Jacking up a car

dnme

I have been wondering how to best jack up my car. There are four jack points along the under crease adjacent to each wheel. But I find that resting the car on axle stands here means the car is resting in the crease which does not sit well with me.

Also where is a good place to lift with the trolley jack? The only place I can be sure of is the designated places along the crease but the trolley jack pulls the car towards itself as it lefts again putting pressure on the crease.

Looking under the front engine area, there is nowhere obvious to place the trolley jack, there's a plastic engine shield, a tow lug and the gearbox.

Any general advice welcomed

tossy

Where the front wishbone meets the chassis leg is a solid enough spot.Can't find a decent pic on the internet to illustrate this.

Cartel Mike

The Haynes manual(available at halfords) for your car model always shows the recomended axle points on its back pages.
You don't have to buy it ,just look it up when your in the shop thats what i did.
Need'nd have bothered though as its really trial and error , the tip/circumfrance of most axle stands are often on the smallish side.
The more central you can place them the less overall stress on the car .

andyseadog

why are you so worried about the crease. thats where the manufacturer designed the car to be jacked from, so its able to take the strain.

when a car is in a garage, its lifted 8 feet in the air with just four blocks under the jacking points on the crease. thats over a ton in a lot of cases sitting on those four points for what can sometimes be days. they should cope.

as was said, axle stands are a bit more hit and miss if you want to place them somewhere, but personally i would still place them on the 4 jacking points.

best not to over think things

though i do understand your paranoia, as im somebody else who likes things to be 'just so'. i think if you stick to the jacking points you will be fine. though i've previously jacked from the front crossmember to which the towing eye is attached, it seemed less likely to bend/ fold but i've no idea how safe it was really. if your not removing the wheels its all ok, the car will never fall all the way on top of you lol :P

andyseadog

andyseadog wrote: »

as was said, axle stands are a bit more hit and miss if you want to place them somewhere, but personally i would still place them on the 4 jacking points.

best not to over think things

A bit of thinking is good though If you jack a car up with a trolley jack using the jacking point you can't then get the axle stand to the jacking point too :P

I have often jacked a car up at the tow lug and then thrown axle stands under the jacking points.

dnme

dnme wrote: »

but the trolley jack pulls the car towards itself as it lefts again putting pressure on the crease.

Trolley jack should roll a little to stop this happening unless you have the wheels of it chocked;)

dnme

RoverJames wrote: »

Trolley jack should roll a little to stop this happening unless you have the wheels of it chocked;)

I have it on pebbles so it cant really roll.

Folks, the problem really is that the four jacking points need to be reserved / ready for the axle stands leaving me with the problem of where to put the trolley (I cant put the trolley at the jacking point cos then I cant place a stand there)

Tell me, what is the wishbone and how do I find where it meets the chassis.

dnme

dnme wrote: »

I have it on pebbles so it cant really roll.

Folks, the problem really is that the four jacking points need to be reserved / ready for the axle stands leaving me with the problem of where to put the trolley (I cant put the trolley at the jacking point cos then I cant place a stand there)

RoverJames wrote: »

A bit of thinking is good though If you jack a car up with a trolley jack using the jacking point you can't then get the axle stand to the jacking point too :P

I have often jacked a car up at the tow lug and then thrown axle stands under the jacking points.

As above, where the tow lug is welded to the car is a grand stop to use the trolley jack. Having a trolley jack on pebbles is not too wise though, I have mine of gravel but scoop away a trench to allow the wheels of the jack to do their job. I also would scoop away the pebbles to alloy the axle stands a sure footing on solid ground.

Cartel Mike

dnme wrote: »

I have it on pebbles so it cant really roll.

Folks, the problem really is that the four jacking points need to be reserved / ready for the axle stands leaving me with the problem of where to put the trolley (I cant put the trolley at the jacking point cos then I cant place a stand there)

Tell me, what is the wishbone and how do I find where it meets the chassis.

i always thought that using the jackpoints as axle stand points puts too much stress on the sides of the car especially .
Why not keep it simple OP?
Lift the front of the car with the trolly jack so you have a good clear view where to put your front two axle stands (you will find two solid spots behind your front wheels).
Take your trolly stand out and then jack up the back of the car and locate two points to put your rear axle stands(behind rear hubs you will easily locate two solid points)
when your taking the car down again do everything in reverse job done and little stress on your car.
Also you will have more access to your car's underbody if you dont have axle stands blocking your access cause their occupying the side jackpoints.

dnme

Cartel Mike wrote: »

i always thought that using the jackpoints as axle stand points puts too much stress on the sides of the car especially .
Why not keep it simple OP?
Lift the front of the car with the trolly jack so you have a good clear view where to put your front two axle stands (you will find two solid spots behind your front wheels).
Take your trolly stand out and then jack up the back of the car and locate two points to put your rear axle stands(behind rear hubs you will easily locate two solid points)
when your taking the car down again do everything in reverse job done and little stress on your car.
Also you will have more access to your car's underbody if you dont have axle stands blocking your access cause their occupying the side jackpoints.

There's literally nowhere that I can find to jack up the back of the car. All I have is the boot and petrol tank at the back. The rear axle is way to far in.

Cartel Mike

dnme wrote: »

I have it on pebbles so it cant really roll.

Folks, the problem really is that the four jacking points need to be reserved / ready for the axle stands leaving me with the problem of where to put the trolley (I cant put the trolley at the jacking point cos then I cant place a stand there)

Tell me, what is the wishbone and how do I find where it meets the chassis.

dnme wrote: »

There's literally nowhere that I can find to jack up the back of the car. All I have is the boot and petrol tank at the back. The rear axle is way to far in.

Just to clarify. Are you able to lift the back of the car up with the trolly ok but its just that you can't locate two points to place your axle stands?

Or is it that you can't get the back of the car up with the trolly jack?

If its the former (which i suspect) don't stress you will find two points to place your stands eventually. I faced the same prob when i did it . There has to be 'something' seperating the rear bumper and the fuel tank .
If you go ahead with it and put yourself in a position where you 'have to' find something ....you will.
Theres never an ideal solution to doing this .Manufactures don't leave specific points for your stands you'll have to improvise and it may take some time . Keep rotating your axle stands until you find the best contact you can.
Its trial and error but it will be fine in the end.