Building Cribbing Blocks Tips?

Any tips for building cribbing blocks? Commonly used dimensions?

I've wanted to build a set for a while, and I have the chop saw out and wood handy.

I think I built mine 14" long.

Mine are created organically as they're cutoffs from other projects.  I'm not really consistent with what's too short to keep at all and what's too long to go in the cribbing pile but they tend to range between 6" and 16".

We use them at work (firefighting) for dealing with different types of rescues. Our general rule is you can't go more than 3 time the height of the width (the overhangs don't count). So figure out how tall you might want to go. I find we mostly use 4x4's that are ~18" long. A couple of full length wedges made out of 4x4's and a few 2x4 pieces makes it so you can adjust to any height 

I'm curious what you plan to use them for, I've never needed a set at home 

All of my cribs were built using a simple pattern to mark lengths to cut (cut one piece the right length and nail a block on the end of it) and a jig to line up the pieces on my bench. Tips for those who aren't carpenters included below.

Since they're only under compression and nothing trying to put them out of square two nails in each corner is plenty. No need for the overkill of screws, glue, etc. some think are necessary. Regular 10 penny nails straight through create a little pointed tip sticking through so the sections lock together when stacked, just be careful not to scratch yourself on them.

Most of mine were made from 2" X 4" wood I recycled from shipping skids and the remainder from project scraps. I like 13" X 20" for the size because they don't get tipsy when stacked high, allow a little "roll" to work with the jack arch when lifting each end, and accommodate tires up to 335mm while being a good size to fit in the HF rolling cribs. The Go-jack size ones are a bit bigger and I only have four of those. I do have a bunch with a plywood top I use under the tires. I also have stack-able special cribs for my floor jacks so I can raise cars high if I need to sit under them to strip floor pans or whatever. When raising cars high up, only raise each end one crib at a time once you're a couple cribs high.

AND,  as you should any other time you're under a car in the air, have some sort of safety by throwing a couple wheels or whatever under the car because the unexpected can happen. Would suck to be under a car in garage and have someone lose brakes coming home and plow through the garage door knocking the car off the cribs. Unlikely but..... "stuff" happens.

Bunch of pics to give people ideas, got carried away, maybe too many pics! ahahaha

First pic's a crib jig. Make one crib using a square and nail some scraps to the bench to line up the pieces, then hammer away! Oh, don't forget to watch the nail tip wings so ya don't split the wood if it's dry.

[URL=https://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/Garage%20and%20shop/MVC-012F-10.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=https://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/Garage%20and%20shop/MVC-014F-10.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=https://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/Garage%20and%20shop/MVC-014F-11.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=https://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/67%20Camaro%20RS%20SS%20Conv/20161113_145840_zpsjzo39izm.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=https://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/67%20Camaro%20RS%20SS%20Conv/20161113_184613_zpsaalbq2jr.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=https://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/Brads%2069%20Camaro/005-8.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=https://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/Brads%2069%20Camaro/006-11.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=https://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/Brads%2069%20Camaro/MVC-035F-3.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=https://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/Brads%2069%20Camaro/NewShoes_zps8309dce6.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=https://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/FF%20GTM/009.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=https://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/FF%20GTM/007-2.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=https://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/pauls%20TA/20160727_124356_zpswfa1hkxu.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=https://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/pauls%20TA/20160727_142214_zpsr28yusep.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=https://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/pauls%20TA/20160730_172149_zpsmxchgbgj.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=https://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/Steves%20El%20Bulitt%2068%20Mustang%20build/004_zpsd74bcb58.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=https://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/The%2014%20Car%20Performance%20Therapy/006_zps726b2edc.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=https://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/The%2014%20Car%20Performance%20Therapy/002_zpsc4deae9e.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=https://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/The%2014%20Car%20Performance%20Therapy/005_zps71b61964.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=https://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/The%2014%20Car%20Performance%20Therapy/007_zpsb3dadb12.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=https://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/The%2014%20Car%20Performance%20Therapy/001_zpsh5gex9tt.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=https://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/The%2014%20Car%20Performance%20Therapy/004_zpslgmuztox.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=https://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/The%2014%20Car%20Performance%20Therapy/001_zpsy5z2ncfh.jpg.html][/URL]

mw said:

We use them at work (firefighting) for dealing with different types of rescues. Our general rule is you can't go more than 3 time the height of the width (the overhangs don't count). So figure out how tall you might want to go. I find we mostly use 4x4's that are ~18" long. A couple of full length wedges made out of 4x4's and a few 2x4 pieces makes it so you can adjust to any height 

 

I'm curious what you plan to use them for, I've never needed a set at home 

Width * 3 = max height is great to know! (I think NOT A TA probably answered your questions pretty well for the garage uses.) I plan to use them under the wheels for bigger projects like engine and trans jobs for the extra height and room to roll around under the car.

NOT A TA said:

I like 13" X 20"...

That's what I'm looking for there! (Plus everything else you said is helpful too!)

I'll lay out a few peices and go from there to figure out what will work for me as far as dimensions.

Ok, next question. Is the "open" style of cribbing really that strong? As in just boards for the outer edges like Lincoln Logs. Nothing in the middle?

I know they work well due to compression load, but still 2x4s have some flex to them. 

As in this: (Like most NOT A TA pictured.)

Vs. something like this: (More filled in.)

Keep in mind the narrower and shorter you make the cribs the shorter you can stack them before getting "tippy" . A lot of guys want to make the cribs small for easier storage, more cribs out of same lengths of wood and what not. Narrower than 13 is fine if you have vehicles with narrow wheels/tires but I caution you not to go shorter on the length because the arch of floor jacks is involved. When raising/lowering a vehicle go up/down one crib at a time on each end.

I've moved houses on cribs. The 2 X 4's are fine for cars. If you look through my pics when I use them directly under the frame with the vehicle weight on a 4 X 4 placed in the middle the cribs are flipped so the 2X's are double thick as seen in pic below. For the floor jack cribs I use more boards with tighter spacing because when lifting the engine end of a vehicle in the middle of the car you'll have more than 50% of the total weight on the floor jack and cribs. 454 Suburban pic below.

[URL=https://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/67%20Camaro%20RS%20SS%20Conv/20161113_184613_zpsaalbq2jr.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=https://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/Garage%20and%20shop/EVEL026.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=https://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/Garage%20and%20shop/001.jpg.html][/URL]

I keep a couple of cutoff 12x12 pilings laying around. A little harder to move and not modular but I feel very comfortable under my car when it's up on something that solid. This coming from a guy who doesn't like being under a car on jack stands.

Can I just say that I lust for a Laguna Blue 70-72 TA.

I made my cribbing to fit onto the HF car dollies. I might not get the height of NOT A TA, but high enough to make crawling under a lot easier. They are convenient when you need to push a car around to make room to work on one side than the other in a small garage and its still more stable than jack stands. 

These are 13" X 20" on HF rolling cribs.

[URL=https://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/The%2014%20Car%20Performance%20Therapy/007_zps0e416775.jpg.html][/URL]