I've always ued 12" diam logs, cut to short lengths.

Beware those imported cast ratchet type stands, usually labeled 'China'. I know of one that the support pad broke off at the top of the 'post' because the casting was so porous it failed under load.

I remember back when I used to read Hemmings Motor News, some vendor advertised something that sort of resembles that picture with the truck tilted - only this thing was actually designed to roll the car onto its side safely. IIRC, you removed 2 wheels on one side, then attached this contraption to the hubs in place of the wheels. The device resembled a curved tubular frame which was strong enough to "roll" the vehicle onto its sides. It had stops on the end to prevent the car from rolling too far. You could roll the car almost to 90 degrees - great for working on anything underneath. I think they sold another model that rolled the car even further, and in the ad it said you would have to drain all the fluids first.

Has anyone else seen or used such a contraption? I've always wanted one and would be curious to hear how it worked...

I have a pair of 3 ton and a pair of 6 ton. I sometimes have trouble getting the car jacked up high enough to get the 6 ton stands under the rocker panels. Using pieces of industrial rubber over the "V" on the stand keeps it form scratching and seems to make it quite stable. I have a piece of I beam I use on the top of the saddle. I made a mistake and used a 4x4x8" the tall way and dropped my wife's Honda onto the jack, crunching the oil pan. I had jack stands under it at the time so it "caught" it on the way down. It's still up on the jack stands. One stupid mistake can cost a lot but jack stands are very safe. If you have (4) 6 ton jack stands holding up a 5000 lb car you have nothing to worry about. Always shake the car to see if you cna move it. IT should not budge. I tend to use extra jacks, wheels, I-beams and ramps for security.

I have 4 Harbor Freight 6 ton jack stands and 4 sears 4 ton jack stands. I also have the Harbor freight long body hydraulic lift. That raises the car to 33 inches. I always put in 4 jack stands AND the hydraulic jack is left just touching the lift point. If one jack stand fails I still have 4 more balance points. but as I said I use 6 ton units. by using 4 stands the car can at times balance on 3 of the 4 stands. I use shims to make sure the load is distrubuted evenly. But the car will ballance on 3 of the 4 stands. so there is some saety there. but with the hydraulic jack in place I feel very safe.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=38847

Only with this hydraulic lift t get the car up high enough

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=42820

I have been happy with them.

the unit that you attach to your car and role the car on its side is used in car restoration a lot. I have seen them in a English web sites and a few Us sites.

http://www.accessiblesystems.com/etfiles/et02.htm

Whats happening to all the fluids while the car is on its side??????????
the fluids are vented, usually.

There are also Rotisseries for when the car is dissasembled.

http://www.accessiblesystems.com/bul/bul40.htm

Dave

someone posted a link on mercedesshop I know for sure, you might have to do some digging