jacking up on engine mount bar?

[magaoidh]

How safe is it to use a trolley jack located centrally on the engine mount bar?The engine isnt running at the moment,I would like to lift so the rear wheels just clear the ground and move the rear end sideways on the trolley? I would also like to lift high enough to place wheel ramps under the wheels!Anyone done these manouvres.What do you reckon Blue Tongue?
Thanks Geoff.

[swl]

I've done something similar but never tried to move it while on the jack. I've never really been comfortable with even a static lift - it has to be stressing the motor mounts. Moving it up there just sounds like trouble in the making. If you really want to do it right get some plywood and a set of heavy casters. I've seen guys who build 4 boxes and put the whole car on a moveable platform.

To get it on ramps you will find that you have to lift it way in the air as the trailing arm drops - need a very long throw jack. Try lifting it one side at a time with the trailing arm. I might get a blast from the suspension experts for suggesting that but it has worked for me.

[trojanman]

I typically drive the front end on to the wheel ramps.
then i jack the rear from the tranny

[magaoidh]

Trojanman,thats the same if I locate the jack centrally on the tranny housing,lift and move the jack sideways?
Why do Porsche make simple things difficult?My Alfa 105 series lifts at the back on the diff,on the engine mount beam at the front,both centrally located.

[trojanman]

some people cringe at the idea of lifting the car from the tranny, many others do it all the time. But i am not sure i would feel comfortable rolling the car around on the jack...............

[URY914]

Go ahead. Just don't get under it while it is on the jack. Go slow.

[jeffdon]

Not that its a position that allows for movement, but i welded up a nifty T-bar arrangement that fits in the jacking point holes in the cars rocker panels.

[magaoidh]

Its my move I know but,I dunno,wheres Dave the guru? What do you think ? More input needed!

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Sorry, I don't have anything to say on the subject--that's why I'm not sayin' nothin'!

I haven't tried it, and it would make me quite nervous if I were to. I might consider finding a couple of furniture dollies to rest the rear wheels on so they could be moved around.

--DD

[magaoidh]

Hey Dave,here in OZ we have a blue tongue lizard.... no reflections though,yuk, yuk.

[sww914]

All of the mounts are squashed rather than pulled if you jack on the tranny, engine, or cross bar. I have jacked up hundreds of 914's and 911's from the engine, tranny, and cross bar and none have ever been damaged because it squashes the mounts rather than trying to pull them apart. just make sure you don't get the jack on the shifter mechanism or the clutch cable mechanism when you're on the tranny, or the sump plate on the engine, and make sure the jack pad doesn't slip off of the end of the tranny as the angle changes, especially if the jack wheels aren't able to roll well enough.
You can roll the car all over the place like that if you're careful not to let the jack slip off of what you're jacking on.
You

[Glenn at Pelican Parts]

If your going to jack on the engine, you must use the cross bar if your car is a '73 or later, otherwise you will pull the motor mounts apart. Ask me how I know! I jack my 914 on the tranny all the time. As someone else already said, just make sure you clear the shift rod.

[Scrappy]

I use a forklift.........

[Nostril Cheese]

You should be fine to jack up on the mount bar.

It ties into the chassis on both ends. Do not jack up on the engine. You will likely tear the motor mounts in half. Ask me how I know...

[magaoidh]

Originally posted by Nostril Cheese
You should be fine to jack up on the mount bar.

It ties into the chassis on both ends. Do not jack up on the engine. You will likely tear the motor mounts in half. Ask me how I know...

I can guess???

[GWN7]

lifting on the trans is not recomended because it can cause the ears to crack (the ears are not designed to hold the weight of 1/2 a car) or damage the trans mounts (like a engine mount)

As to trying to roll the car from the engine bar with a jack under it, you can bend the engine bar bolts. The lateral force can cause the bar bolts to bend/fold. That happened on the 73 I stripped.

[magaoidh]

Thanks for that I hadnt considered the side loads.

[Jim Smolka]

If one uses the engine bar on a 914-4 as a jack point, then it is possible to bend the bolts that secure the bar to the car.