I want to paint the rear drum break housings becase they are getting a little rusty. I need to put the back end up on jacks and i was wondering if the jack that came with the car is fine to leave overnight, and should i just borrow another scissor jack so i can support both ends of the axle?

The thing to do is probably get a pair of jack stands.

You really don't ever want to just leave a jack without some type of support to take the weight. Jackstands are cheap.

You will surely need jackstands, do not leave it on the jack overnight; neither should you work on it w/o jack stands.

"Jacking the car"

Beg your Pardon...

do yourself a favor, get a floor jack and stands, sears has them together on sale all of the time.

Yes, get a set of stands. A tip in case you don't... or if you're out on the road somewhere, After removing a wheel, slide it under the frame rail of the vehicle. might save you from loosing an arm.

Get a jack stand. Thats what saved my leg 2 yrs ago while I was working on my Tacoma (sold). SAFETY FIRST!

yes, jack stands are the way to go. and a floor jack might be easier that that flimsy little factory sissor jack. i bent mine changing a tire and broke the little tabs off of the extension.

I agree with the jack stand recommendations. But also take the tire that was removed, and lay it under your vehicle. If a jack or stand fails or falls over, your vehicle won't fall far before landing on the tire (laying on its side). Cheap safety tip.

FYI, it works better if you can just jack it up at the differential... that way the wheels immediately lift off the ground rather than having to let the suspension decompress first...

Straight out, I do not trust jacks to hold any weight for any time. Hydraulic jacks leak; always slowly, sometimes quickly. Mechanical jacks have springs, pins, and/or screws that wear in normal use. Worst case, use a rail tie to block up the axle. Also a problem I see is using the stands to "catch" the load if the jack fails. Shockloads from dropping wieght often exceeds the capacity of the stand.
Also remember to block the wheels from rolling.

Medistorm's got a good point. Never become complacent in trusting anything holding your truck over you. Do the best you can to anticipate and plan for the worst and you'll achieve the best and safest result.

Also, do it on level ground. It does no good even to use a jack and stands rated to hold up a semi if you've parked your truck on a 20 degree slope or something.

when using jack stands, what are good locations to put them underneath after you jack your X up?...........i just got a nice floor jack and stands from sears and I want to make sure before i use them..........

Robb

under the frame rails in the front, right behind the curve in the frame. In the rear put them at the outer ends of the differential housing tube ends, near the spring perches.

read the manual, it will have the recommended jack points. Just an FYi, not all rail locations are safe...some are weaker and depending on weight distribution, can tweak frames. Anywho, I posted a few weeks ago on looking for a decent SUV jack, im happy with my Sears Pro one, but i saw a good lookin one at Walmart with jack stands for a good price. They were spec'd for SUVs so the jack lifts high and the stands have goood weight capacity.

So that would be the axle tube then

blocking the tires is VERY important. nothing like changing out the back shocks and shackles and really torque on a bolt and have the truck move and the jackstands almost tip over. that was right before i snapped my brand new 9/16" craftsman ratchet wrench. i didnt realize it was tuggin on a welded nut on the sway bar.