How do you get under your car..?

[techbotics]

Ramps? Axel stands, jack (hmmm), friend with 2 / 4 post ramp...

I only ask as I want to check out the starter and solenoid wiring.. ramps would seem ideal but Halfords state only suitable for 185x14 tyres..

Who sells nice wide ramps...? I hate taking her to the garage for want to being able to get underneath..

Cheers Damian S3

[Barkychoc]

I use axle stands.

[tvrgit]

Axle stands here, too. Oddly I find that I seem to need higher axle stands now, than I did when I was younger. And possibly lighter.

[ketvrin]

I lift the car by Trolley Jack front then back (i.e. not one corner at a time) use Axle Stands on the Rear Outrigger and on the centre Chassis rails near the ARB at the front then place blocks near the front of the outriggers each side for extra stability - they dont take a load (unless something goes wrong)

Like Andrew my Axle Stands dont seem to have the height they used to ?

K

[techbotics]

Thanks for the fast replies gents... will get myself some axle stands and have a good look under the old girl.

D

[ketvrin]

If you are also investing in a trolley jack to lift her, make sure you get one with a Closed Height which is low enough to get under the chassis rails ok

K

[tvrgit]

Kevin - out of curiosity - I lift my car the same way as you do, with a jack under the front cross rail (where the two angled bracing bars join it) and then put axle stands on the chassis member just in front of the "towing eyes" - but no matter how carefully I try to centralise the jack, it always seems to lift the drivers side a fraction more than the other - is yours the same?

Again, at the rear, I lift it in the centre and put the stans under the inner end of the outriggers (ie under the bracket for the inner trailing arm bush).

I've found trying to lift the car a corner at a time, results in it twisting off the first pair of stands you put in, and almost toppling off - nearly happened when I did the body lift (not when lifting the body, wne getting the whole car high enough in the first place).

[tvrgit]

Oh and... I do occasionally use ramps, as long as the tyres are central, they should be ok. You'll need a couple of bits of scaffold board to reduce the ramp angle though, or you'll scrape the bodywork on the top of the ramp before the tyre reaches the bottom.

[ketvrin]

tvrgit said:

Kevin - out of curiosity - I lift my car the same way as you do, with a jack under the front cross rail (where the two angled bracing bars join it) and then put axle stands on the chassis member just in front of the "towing eyes" - but no matter how carefully I try to centralise the jack, it always seems to lift the drivers side a fraction more than the other - is yours the same?

I hadnt noticed that TBH... presumably your trolley jack is in from one side, could it be that it is not lifting "square" and causing the difference?

K

[ketvrin]

Or maybe you left your wallet in the glove box

K

[tvrgit]

ketvrin said:

Or maybe you left your wallet in the glove box

K

Har-de-har. More likely to have left it on the drivers seat and the moths are causing "lift".

No this is with the jack in square from the front. It's only the tiniest fraction, but it's consistently the same.

Thinks - maybe the bracing bars DON'T meet in the centre so the jack is off-centre? It's taken me 8 years to figure that out!

[Gerald-TVR]

I find that my old (from the 60's) ramps work fine plus some wooden block to lift the fromt high enough and then careful placement close to the garage door gives me the bestest access



Note the ramps are jacking ramps so room for portly persons easily achieved

[PYNEY]

TVRGIT ! how/where do you put your trolley jack to lift the rear of your car safely
i noticed you said the center/rear but where can you jack up from ? i cant see anywhere to place the jack

i've done the rear as you have and the car tries to come of the front axle stands very dodgy !!!

cheers keith

[tvrgit]

PYNEY said:

TVRGIT ! how/where do you put your trolley jack to lift the rear of your car safely
i noticed you said the center/rear but where can you jack up from ? i cant see anywhere to place the jack

i've done the rear as you have and the car tries to come of the front axle stands very dodgy !!!

cheers keith

The jack head just fits up between the two bits of the exhaust, on to the rear edge of the diff casing, or the chassis member just behind it. I usually put the jack up on a board, and put a bit of wood under the diff / chassis to minimise the lift required.

On my 2 trolley jacks, they lift in an arc - the first bit is almost vertical, but the second half of the lift pulls the car towards the jack - so unless you are on a smooth surface where the jacks castors can roll, the second part of the lift will pull the other end back off the axle stands.

I have 2 trolley jacks because I discovered when I did the body lift that you can't lift the body off the chassis with 1 jack - as soon as it tilts in any corner, it locks against the chassis and won't lift - so I bought anothr jack so that I could lift the two front corners, then the two back corners, evenly off the chassis.

Having 2 jacks helps though - now I can lift the front and then lift the back with a jack under each outrigger or trailing arm, and lift them a bit at a time on each side. That was how I got the car back OFF the stands after the body lift and chassis repair.

[PYNEY]

very useful info thanks git !

[DJ8226]

I pull mine onto two short planks to raise the front enough to get my 2 tonne trolley jack under the centre section where the bars meet. Once raised then onto axle stands on the mid chassis section leaving the jack in for stability for the back end I use second smaller jack positioned on the cross member near the diff (always have some soft sponge stuff to cushion the chassis) then axle stands on rear chassis rails or centre of trailing arms. Raising the back is a bit hairy but only lift all four corners when painting the chassis otherwise just raise each end independently with the big jack then secure with blocks just in case it should fail.

[GreenV8S]

Picking the front up is relatively obvious, and is all you need to do for most jobs. If I need to lift the rear too (dropping the exhaust, for example) I tend to lift the front and stand it on a pair of axle stands under the main chassis rails, somewhere roughly level with the front axle. Then pick up the rear using a trolley jack on the rear end of a chassis rail (being careful not to pick up the petrol tank cradle by mistake). As long as your axle stands at the front are wider apart than the chassis rails where you are picking the rear up, it won't topple.

If I can be bothered, and especially if I need to pick it up a long way, a much nicer way to do it is to attach the engine hoist to the rear rollover bar and pick the back up directly. It is much easier and less traumatic pulling it from above than pushing it from below. But most days, getting the engine hoist out feels like too much work and I do it with the jack.

I've never tried picking it up on the diff housing. I'd be reluctant on mine because the diff mounts already take a lot of gyp, and I'd be afraid of tearing a mount or damaging the casing. Probably safe as houses, just not something I do.

[tinks v8S]

i normally use ramps for quick jobs,if need more work will take to my mums
my dad put a pit in the garage ,comes in handy at times