Lifting Car Sequence

[stressed]

Can someone in the group please post the proper procedure for lifting a 1985 911. I have read and seen many different ways to do this. I have a roll around floor jack with 4 jack stands. I would like to see a picture on where to place the stands on the front end of the vehicle as well as where to place the jack. It appears a little unsafe when you have the front end up and then lift the rear. I do not want to injure myself or the car while placing it on stands.

I would like to thank everyone who posts information on lessons learned from their experiences. I found my 911 on this website and have enjoyed every year of ownership.

Thanks

Doug

[slodave]

Hi Doug,

I have the jack pad that fits the square jack point. I get the rear end up first - one side at a time, then I use the floor jack under one of the front torsion bar covers to life the front, one jack stand under one side, then I use the front jack point behind the front wheels to get the last lack stand under the other front torsion bar cover.

Looks like I can't do that anymore... I've added a chin spoiler since the last time the car was off the ground. Bummer.

BTW, I have different jack stands for the rear now.

Ignore the Porsche jack. I don't know why it is there. That's NOT what I used.

[ZOA NOM]

I'll chime in for the DON'T EVER LIFT IT ONE SIDE AT A TIME crowd.

I lift mine from under the motor and place both stands under the rear t-bars, then I lift from one of the pads in front that are just behind the front wheels near the front edge of the doors. This lifts the whole front end so I can place the jackstands under the front t-bars.

This method maintains a triangle of safety at all times while lifting. The angle created between the torsion bar and the jackstand when you lift only one side scares the hell out of me.


edit: I am fully aware that many people lift their 911's one side at a time without issue. It just seems way too wobbly for me.

[3.2 CAB]

I always get the rear supported on stands on both sides then I lift the front and place the stands under the torsion bar covers.

[DRACO A5OG]

Here's what I did:

Items Needed:

4 Jack Stands (I used 2 Heavy Duty 3 Ton Stands for the Rear and Smaller ones for the Front, explaination later)
Jack Pad
Floor Jack, if not available I used the OEM Jack
Helper (if you can)

Procedure:

E-Brake on
1st Gear in
Loosen Lug Nuts one side at a time

Raise the Side with loosened lugs until the Front Tire is off the ground about an Inch to 1.5 Inches

Place Larger Jack Stand under Rear Torsion Bar Plate Cover (That Knob thing in the Wheel Well) , Adjust Stand to the Height Needed, you may need to raise the car a bit to do this.

Before lowering the rear to the 1st Jack Stand, Place the smaller Jack Stand under the front Tow Eyes where it is bolted on to the Chasis. Do not place the stand on the Eye but where the eye forms into a half circle cup and bolted to the body, it is a perfect fit for the Jack Stand. Adjust for height.

Carefully and Slowly lower your baby down on to the stands. I found a helper lowering will allow you to keep an eye on the stands for fine adjustments and to insure the base of the stands are square and level. KEEP YOUR BODY PARTS OUT FROM UNDER THE CAR DURING THE LOWERING STAGE ON TO THE JACK STANDS!!!

Note: you will notice when lifting from the side jack insert the front is lower than the rear. This is the reason why I use a smaller/shorter Jack Stands for the front.

Repeat on the other side SLOWLY and keeping an eye on the stands to ensure that the Jack Stand Legs are not moving or tilting.

I found this to work well and once all stands are under all points, it is very stable, even with me in the car and ran the engine released the clutch (probably not recommended by others but I had no choice, but no instability or shaking)

Recently did this while replacing all my Brake Lines, E-Brake Adjustment and Brake Fluid Bleed. No Issues. Thanks Again Rnln (my Helper or was I his Helper )!!!

Off Topic actually related though

If you plan to just raise the rear only, using the side at a time method, YOU MUST USE WHEEL BLOCKS for the Front Wheels.

Lock the steering wheel, Place the Blocks tightly and adjust as it rises.

When Lowering, make certain the E-brake is on or it will roll. (Ask me how I know) However, with blocks it will reduce the chance of rolling.

Thanks Rudy for the replacement OEM Jack

[ZOA NOM]

Here's why I never lift one side, then the other:






This is very difficult to do if you are lifting the car straight up and down onto the jackstands. Lowering the car onto jackstands at an angle is asking for trouble.

[porsche930dude]

Thats why i dont put them on the tortion tubes ^ I jack it up by the shock and put the stands under the a arms. I never jack it up with the engine either. Its just begging for a weeping case if you ask me. With the front i jack it up where the a arm mounts by the ajuster from behind the front wheel because of the chin spoiler and put the stands on the tortion bar covers where the front tow hooks are

[ski wagen]

For what its worth, my mechanic recently pointed out cracks (just the paint -- I hope) in my door sills immediately above the square jack slots and suggested that I don't jack the car using those points anymore. Don't know if that's only a concern with a Targa or cab or not . . .

[billybek]

Originally Posted by ZOANAS

It just seems way too wobbly for me.

I think that you are just looking at your avatar!!!
Those pictures make me a little sick to my stomach every time I see them...

[rusnak]

If you are going to remove all 4 wheels, then you will need 4 jack stands, I think we can all agree on that.

As for sequence, you can see why it is not a good idea to raise the front first, or lower the rear first because you can damage your front pan when the front jack stands become the pivot point. They can dent the pan.

I never jack from the side. Way too risky.

Most guys use some 2x6 or 2x4 boards to first drive the car up on something to get extra height, then use a jack to lift the car onto jackstands.

I use two floor jacks at the front after raising the rear on jackstands. The two jackstands are placed at the front A arm pickup point. I try not to jack on any suspension arms or suspension arm joint. I feel you can do damage to your suspension by doing this, and therefore try to aim the jack for a reinforced point on the bottom of the chassis. Jackstands are then placed under the aluminum cross brace.

At the rear I use the torsion cover (not the plate) to support the car, which provides a nice pivot so that you can raise the front without any damage.

There is some good debate about using the engine sump cover or crankcase on 3.2 engines as a lifting point. If you do, jack slowly and lower slowly. You are putting a lot of stress on the engine and engine mounts. Eventually this can damage the engine mounts in the long term.

Of course, someone will post a pic of their trick 4 point lift, etc etc yadda yadda

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

Yes, I've had scary problems lifting one side and then the other with the jackpad. Very unstable. If you do it that way, do it in small increments, one side and then the other and back again.

Since I do my work in the driveway--no garage--which is slightly downhill, I also once had the embarrassing problem of lowering the car but forgetting that I didn't have any brakes on. There's a hilarious YouTube video out there that somebody recently sent me--"Iraqi AAA," though I don't remember if that's the actual title--of two dozen Iraqis, all yalla-yalla-yalla yelling, righting a Land Rover that was on its side on a mountain road Push-push-push, rock-rock-rock, they finally got the thing back on all four wheels, at which point it immediately ook off downhill, running over one of the Iraqis in the process, went off the road, down a gorge, end-over-end and totally wrecked.

[billybek]

Originally Posted by billybek

I think that you are just looking at your avatar!!!
Those pictures make me a little sick to my stomach every time I see them...

Let me be more clear, the pictures of your fallen car, not the avatar!!!

[hcoles]

I have two floor jacks and this is safer.
I pick one side up using the "jack" point and special tool then put jack stands at the two support points under the car along the side.. should probably use the big stand on the torque tube but I don't... my stands have a flat top.
then I pick up the other side and if I feel like being super safe I leave the jack just under the special tool on the other time at the same time... then get the car up level and put in the other two stands.
I then loosen the floor jacks a hair and try and shake the car.. to be super safe I leave both floor jacks pushing a bit on the special jack plates... then the car is supported at 6 points...

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

Doesn't sound all that safe to me. The problem is not that the car is or isn't stable once you have it elevated and level and on jackstands, it's during the lift process, when you're tipping the car first one way and then the other, from the side. I think that's when those of us who have problems find that the car falls and it's why I say if you have to do it that way, do it in small increments, from side to side and back again, which is a pain.

[Gunter]

There are very few situations were you need to have your 911 on 4 jack stands; avoid it!

Use 4-6 ton jack stands because they have a stable, wide base; the 4 tiny 2-ton stands in the above picture are terrible; you're asking for it!

To remove the engine, leave the front on it's wheels with choke blocks, lift the rear in increments and place the heavy-duty jack stands under the T-bar covers. Emphasis on increments! A little at a time!

For brake-work or suspension-work, you can do front or rear leaving one end always on wheels.

Safety first!
In my picture, you'' notice the 5-ton jack stands plus bottle jacks with 7/8" key stock for extra stability during engine removal.

Look closely and you'll notice that the key stock has a nut welded on it with a short 3/4" bolt. When lifting, the key stock is turned so that the bolt is pointing down. The head of the bolt fits securely into the cup of the floor jacks and, unlike a jack pad, cannot slip when lifting both sides at the same time. I don't like lifting on the engine and use 2 floor jacks, one on each side.

[hcoles]

yes, I agree.. it is not the safest (when on one set of side stands while lifting the other side) and I don't like the side to side thing in small increments to reduce the risk but I may do that in the future until I figure out a better way..... I don't like jacking on the engine.... stress on the motor mounts which are already not great on the tranny end and it just doesn't feel right lifting on the crankcase...even with some towels under there to try and spread the stress out just a bit.... I've read that the case is an ok jack point.. but...

[rusnak]

wow, if I had a pit in my garage floor I'd be like "why lift your 911 on 4 jackstands" too....

nice, reminds me of the pictures at the Porsche factory of the mechanics doing engine development work.

anyway I wanted to post the picture of 911 jack points. I'm not sure who originally posted it, but I stole it and now I'm giving it back.

I also put padding on my jackstands so that they don't leave indents in the car where they come into contact with the floor.

I wonder if using the crankcase as a jacking point causes the crank bearings to wear faster on one side by bending the cases slightly. After all, align boring removes like thousands of an inch right? Won't jacking on the case potentially make the bores out of alignment at least that much?

[Gunter]

Originally Posted by slodave

Hi Doug,

I have the jack pad that fits the square jack point. I get the rear end up first - one side at a time, then I use the floor jack under one of the front torsion bar covers to life the front, one jack stand under one side, then I use the front jack point behind the front wheels to get the last lack stand under the other front torsion bar cover.

Looks like I can't do that anymore... I've added a chin spoiler since the last time the car was off the ground. Bummer.

BTW, I have different jack stands for the rear now.

Ignore the Porsche jack. I don't know why it is there. That's NOT what I used.

Pretty bad.
But a good picture of what NOT to do!

4 cheap jack stands with an unstable small base; can't be much worse.

[Noel]

Does anyone else life the front in the center using a 2x4 accross the beam in front of the fuel tank and behind the A/R condensor? I've been using this method for years. I lift the rear with the engine first, install jackstands under the torsion tubes and then the front. It's pretty low in the front but not with a low alum jack.

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

Well, one situation where it makes perfect sense to have the car on four jackstands is thorough, twice-around brake bleeding. It can be done with the car on its tires, but it sure is a lot easier with all four wheels off.