jacking-up safely

Is it a bad idea to lift the rear by the transmission with a floor jack?
The guys at Discount tire seem to think so, but what do they know.
Any information greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[jamcleod]

hmmm... hope not. i lift my car by putting a 2x6x~24 under the clutch area. the front of the 2x6 touches the engine mount bar and the rear of the 2x6 doesn't touch the side shift housing, just the trans case. the jack plate is basically under the clutch.

[3D914]

jamcleod,

As long as the jack is positioned near the bell-housing or along the center of the case - away from the clutch cable bracket and the shift-lever boot, you should be alright.

The intent here is to have the engine mounts and tranny mounts share the load as equally as possible, and to avoid loading the extranious brackets mounted on the tranny.

Regards,

[Kenny Powell]

Every experienced 914 mechanic, that I ever asked this subject says( don't do it!) reason being tranny mounts are in jeopardy
so I don't do it!
Kenny

[J P Stein]

I jack mine there all the time, on the rear below the trans mounts. 2 X 6 to prevent metal to metal......keep off the shift console.

Haven't had any bad "experience" doing it.

[jamcleod]

ok, now i do have a recommendation about jacking up the car. i put the board on the jack too close to the front of the engine and popped both engine mounts. the engine basically pulls the car up by the rubber mounts and the rubber is only bonded (probably) to the metal discs on the mount. BLAST!!

so dave darling, want to review replacing engine mounts with the engine in the car for me?

[Brad Roberts]

I jack our race cars from the tranny... oh wait we run solid tranny mounts.

I personally dont suggest you do it. It can break the tranny mounts. If you notice.. the tranny mounts have a piece of metal on top to keep the engine and tranny from falling out if they fail.

Guess what.. the only thing stopping them from pushing up is the "cupped" washer that is supposed to be on top of the tranny ears. This cup will still allow the mount to move up almost 1 inch before it bottoms out against the rest of the mount.

I use the factory side jacking points with the round steel slide in plates. If yours are rusty (fix them) it makes life much easier you dont have to look underneath to make sure the jack is located correctly under the tranny/engine. I dont even bend over to jack up a 914.

B

[gint]

Hey 74guy,

Where are you located in Colorado?

Once in a while I use the tranny to jack up the car. When I do it I try to spread the load as others have indicated. But I try to avoid it. My .02

[chrisreale]

Just lift the car with your bare hands, its much easier

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

so dave darling, want to review replacing engine mounts with the engine in the car for me?

Didn't I just do that?? (Seriously...)

The short version--remove the rear shift rod and any cables going through the motor mount bar. Support the engine. Unbolt the mounts from the bar. Unbolt the bar and remove it. Remove the oil filter, possibly. (I think I did and it gave me less-bad access.) Get a 1/4" drive socket and shorty ratchet onto the top mount nuts and remove them. That's the PITA.

Installation is the other way around...

--DD

[Lawrence914]

Having done exactly this recently, it's fairly easy.

A couple of suggestions:

1. Use some penetrating fluid on the motor mount bar bolts (and the motor mount nuts) for a while.

2. Disconnect the cables that run through the support bar, but don't try and thread them back through the bar. It's a waste of time.

3. When unbolting the MM bar, use a 17mm closed end wrench (possibly 19) on the top, and a ratchet on the bottom. A few love taps with a mallet with break it free.

4. top side nuts on the mount are challenging in that position. 13mm, I believe. best to try to remove them before you drop the bar. The mounts will come down with the bar.

5. Put the mounts back onto the motor, rather than on the bar. don't tighten down. Putting the bar back into place may require a bit of wiggle to get all four bolts to line up.

SAFETY, SAFETY, SAFETY! Don't let the motor fall on you!!!

[jamcleod]

DD, yes i know you just did it, replied tongue in cheek, sorry !