Good questions from a city dweller. Housebuilders throw short pieces of wood into the garbage. A few short 2x10s or 2x8s nailed together will give you a cheap block.Make up as many as you need in the thicknesses you want. Rubber shows up in salvage places frequently or perhaps other places. Since you require so little should not be too difficult. Phone around.

1) www.mcmaster.com

p/n: 8630K116

2) Stop by any construction site that is erecting a house. Ask them for a couple of pieces of 2" x 4" that are between 8" and 12" long. They'll give then to you for free.

2 x 10's or 2 x 8's are too wide and will likely split down the middle as soon as the load is applied. the underside of the vehicle is not flat enough for the wide pieces.

Sorry . I thought the individual wanted general blocking from the ground up. It never occured that a few small pieces of something like 2X4 would be hard to get. Then again there are lots of people that do not even own a saw upon reflection. I have always enjoyed building in almost any medium and it is a little difficult sometimes to realise the majority of the population just do not do these things. The somewhat self reliant form of living is probably in decline. The total cost of equipment needed would be unbearable at todays prices. Scrounging is almost a lost art form as well but not totally yet.

I saw those stands that are in post #7 at Harbor Freight. They looked like a slightly steadier version of the Bilstein crank-up jacks found in our MB's. I decided to pass them up. I didn't want to chance it.

__________________
Michael LaFleur

'05 E320 CDI - 86,000 miles
'86 300SDL - 360,000 miles
'85 300SD - 150,000 miles (sold)
'89 190D - 120,000 miles (sold)
'85 300SD - 317,000 miles (sold)
'98 ML320 - 270,000 miles (sold)
'75 300D - 170,000 miles (sold)
'83 Harley Davidson FLTC (Broken again) :-(
'61 Plymouth Valiant - 60k mikes
2004 Papillon (Oliver)
2005 Tzitzu (Griffon)
2009 Welsh Corgi (Buba)

They do meet ANSI standards, if that's of any consolation. And they appear to be exactly (except for the color) like a set sold by Snap-On.

There probably won't be a consensus on which type of a stand is safer to use. I still prefer the 4-legged design that I've been using over the single-post aluminum design - the former seemed really sturdy when I used them on my Saab... But I haven't seen a flat-top stand that had a 4-legged design yet. I do agree that 3 legs is kind of pushing it as far as stable anchoring.