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confusion about jacking up car

Joined
Oct 30, 2001
Messages
2,273
Location
Glen Burnie, MD, USA
Corvette
1986 Bright Red Coupe
Ok. I read through some of the past posts about how/where to jack up a C4 and have some questions.

1. I was told to NEVER open the doors while the car was on stands or being raised- the door was the only thing keeping the frame from twisting. Now I read that's incorrect and you MUST open the doors?

2. Ditto for the roof panel - was told that the panel must always be in place and tight. Now I read that it must be loosened?

3. Where exactly SHOULD I put stands at the rear of the car? If I use the documented jack points in front of the rear wheels for the floor jack, there seems to be no place to put the stand itself. I wound up putting it under the pivot point where one of the suspension pieces meets the diff carrier.

4. When replacing the rear shocks (which I did this past weekend), what's the best method to raise the axle and hub to the proper height for torquing the upper shock nut? My service manual says the driveshaft must be at position X and angle Y. I put a scissors jack under the knuckle by the hub; this seemed to work. Sound reasonable?

5. Now that I have the rear shocks replaced, the fronts are this coming weekend. Before I risk paint and fiberglass, any hints?

Thanks...
[RICHR]
 
Hmmmmm

Well from where I sit ( convertible ) I have jacked from the frame rails doors closed.


And have never had a problem


That being said on my 73 if i jack up just the left front the passengers side door binds if I try and open it and Visa Versa.

Mike
 
I bought a attachment for my floor jack called "Jack-a-Vette" from an ad that was in Covette or Corvette Fever. It replaces the pad on your jack with a "T" type pad with a plastic cushion that fits between the rear exhaust pipes and as a notch that fits the differential case. Works great! Allows you put your jack stands on the flat part of the frame just ahead of the rear wheels.

Does anyone know of something similiar that fits the front cross member. When I jacked there my jack slightly dented it.

Dennis
 
Someone told me that you could leave the doors closed, but open the windows up. I'm guessing that he suggested that to me because Vette's don't have the frame for the window.

Even like driving over speedbumps, you can feel how rigid the body is. I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I swear I can hear it "creak" a little bit.
 
I always jack my Vette from either the differential or the center of the front cross member. That way I never twist the frame and have no effect on the doors. I can open or close them anytime without any binding or misalignment. I think this is the best and safest way.
 
Way to much fuss made over jacking a C4 vette.....they are the most rigid car I have ever seen. They are made that way on purpose . chassis flex is bad for handling. You are'nt going to hurt them. I jacked up the right side just behind the front wheel enough to put a jack stand under at its lowest point,and I'll be damed if the back right side didnt come up far enough to put a stand under also. The I went to the left side and did the same. THEN I used the front a-frame and the differential to gain more height . Went real well ...not one creak!!....then I set the doors ajar and loosened the top...Iv'e had it up for a couple of months now. The doors still shut without a problem. :)......nothing wrong with being cautious, but if they were that fragile I would'nt drive it. :eyerole
 
maxrevs85 said:
Way to much fuss made over jacking a C4 vette.....they are the most rigid car I have ever seen. They are made that way on purpose . chassis flex is bad for handling. You are'nt going to hurt them. I jacked up the right side just behind the front wheel enough to put a jack stand under at its lowest point,and I'll be damed if the back right side didnt come up far enough to put a stand under also. :eyerole

Thats been my experience as well:crazy
 
BullWinkle said:
Even like driving over speedbumps, you can feel how rigid the body is. I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I swear I can hear it "creak" a little bit.

Ain't no doubt with mine. Speed bumps a little bit. Where I work they put speed bumps and people wouldn't slow down. So they installed what I call speed mountains! And still some idiots charge those things going 30mph!
My car fits on top of this thing and the body flexes as I go over it. It creaks a lot. But someone mentioned that creaking may actually be the sway bars, not the body...
I still hate speed bumps regardless of their size.
Graham
 
It seems like I've been driving my truck for so long now, and not driving the Vette, that when I got it back today it took me a while to get used to sitting that low again. ...and keeping the side exhaust in mind as well. :eek

The truck just flies over those bumps. :L

_ken :w
 
The Vette may be rigid, but not THAT rigid... otherwise, engineers couldn't have made the C5 300% more rigid than the C4 (most cars get a 20-30% improvement when redesigned)... and didn't later C4 coupes get the X-brace that was designed for the convertible?

My car creaks when I jack it up. And yes, the front wheel leaves the ground when I jack up the rear on the same side, but so does my Outback, and it has longer suspension travel and is unibody (no frame).

I've heard horror stories of people cracking their glass tops or crunching the trailing edge of a door by improper jacking, and I just want to avoid this on my new toy...

[RICHR]
 
I understand the concern for doing damage . I dont want to sound like I went at it in a hap-hazzard method . It was done methodically and with caution. To avoid crushing the side panels or rockers, jack on the frame behind the frt wheel where the frame curves out to the side. Put the stand in the center between the frame flanges . The stand will be on a slight angle. Same for the rear except in frt of the wheel. If you like you can set the doors ajar and loosen or remove the top before you start. This will make a few of you cringe!! :eek I left the hood in the full open position for TWO WEEKS straight!!! ......LOL....Whoops ,sorry bout the sarcasm, Like the wife says to me, your such an a**. :D
 
why are the words jack red? its kinda funny, i read and i see the word jack, and it just stands out, then it remindes me of beavis and butt-head, like when someone says the word hard, or on, and they start laughin, my reaction was: lol, jack :L
 
here is my method for jacking my vette I like to get 2 2x4's and lay them infront of the front wheels drive up on them now I have enough clearance to put my jack under and jack it on the front cross member. once I place the stands on the frames pinch weld for the fronts i place my jack on one side or the other of the diff. and place in on one of the brackets (I have yet to bend one.. ) and jack up the rear and then place the stands on the pinch welds of the frame infront of the rear wheels..

now some people say you should at least have 1 set of jack stands under the suspension so that you can compensate for the floor not being level other wise 3 of the 4 stands may be load bearing instead of 4..

-Rick
 
Justin_cv87 said:
why are the words jack red? its kinda funny, i read and i see the word jack, and

If you got to this article through the search engine or through a link from another post, it highlights the key words it searched on... in this case, "jack"...
[RICHR]
 
If you look in front of the door and underneath the quarter panel's there are somewhat flat area's for the lift stand to go. They have a hole in them and are bent up (Pbly for added strength) My car's been on the hoist COUNTLESS times this year and I currently have the car going on Jack Stands for the winter this weekend. I have always used those spots NEVER a problem. You can open the door to get in or out. I don't think it matters. and Ive had it up with the roof on and off.....Didn't matter.

You guys are right totally there is WAY to much Fuss over jacking this thing up.

I don't like using the carrier because sometimes people grab more diff cover than diff, its a round surface Eck!, and if you want to work on the rear (Or front with a 4x4) you can't its all pressed up into the car.

Some moron jacked my car up using the FLOOR PAN once....Didn't see that when I bought the car. And the Fibreglass cracked a little. Nothing major but I gotta bring out the resins to repair BAH!..

Now I think where some REAL fuss should be is TOWING... Ive seen one C4 towed on a acutal tow truck (Not a Flat bed). Now thats a trick..
 
My Vette actually got towed by a regular tow truck... I was stranded, and luckily got the smartest tow-truck driver on the planet.... he was able to tow it perfectly, no damage, by constantly moving it up and down to get over bumps etc.... I was nervous, but pleasantly surprised!

Oh, and I thought you weren't supposed to jack your car up for winter storage?
 
I just think its better to have extended shocks Vs. Flat spots on bearings. (Pbly not a huge risk for either.) But Im going to be working on the car ALOT in the next few months. This just makes it easier for me.
 
Oh, and I thought you weren't supposed to jack your car up for winter storage?

Just replacing a set of tires with good tread but have flat spots on them from having the car sit so long without driving it. Jack stands for storage from now on for my car...
 

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