Best Place for Jack Stands?

[testa-rossa]

I'm on a slippery slope. I'm going to re-do the suspension of the car. Starting with the front.
Is this the best place to place jack stands? The body already was way dented in the locations where I have the jacks pictured. Are there better locations? I normally would place the jack stands under the control arm supports but since I'm removing everything I need the control arms free.

[jason2guy]

the rear looks good. use a wood block instead of that cardboard, like right away

[Uncle Enzo]

I prefer to use the inner side of the torsion tube to hold mine up.

[testa-rossa]

The pictures are of the front. The back is not jacked up.

[74-911]

Originally Posted by jason2guy

the rear looks good. use a wood block instead of that cardboard, like right away

This.... I use a 6" section of 2x4 laid right inside the body seam.. not on the seam.

[74-911]

You can see the 2x4 on top of the jack stand in this pic. I also placed the front tires right behind the jack stands with a 4x4 laid across them.. If somehow it slipped off the stands, the car can't fall but an inch or so.

[911pcars]

That area in back of the fender is often used, but many owners/techs have inadvertantly placed a jack stand under an oil cooler line (see your pic for a partially crushed oil line). Can be repaired, but requires some work.

I put my jack stands under the front torsion bar covers.

If you need entire access to the front suspension, I would place place two 2x4's on edge to span the width of the pictured jack points, then support that with two jack stands.

Sherwood

[Jdub]

^What Jack said - the placment he shows gives very good stability.

I use fibreboard (think pegboard) rectangles between the jack and the torsion bar tube - forms and fills nicely when weight is applied and gives a good non-slip perch. Four-leg 'stands as well having used both types.

[HarryD]

Doing a search with the terms jack points will turn up tons of threads.

If you do this, you will find my post that reads like this:

Originally Posted by HarryD

Josh:

Lots of discussion, lots of opinions.

Personally, I have heartburn using the single most expensive to repair component of my car to lift my car.

A search using keywords like lift points, jacking, jack stands will provide overwheming feedback. You can do a search with any of those terms and turn up hundreds of threads.

This thread (Jack Help! (Urgent)) has one of the most definitive postings (thanks Bill Verburg):

Originally Posted by Bill Verburg

X's for lifting O's(and X's for stands), there are others, the Os are almost impossible to get a jack on

[74-911]

I have found the best way to jack up the front end is to place a 2x4 across the front control arm brackets ( points - A- ) on the diagram and place the jack in the middle of the 2x4....

[gamin]

Rear - Torsion bar tubes.
Front - Control arm end brackets.

[911pcars]

Here's my strategy to lift the front end. This allows even, side-to-side lifting from a location between the front wheels and frees up space to place jack stands under the front torsion bar covers or under a 2x4 spanning the two covers as some prefer.

In addition, this provides a convenient way to create a tripod leg to measure ride height when corner balancing. By lifting at this mid-point, the front and rear ends become independent. Measuring rear ride height is now unencumbered by any influence from either LF or RF corners. This tripod lift procedure is described in the factory repair manual. BTW, it works the other way as well.

Remove the sheet metal cover under the front crossmember, then install an appropriate spacer (e.g. stack of flat aluminum bars), such that the spacer spans the vertical space between the top surface of the cover and the crossmember. Make the spacer wide enough to create a stable lift zone when lifting force is applied. When permanently installed, this effectively creates a solid structure between the sheet metal cover and the crossmember. Paint or otherwise mark the "target" area to identify the desired lift point.

Many cars, like mine, may be too low to roll a floor jack under the front at any of the suggested lift points, especially if a spanned 2x4 is preferred). If so, first lift the vehicle from the side using the after-market jack adapter plate (in the square factory receiver in the rocker panel. I use a simple scissors jack). Lift it high enough to roll a floor jack under the target area. Lift to the desired height, then secure the vehicle with jack stands at any of the preferred support areas. Reverse the procedure to lower the vehicle.

FWIW,
Sherwood

[testa-rossa]

I have revised my jack setup. Please let me know if I get the Pelican blessing:

[74-911]

Looks good to me but just a suggestion: If you are totally rebuilding your front suspension, moving the jack stands back to jack-points "C" will give you better access to the master cylinder, sway bar, steering rack, etc. The stands may be in the way at times where you have them now.

and good luck with your front suspension rebuild, it can definitely be a slippery slope.

[RichardNew]

Here's an article I did for Vintage Motorsport magazine last year.

Richard Newton

[testa-rossa]

Thanks for all the input everyone. I've started dismantling the suspension now.

[testa-rossa]

I took off the skid plate then something came down and hit me in the head. Looks to be some sort of alarm siren. What is it? It wasn't even attached to the car. I originally thought something was really wrong with the suspension but it was just that siren bouncing back and forth.

[911pcars]

From this angle, it looks like a WWII German "potato masher" (aka grenade), this with an electric detonator attached.

Yeah. Probably an alarm horn. Apply 12V to the grounded deton... I mean horn and confiirm. Enlist a helper.

Sherwood

[testa-rossa]

Here are some better pictures:

[Jonny042]

That seems to meet the standards of every single alarm/stereo installation I've ever seen.