concrete may be strong, but it's very brittle. While your jack stands may SEEM to have a large footprint, the actual total contact point is very small, much less than a square inch.(Unless your jack stands actually have feet, which would make it safer, but I'd still caution against it.)
Flip one of those jacks over and you'll see that the contact points with the floor are just the edges. Those edges under the weight of the car are like a cold chisel hit by a hammer. Chances are that hey will split the pavers just like a chisel. If you tried that sledge you had mentioned with a cold chisel you'd see what I mean. The sledge hammer alone has a wider contact point than all 4 stands combined, so the impact was spread over a wider area.
Use wood. If a 2X10 is too small, cut four 20" pieces of 2X10, lay two side-by-side, then two more on top oriented 90 degrees the other way, and screw them all together. You'll have a 20X20X3 base for the jack stands that won't split on you.