Jacking up, Why is it such a palaver? Options

[jjbunn]

I must be doing something wrong, because I find jacking up the 914 safely and easily to be very challenging.

I have a floor jack and four 2.5 ton jack stands. My goal is to get the car raised up so that I can place it on the four jackstands.

Here's what I do:

1) Insert a jack plate in the provided jacking hole on the long on one side of the car.
2) Place chocks on both sides of the opposite rear wheel
3) Position the floor jack under the plate, and start carefully jacking
4) As the car starts to come up, it wants to move rearwards, and so I have the floor jack positioned so that it rolls a little in the required direction
5) Raise the car higher and higher, carefully checking that all four rollers of the jack are still touching the ground - often one starts to lift and I have to lower the jack and reposition everything
6) Get the side high enough that I can put a jack stand under the front jack point (just behind the front wheel) and another under the suspension strut at the rear (not sure which piece this is, but it's a round beam that is anchored at a point just in front of the rear wheel).
7) Gingerly lower the floor jack so that the jack stands take the weight
8) Go to the other side and follow the same procedure, except now the car doesn't shift backwards as it goes up!

Step 4) is where I have most problems ... I'm terrified that the floor jack will become off-vertical and slip or break from the jacking plate, so I have to keep tweaking its position, raising, lowering, etc.. The whole process takes me at least half an hour!

Am I doing something wrong? Is there a better way?

Sorry for the long winded description (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

[dangrouche]

i have owned a single floor jack for many years. I own a pair of jack plates. my longitudinals are solid. I have many jackstands. I have at least two solid chock blocks or pieces of 4x4 scrap wood that have been cut to form a chock block. once i got a second jack from Harbor freight, the jacking process has become not so problematic and quicker. I just dismounted the four wheels last nite and it took me about 20 minutes to suspend the car in the air. you can jack under the engine bar to raise and support the car. you can also jack under the front suspension end caps. i use pieces of scrap 1/4" plywood on top of the jack stand so that the four jackstands rest beneath the donuts jacking points. once you get a second jackstand you will see the benefit to do a balanced jacking process, especially when dropping the engine or doing a clutch. granted these procedures are few and far between, but you will see the benefit. see if you could borrow a buddies jackstand just for one operation; you will see the benefit right off.

[jjbunn]

i have owned a single floor jack for many years. I own a pair of jack plates. my longitudinals are solid. I have many jackstands. I have at least two solid chock blocks or pieces of 4x4 scrap wood that have been cut to form a chock block. once i got a second jack from Harbor freight, the jacking process has become not so problematic and quicker. I just dismounted the four wheels last nite and it took me about 20 minutes to suspend the car in the air. you can jack under the engine bar to raise and support the car. you can also jack under the front suspension end caps. i use pieces of scrap 1/4" plywood on top of the jack stand so that the four jackstands rest beneath the donuts jacking points. once you get a second jackstand you will see the benefit to do a balanced jacking process, especially when dropping the engine or doing a clutch. granted these procedures are few and far between, but you will see the benefit. see if you could borrow a buddies jackstand just for one operation; you will see the benefit right off.

Interesting - thanks. Jacking on the engine is how I raise my 964 (with a hockey puck as a cushion), and I wondered if it was safe on the 914 too. Is there a particular location that is safest?

Getting a second jack is a good idea. Perhaps I'll go for something a bit more meaty than the cheaper one I currently have (from Sears).

[flat4]

Interesting - thanks. Jacking on the engine is how I raise my 964 (with a hockey puck as a cushion), and I wondered if it was safe on the 914 too. Is there a particular location that is safest?

Getting a second jack is a good idea. Perhaps I'll go for something a bit more meaty than the cheaper one I currently have (from Sears).

Don't jack the engine, just the engine support bar. This is the bar running across the width of the car in front of the engine. You need a decent floor jack to do this as you do not want to be under the car while it is jacking. The jack handle exits at the back of the car when you do this. The car will roll backwards as you jack, which is OK.

Then jack the front from which ever side seems easiest.

You could park the rear wheels on some wood before you start to give more jack clearance.

Lastly, assuming your jack is on solid ground don't worry if it leans a bit. I will usually not fall, and if it does you should not have anything under the car or in the way of the jack handle. If it starts to go lower the jack - this is much faster with a proper floor jack than one where you need to take the handle out of the jacking position and move it to the valve. If it really goes, stand back until it has finished.

If you are very nervous you could always get an air jack. I can pump mine up from a 12v compressor fairly well, but it works better off a shop compressor. Something like this: http://www.bushranger.com.au/xjack.php. Not all have a compressor valve so you may need the engine to be running to use them. Shop carefully.

The air jacks are not perfect, but the large area means that you are not likely to damage anything. They are also designed to roll and flex as the car raises up.

But remember, jacking a car by any method is a dangerous operation. Don't completely ignore your nerves! Remember the old joke: What do you call a man with a car on his head? Jack.

Cheers, Steve