Workin' under the hearse

[Tulsa Guy]

Gotta' pull the driveshaft outta' the '68 M&M.
Are standard 2 ton jackstands enough for the job? What have you guys done?
First time dealin' with the driveshaft, don't want to wind up in the Emergency Room on the weekend!

[pyro]

each jack will safely support 2 tons. each wheel theoreticaly supports 1,000 lbs on a 4,000 lb car. Using 2 jacks on the front of the car will support 4,000 lbs.

[hotroddwayne]

Just to be on the safe side, keep your floor jack under the cross member with just a little pressure on it... if a jack stand were to give out you have the jack in place so the car doesn't drop

[Abnorml]

A couple years ago, a friend and myself removed my transmission in my hearse on his concrete driveway. I bought some ramps and a 2 ton jack with 2 ton jack stands. I think, I paid $39 for the ramps. We used the jack stands to hold up the front end and had no problem.
I would not get under a vehicle with only a jack for support. I have heard of a jack giving and killing the person under the vehicle.

[LMS]

I usually use 6 stands when I need the whole car up like that because its so long, 2 at each end and 2 more in the middle. Once they are all set shake the shit out of it to be sure it's solid.

[Dickey]

For this particular task, I'd suggest a set of ramps if you have them. Those $40 plastic ones you can find just about anywhere are rated at 12,000 lbs per ramp...or roughly four 1968 M&M hearses for the pair. The only reason I suggest the ramps is that it is much easier to back up on to those and remove the four nuts holding the drive shaft in at the axle vs jacking up each side of the car and goofing around with putting jackstands under each side of the rear axle. If you have an extra yoke handy, you'll want to keep it nearby for when you slide the driveshaft out of the transmission. Helps keep the fluid from running out all over stuff if you aren't able to get the rear end high enough to keep it from draining. With regards to a turbo 400 transmission, I have also used a solo cup to perform this task as well though there was some spillage when I pulled off to put the driveshaft back in place.