Axle stands

[ChrisD]

Originally Posted by BRGT86

if you look right up on the bottom of the diff, you'll actually see two small "tabs/bumps" things...this will help avoid jacking up on the diff cover which is bad. you can place a flat 2x4 wood block under this and use the jack... or jack straight on it with a thin rubber pad sheet.

OK thanks, I'll see if the jack will reach that far under the car (might be tricky now that it has been lowered). Assuming it does reach, then that's one problem solved but I've still got the issue of exactly how to mount the axle stands safely around the pinch weld. Seems like a lot of people don't recommend putting wood in between the axle stand and the car, but people also agree that putting the axle stand directly on the pinch weld lip is a bad idea (and my axle stands don't have a slit down the middle that the pinch weld can go in to), so I'm not really sure what to do...

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by ChrisD

So what would you recommend? You've said that putting something in between the axle stand and the car is bad, but you also said using the axle stand directly on the pinch weld is bad, so what am I meant to do?

Look at my picture of the custom hockey pucks. That's ok because they compress quite a bit so, even if they pop out, the worst you have is a marred finish on the car. I'm sure there are better, more expensive solutions but I'm into the guerrilla technique because it's part of the fun.

[extrashaky]

Originally Posted by ChrisD

I haven't really seen any better alternatives that I can actually do though... people keep mentioning hockey pucks cut in half, but I don't really trust that any more than I'd trust a piece of wood. What would you suggest instead of wood?

I would trust a hockey puck before I would trust wood because wood has grain along which to split, whereas a puck is more likely to have a uniform structure.

But this is not that difficult a problem. There are plenty of jack stands made for pinchwelds, plus dozens of pinchweld adapters on the market made from a variety of materials. A Google image search shows how other people have solved the issue. I even saw someone suggest permanently mounting a rail along the pinchweld to provide a flat jacking point.

[extrashaky]

Originally Posted by ChrisD

OK thanks, I'll see if the jack will reach that far under the car (might be tricky now that it has been lowered).

If it doesn't, you need a low profile jack. I have the giant low-profile hi-rise Harbor Freight jack, and it would have to be pretty damned low for that thing not to fit under it.

[ChrisD]

Originally Posted by extrashaky

But this is not that difficult a problem. There are plenty of jack stands made for pinchwelds, plus dozens of pinchweld adapters on the market made from a variety of materials. A Google image search shows how other people have solved the issue. I even saw someone suggest permanently mounting a rail along the pinchweld to provide a flat jacking point.

You say this, but I've spent the last 15 minutes searching for some that I can actually buy and got nowhere. Sure, there are plenty of pictures of them, but I can't find anywhere (especially in the UK) actually selling them. I can find jack adapters for pinch welds, but not axle stand / jack stand adapters, or axle stands that already have heads suitable for pinch welds. All of the forum threads I find about this topic end up with people either using wood or hockey pucks... both of which seem like a pretty sketchy DIY solution to a problem that must affect every person who ever wants to get their car up on axle stands, which is why it baffles me that there is not a more "proper" tool for the job that is easy to find and buy.

[ChrisD]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

Look at my picture of the custom hockey pucks. That's ok because they compress quite a bit so, even if they pop out, the worst you have is a marred finish on the car. I'm sure there are better, more expensive solutions but I'm into the guerrilla technique because it's part of the fun.

So a hockey puck possibly popping out is fine but wood splitting is not? Surely its the same end result?

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by ChrisD

So a hockey puck possibly popping out is fine but wood splitting is not? Surely its the same end result?

No. The puck would only pop out while lowering the car onto it. One would have to be really sloppy for that to happen because it's a process of easing it down and adjusting as the car seats in.

Also, when seated, the puck is compressed enough it just acts like a pad. There's no separation - no place for the car to roll out/off of the spacer.

The wood (or cinderblock) can fail without warning at any time.

I'm not advocating it as the end-all solution. Just an idea.

[ChrisD]

I'm still not understanding how the wood is any different. The wood is pressed in to the cup of the axle stand just like the hockey puck would be - once the weight of the car is on it there is nowhere the wood can go even if it splits.

EDIT: it might help if I show you what my axle stands look like - and the yellow outline is how the wood sits in it





If that wood splits, where can it possibly go when it is pressed in to the jack stand by the weight of the car?

[ChrisD]

Originally Posted by BRGT86

if you look right up on the bottom of the diff, you'll actually see two small "tabs/bumps" things...this will help avoid jacking up on the diff cover which is bad. you can place a flat 2x4 wood block under this and use the jack... or jack straight on it with a thin rubber pad sheet.

So I just had a quick look - is this point that I've marked with the yellow arrow where I should be placing the jack (i.e actually on that black metal beam), or is it behind that? In other pictures I've seen it is hard to tell

[ChrisD]

Also can someone explain to me why we even need to bother with putting the axle stands around the pinch welds at all? I understand that that's where the strengthened part of the car is and that it is intended to be a load bearing part, but that's the bit BEHIND the pinch weld isn't it... not the thin lip of the pinch weld itself. So why can't I just stick an axle stand directly behind the pinch weld on the thick flat part that is actually meant to be load bearing? I must be missing something, but it seems like everyone's solutions involve just making your jack or axle stand miss the pinch weld entirely and just get surface area on the part behind it and in front of it - but the bit in front of the pinch weld doesn't seem strong at all so I assume it is the part behind it that takes all of the load... so why not just stick an axle stand with a flat head on that?

[bcj]

[sirsol66]

Originally Posted by Vracer111

What I do:

(rubber blocks on factory lift point front, wherever it falls in rear...)

Will never go back to jack and jack stands!

What is this system called?

[Vracer111]

Originally Posted by sirsol66

What is this system called?

http://www.bendpak.com/Shop-Equipment/QuickJack/

[extrashaky]

Originally Posted by Vracer111

http://www.bendpak.com/Shop-Equipment/QuickJack/

A name like BendPak doesn't inspire confidence in a product meant to hold a car off the ground.