long term rear jacking/support points

chris knowles · Post by **chris knowles** » Sat Apr 01, 2006 15:45

Hello everyone,

I want to do some work on the rear offside corner, where is the best place to support the weight of the car? I don't want to go near the built-in jacking points in the corners of the body.

What is a safe way of supporting the car at the rear for a number of days that wont stress the body, bend anything else, and can be achived with normal trolley jacks? Can I put planks across the underside in front of the rear wheel arches? I will still need good access to the whole lower suspension arm area regardless.

Chris

P.S, the front wooden triangle bits I discussed in the other thread don't seem able to direct air to the rad, as that front section is all sealed off from the radiator anyway. Are they just crash reinforcement?

dpr59 · Post by **dpr59** » Sat Apr 01, 2006 17:37

On both front and rear......

I use axel stands and try to get them as close to the lower shocker bolts as possible.

Working on the principle that wherever possible I try to keep the loaded points as if the car was on the road.

zummerman · Post by **zummerman** » Sat Apr 01, 2006 18:44

I know we're not talking about the same car but I think there are similarities. For my Elite I have cut two chunks of 4x2 wood. For the front the length is the same as the front crossmember and each end terminates just inside the lower arm mounting bolts. At the rear the Elite does not have an upper wishbone arrangement, the drive shafts do that job (which is why the UJs only last about 12K) but the principal should be the same. Here my bit of 4x2 fits across the end of the chassis just behind the diff and again teriminates just inside the lower arm mountings. These allow me to lift the car at either end with one central trolley jack, the wood spreading the loads nicely, and put axle stands under the ends of the 4x2.

The suspension obviously droops but there's full access to all the suspension, enigine and transmission bits. I've used this system since I got the car about almost four years ago and there's been no sign of bending or other stress, even when left for a day or two.

Ian

chris knowles · Post by **chris knowles** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 10:48

Thanks for the help guys. I too normally place the axel stands under the shock mounting bolts, but in this incidence I need to remove/replace the shock so I need another method. Ian, if the support is with a plank under the diff as per your way, does the car not want to rock from side to side at the back, perhaps falling on the side where the wheel/suspension has been removed?

I was hoping wood could be used spanning the area under the body/chassis just in front of the rear wheel arches to support the vehicle at the rear, or is this madness?

zummerman · Post by **zummerman** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 11:42

My rear plank doesn't sit under the diff but slightly behind it, along the rear transverse chassis rail and under the ends of the diff mounting bolts. It is only 17ins long and I suppose, with the tripod feet of the axle stands the effective width increases to about 2 feet, but I've used it several times and haven't had any rocking problems. It was something that crossed my mind when I first tried it but those fears were unfounded.

Assuming that the Excel body is built in a similar fashion to the Elite's in front of the rear wheels I'm sure that your idea of a plank across the underside bearing on the jacking points would work fine. I'd want to make sure that the loads were evenly distributed side to side and that the underside of the chassis is at least in line with the underside of the body.

I've used a 1inch plank under one rear jacking point to support a trolley jack with no problem. My only concern was the possibility of the plank slipping on the smooth body underside.

Ian

bash · Post by **bash** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 09:18

I always put the axle stands under the normal rear jacking points at the rear of the sills. The metal plates that should be there fell off years ago so I have a couple of high tech 1/2" ply bits of wood to just spread the load. It must work OK cos my wife thinks Ive got a telly under there cos of the amount of time I spend in the garage. If I had a flat tyre I would put the jack under the diff carrier anyway, the same way that I lift it in the garage.

chris knowles · Post by **chris knowles** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 08:35

I still have the metal sections at the jacking points, but everytime I have ever tried to use these or this area on an Excel to lift I get the most awful creaking/cracking noise for the first few mm - I always get too scared and stop!

terry · Post by **terry** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 12:45

For long term jacking without wheels, I have always used, four blue Courage's beer crates,at each corner of the body, these are about the right height and spread the load over a couple of square feet. They have never collapsed, even with a scrap Toyota 2.8i on them.
But, they have to be the slightly resilient dark blue type, some crates use brittle hard plastic, which would'nt work.

Terry

Steve C · Post by **Steve C** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 12:51

I've got one of these ...

http://www.kwiklift.com/features-all.htm

When not using it, I just park a car on it without jacking it up!

mds666 · Post by **mds666** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 13:48

how much did they charge you in shipping? and did you have to pay VAT?

mds666 · Post by **mds666** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 15:47

i just wonder if we could mabe get a few of us togeather and put them in a container.... got to work out cheaper than a grand for me to be intrested... i'm sure you can pick up a secondhand 2 or 4 poster for about that!

Steve C · Post by **Steve C** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 15:54

The base shipping was only something like $250/$300 ... it was all the add-ons that killed it!

I was expecting VAT, but not clearance fees, cost of moving from arrival port to Heathrow depot, van hire (assumed it would fit in ford galaxy with no seats) etc etc ...

Anyway, I don't have the width / height for a 2/4 poster - this is perfect for me.

It sounds better if I think of it as around 20 hours of dealer labour!

amarshall · Post by **amarshall** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 16:20

What about this :

http://www.hamercarlift.com/

No cheaper but UK based and looks fairly compact.

Steve C · Post by **Steve C** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 16:28

The problem with this one is that you have to jack each corner at a time ... and in my garage, getting to two of them would be tricky. I have a double garage, but one side of the ramp is only 9 inches or so from the wall.

The advantage is that you can lift the car higher if required / possible...

amarshall · Post by **amarshall** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 16:30

OK - how about

http://www.holden.co.uk/viewProducts.as ... &group=025

then ? Nice electric contraption and I like the use of the word
"transportable" - takes me back to the old Osborne 1 PC...