Jacking points etc - revisited

[tezzan]

My apologies for what asking what appears to be a newbie question – how do I jack up my Excel? This is the first time I’ve had to do this with a fibreglass car.

I need to get some new tyres fitted and I don't trust taking her into a fitters so I'm going to take the wheels off, two at a time and take them somewhere to get the tyres changed.

I'm aware this is a frequently discussed topic, so I've had a look through all the threads I can find here on the forum to gen up on it and I've decided that I'm not even going to consider using the standard jacking points. I want to get the car up on stands, both front wheels at first and then both back wheels.

At the moment it looks like at the front I should
- find some wooden blocks and drive up on them to get some clearance underneath, then
- use the trolley jack (together with a large chunk of wood to spread the load) under the front cross member to jack it up and then
- place stands either side on the same piece of wood, as shown in the pic below (courtesy of MikeC73)




At the rear I was thinking of again driving onto wooden blocks to lift it up, then jacking it up in the centre on the lower link mounting plate (shown in red on the picture), then putting the axle stands (with some wood to spread the load) under the ends of the lower links where the hub carrier attaches (shown in red either side in the picture).



Does all that sound OK to you guys? In particular the jacking and stands at the rear concerns me - is the lower link plate strong enough or is there a better way? I'm assuming jacking up on the diff itself is a bad thing.

All contributions gratefully received...

[Lotus-e-Clan]

In a cumulative 30-year ownership of Elite and Excel, I have never used the sheet metal chassis for a jacking point, there is no need to, especially for removing wheels.

The fibre glass shell is perfectly strong enough to raise the car as long as you avoid point-loading. My old Elite had dents along the front cross member caused by mechanics with trolley jacks.

I use 12 inches-long wooden off cuts of good quality (wide) floorboard placed under the floor just behind the front wheel arch where the floor and arch meet. Same at the rear, only this time just in front of the rear wheel arch under the floor. The lay-up is thicker where the ends of the floor rise into the wheel arch,

Depending on the shape of your trolley jack cup and the quality of wood (best to use a hardish wood rather than poor quality soft wood - mahogany is good if you can afford it), you might hear a crunching sound as the wood is compressed by the cup, but the fibreglass will be OK.

[pistolpete]

SO once up on Jacks where do you put axle stands

[Lotus-e-Clan]

SO once up on Jacks where do you put axle stands

I now rarely use axle stands because I have a four post lift and can get access to most maintenance jobs underneath with the wheels on.

But before the lift arriving, and if necessary since, once the wheel is off I temporarily support the lower suspension link with a very small scissor jack then swap the axle stands into the trolley jack position.

I use short 2 x 1 wooden blocks within the cradle of the axle stand in addition to the floor boards. But that's down to the design of my old fashion axle stands (had them since '80's).

So, in short, the axle stands are in the trolley jack position. After 50 years of working on my own cars, I still have all limbs, fingers and toes.

I use the same procedure for jacking the Clan (FG monocoque, no chassis), except I don't need to use the wider floor board planks, just 2x1 batten, because the floor to wheel arch edge and sill area is very strong, and the Clan weighs less than 600KG.

TBH. For brake /hub, minor suspension maintenance, I don't use axle stands, but a combo of trolley and scissor jack has proved safe enough for me.

[tezzan]

Many thanks for the info Peter. Maybe I'm being too cautious about jacking up using the bodyshell.

Could I ask a couple of questions? At the front, do you place your offcut width ways just behind the wheel arch?

And at the back, there's only about a 3 inch width of flat floor, so presumably you just use a narrower piece placed just before the rear wheel arch (see pic)?

[Lotus-e-Clan]

Re: the picture, yes that's exactly where I place the board at the rear.

Yes to the front position too. I think the sill steps down to the floor just in front of the inner arch ...you can place a board there (I think there might be a drain hole in the floor here too -it will give you an idea of the floor thickness)

With the Clan, (shell designed by Lotus employees), the shell/sills are so strong you can put a trolley jack on a short 1x2 batten at the mid-point to take both wheels on one side off the ground within a couple of pumps.

BTW. I'd slap something (plastic padding or something) into that rear jacking point cavity to spread the load better. Mine don't have the jacking reinforcement plates, but the sill is still flat where the plates fell off due to corrosion.