How to raise a C4 for service?

[Skant]

This may sound like a really stupid question, but I'm not to sure how to lift up my vette so I can get at the transmission and install this CAGS eliminator.

Until I bought this car a little over a month ago, I've always owned full sized trucks. I have never needed to lift a vehicle to reach any part of it. There's tons of room under these trucks. So having to lift the vehicle is not very familiar.

My father tought me long ago to lift vehicles using those old style floor jacks (the ones that are basically hydraulic posts) and pieces of wood. But such technique seems useless on the vette.

I have read the owners manual. I see the jack points. Lifting it up to change a tire doesn't look hard. But I want to put it up on jack stands to place myself under the vehicle. And it's not obvious to me how that would be done.

There are four jacking points... one at each corner. But you wouldn't be able to place a jack stand at the same place that you jacked it up. So how would this work?

Also... the jack points themselves a little unfamiliar to me. I'm used to lifting a vehicle by the axle or the frame... something relatively flat and beefy. These jack points seem to be lips where it is lifted on the edge. The jacks that come with the cars I've seen for this have a notch this lip goes into. But none of the hydraulic jacks or jack stands I've seen have such a mechanism. Do you just lift it up by this lip anyway? Won't it just bend and fold it up?

Sorry for the really stupid questions about stuff most people just know. But this is some common knowledge I'm lacking.

- Skant

 

[scorp508]

It takes a while to get used to! Near each jack point there is usually a good solid piece of frame to use with the jack. I'll jack the car up using the frame and then place the stands where they should be.

 

[Skant]

So you can place the jack stands under the jack points... and they aren't going to just fold the lip over? It looks to me like it would just flatten and smoosh the thing. But maybe it's tougher than it looks?

- Skant

 

[Ken]

Nope, they'll hold with no problem; that's what they're designed to do--lift the car. Try running a search on this subject; it comes up often enough.

_ken

 

[scorp508]

So you can place the jack stands under the jack points... and they aren't going to just fold the lip over? It looks to me like it would just flatten and smoosh the thing. But maybe it's tougher than it looks?

Well.... the rocker panel has a small lip there, but on the other side of it is frame material. The small part of the rocker might get distorted a little bit. I've had my car up on the stands more than I'd like to admit and the rocker panels still look fine.

You'll want to be careful of the brake lines on the driver's side and the fuel lines on the passenger's side.

In sort, yes it is stronger than it looks. They do look wimpy.

 

[Skant]

*searches forum* Gah. Why did I fail to find anything the first time I searched...

Much useful stuff. Good.

One question yet... I haven't been able to clear out our garage to park the vette there yet. My previous vehicle... a K-5 Blazer... couldn't fit into the garage so we've used the garage for much storage...

Is it safe to put the car on jackstands in my driveway? It's not a very severe incline, but it is an incline.

- Skant

 

[Ken]

You live in California yet you ask such a question!!?? :L

_ken

 

[BigRed]

Personally physics work a little to well

Murphy lives in my back pocket?

Gravitys a Bit%h?

If you push the car or bump it those stands might teeder over causing less than desirable damage.

 

[Skant]

Hey, I know I'm asking stupid questions. But you could fit a vette underneath the vehicles I'm used to. Jack stands to get under a vehicle are a totally new concept for me.

It seemed to me like using jackstands on an incline might be a bad idea. So that's why I asked the question.

No hit. No hit.

- Skant

 

[Ken]

Hey man, ain't no stupid questions 'cept those that go un-asked.

I just had to say something about California, aka "Shakeyland", "La La Land", or any one of the many other epithets, before one of those right coasters, and the rest of the world, does. :L

_ken

 

[BigRed]

I got an idea for you today at work. If your driveway has a decent incline:

Back your can into the driveway
Use low rider car ramps
Driver the car on
Set the E brake and leave in gear (If standard)

You can do this anyway but with the incline that car would probably sit level!

AND probably give you adequate working space similar to a jack stand. AND 100% safe.

Even for added measure throw some wedges under the rear wheels.

 

[69MyWay]

You need:

1. One decent rolling floor jack
2. Two 2x6 planks of wood about 12" long
3. Four high quality jack stands
4. one or two spare wheels.

Place the blocks of wood in front of the front tires and drive the car up onto the blocks. This will raise the nose enough to roll the floor jack dead under the center of the main front X member. Jack it up. Now, place two of the jack stands under the front jacking tabs on each side of the car behind the front tires.

Lower the jack. Slide your spare wheels (these could be anything from virtually any car, as long as they are at least as thick as you) under the x member.

Go to the back of the car. On each side you can slide the jack in place just past the rear jacking point on the frame and slowly jack the car. Slide the stand under the jacking point when high enough. This will also raise the other side and make the whole car kinda funny for a minute or two.

Slide to the other side and jack it up in the same way and slap the final rear stand under.

Slide the other spare wheel under the car.

Oh, you did loosen the roof panel and pop the doors loose first,,,right?


Now, if the car were to fall, the idea is it would land on the junk wheels that you put under there and buy you a little extra breathing space to get out or call for help.

Yes, you can do it in your driveway, just make sure you don't have some kind of neighborhood Nazi rule against such things first.
Now, go to work!

 

[Skant]

Thanks for all the replies.

For installing the CAGS eliminator, I did end up doing it in my driveway. I figured since I was just going to raise the front and leave the rear tires on the ground, the slight slope (and my driveway slope is quite slight) wouldn't be meaningful. It would have to move the rear tires in order to fall off the jacks in that position. And both rear tires are held by the brake and blocked.

I used the 2x6 trick. I bought the smallest jack they had... a little 2 ton jack. And even that _barely_ fit under the front of the car. I mean, the top of the jack scraped along the bottom of the cross member to get into position. I had to jack it without the handle to get it up high enough to use the handle.

And then this little jack could only lift the car up enough that I could just barely fit under it. The floor panels were pushing against my chest as I installed the CAGS eliminator. Fortunately, installing the thing is dirt simple.

I'm becoming more and more suspicious that the previous owner lowered this car a bit. From things I've read on the forums and other people's cars I've seen, mine seems like it's somewhat lower. I only have a little more than 2 inches of ground clearance in the center up front. On 2x4s, that only gets about 4 inches of clearance for the jack to fit under.

I tried using 4x12 blocks to drive it up on so I'd have more room for the jack. The 4x12 blocks juuuuust barely fit under the skirt in front of the tires. It wouldn't do it. It just pushed them forward. Maybe I need to have an intermediate 2x6.

Next time, I think I'll need to buy a bigger jack so I can lift the vette up higher. And I'll need to figure out how to use the 4x12 blocks to get the larger jack to fit under. It's questionable whether my little jack would even fit under a second time... it's fit was that close.

Btw, I bought this little kit that had the jack and two jack stands and a creeper. It was only $30 someodd bucks. The jack and jack stands are rated for 2 tons. Figuring the car is a little under 1 3/4 tons, I guess these are fine. But I was wondering if I should consider buying over rated stuff. Maybe it doesn't really matter. Like I said, I bought the small stuff because I was concerned the larger stuff wouldn't fit under the front... and I would have been right unless I can get the 4x12 blocks to work.

Thanks for all the help. This forum has really been a godsend.

- Skant

 

[Chris N]

I think that the stronger your jack and stands are the better quality they will be and that will add a larger safety margin.

If your vette rolled of those stands in your driveway while you were working on it you would only be 4" thick, ouch! :eek

I also use a set of molded plastic ramps that are about 5" high and almost the same width as the tires. When I drive up the air dam scrapes, but its flexible. I found them at OSH here in Sonora CA.

You can cut an angle on the ends of the 4x12.

Chris :cool