Where the #@&! do I jack up the car from???

[Guest bastaad525]

As mentioned in my other thread (but this is a totally seperate problem ), I had to lift up my car today to adjust my parking brake.

 

So I'm trying to figure out... where the heck do I jack the car up from if I want to access the REAR of the car??

 

There's a little 'bump' right in front of the rear tires, I tried to jack it from there, but it just ended up denting in. Then I tried jacking it up from the little 'ridge' that goes along the bottom edge of the car (hard to explain, it's where the body stops and the floorpan starts, sticks down about 1/2 inch, about 1-2mm thick, has notches at the front and rear where it LOOKS like you'd use a jack). Well, no surprise that thing bent almost the instant the jack touched it.

 

So I figured... okay I'll get it from the middle of the frame rail, that should give me enough clearance. Well wouldn't you know it, the frame rail is made out of butter! It barely got the car about an inch up before the rail just started denting in as well....

 

WTF?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!? There's no rust down there that I can see, so why the heck would they bend in like that?? I thought the frame was supposed to be the strongest part of the car???

 

I ended up getting it from the front, luckily it went high enough that I could sorta squeez in to get to the parking brake cable. But now there's a nice dent in my frame rail and in that little bubble shaped thing in front of the rear tire.

 

So where the heck do you jack up a 240 if you need to get to the rear?? I think Tim240z has jacked it up from the diff, but I don't have one of those huge heavy duty floor jacks that (I think) would be long enough to reach. I have a smaller hydraulic jack. The car is low enough that it's hard to reach the few things I could think of might be safe to jack it up from.

 

So what gives??? There has to be a good place to jack this car up w/o needing one of those huge heavy jacks... I can't get one of those because frankly I have no place to keep it stored. The only other options I can think of would be to jack up the front, put it on a jackstand, and then I should be able to get to the diff or something else solid on the rear suspension... but that's a pain in the ***. Or can I jack it up from the rear suspension... the A arm or whatever it's called... the thing the shock connects to. Or the part that THAT attaches to?

 

 

 

By the way... and maybe this is a stupid question, but is putting a little bend in the POS frame rail a 'very bad thing'? On the drive to work my alignment still seemed to track perfectly straight. I'm so pissed and afraid I may have really screwed up my car.

[Tim240z]

With a floor jack (if you don't have one, get one):

Front: on the front cross member

Rear: on the diff

 

Definitely not on the frame rails! And, although the factory jack points with the scissor jack are on the side rails under the rocker panel, this area also tends to be to soft. You can pick up a small floor jack from pep boys etc for cheap.

[Guest bastaad525]

Tim what are you doing up so early! back from vacation already? Hope you had a great time!

 

Yeah I've already picked up a small hydraulic floor jack about two weeks ago, when I was changing the calipers.

 

It's a small jack though, and unfortunately because the car is relatively low, the fuel tank is in the way. I tried from an angle from under the exhaust but it was just too short to reach. I'll try it again though to be sure. I think we had the same problem at your house when you installed my fuel pump, but I can't remember for the life of me where you ended up jacking it up from instead!

 

I can reach the front cross member though, so that's not a problem.

 

One of the tow truck drivers at my job suggested to me the reinforced area of the floor pan where the seat belt bolts to?

 

I tried with a scissor jack on the rocker panels while I was at work, the tow truck driver had one on his truck, and that worked perfectly. I think I have one of those laying around somewhere.

 

 

So I guess my frame rails are screwed and my car is worth a lot less now huh??

[ezzzzzzz]

On lowered cars, the trick is to drive up on 2x8's to gain ground clearance. You can cut the ends in a wedge shape and stack to get more clearance too.

[Pop N Wood]

Actually it is hard to find an early 240 that doesn't have a bulge in the floor from someone trying to put a jack on "the frame rails". On the plus side if you get in the car and use your foot or a rubber mallet you can pop the floor back into position. Don't try jacking it from under the seat. Trust me.

 

For $54 at Harbor Freight you too can own a floor jack

 

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=4172

 

Or go to Pep Boys or a junk yard and get a cheap scissors jack

 

 

This type you can carry in your car.

 

Duh, just read your last post about the scissors jack.

[JMortensen]

One of the tow truck drivers at my job suggested to me the reinforced area of the floor pan where the seat belt bolts to?

On a Z the seat belt areas are INSIDE the rocker and up in the trans tunnel. I stick to the diff and crossmember, and on a hoist I go to the flat area behind the TC rod bucket and the flat area at the very back of the floor pan. Always watch the guy at the shop put your car on the hoist. Idiots always try to put the hoist at the front end of the fender and bend the crap out of it.

[auxilary]

I use either the differential itself, or what I usually do (since my car's low) is roll it up on 2x4s, jack up front, then put the jack in between the fenderwell and tire, and jack it up by the front differential mount since there's a big fat metal plate on there specifically for that

[DaleMX]

Put it up on 2 X 4's like said then put on the emergency brake then jack up the front and put jack stands under it. Then go to the back and jack it up and put jack stands under it. If you dont put the stands on it could roll off the jack and smish you.

[auxilary]

For clarification, the word "smish" is what happens when you get smashed by your car, and yell "****!!!!!!!!!" because it didn't kill you, but ruined the car

[DaleMX]

Also know as "smush" or "squish" or "sssspppttt". Usually some type of body fluid (or solid) is excreted.

[innerware]

If this is the way to jack a car, which is what I have been doing thankfully, then where is the best place to put jack stands that the car will sit in for a long time? My 77 project Z will be a member of Jack Stand Racing soon and I would like to put it on the stands correctly.

 

Thanks

[datsunlover]

I put the front on stands just behind the t/c rod brackets, on the 'flats' of the front unibody. The rear, until I put in tmy subframe conectors, I jacked on the diff and placed the tires on wood... which was siting on cinder blocks. On the 280 the rear 'subframe' comes down just in front of the rear tires, (in line with the frame rails, but not tied too.. strange) and there is a flat spot good for jack stands, assuming it's not rotten like mine was. After I fixed that area, I supported the car there.

[Guest bastaad525]

Thanks for all the tips guys.

 

So... bent frame rails are a common sight on these cars huh? I didn't get a bulge in the floor... I guess I caught it soon enough. I was thinking of drilling a hole and trying to pull the dent back out... is it worth it, should I bother?

 

That makes me feel a bit better anyways, and as far as I can tell the car is no worse for the wear.

 

Well that scissor jack works perfectly so I'm gonna keep that handy as well... they sure work a lot better when you actually have the proper handle for operating them I'll get some 2x8's made into 'ramps' too, I'm positive I'd be able to get to the diff if I got the rear of the car up a little bit first.

[Cody 82 ZXT]

On lowered cars, the trick is to drive up on 2x8's to gain ground clearance. You can cut the ends in a wedge shape and stack to get more clearance too.

 

 

I've been using something like this for years. I have two ramps that I also use as chocks when not being used for the orginal purpase. They are basically 2x8's with one end cut at a 45* angle. I stack two together and at the end I added a little stop to help me from rolling over them if I get stupid.

[Brad-ManQ45]

Don't drill holes! the less holes in your car the better. Take the time to beat it back into shape.

 

If you have a welder it would be ok to drill, but I always like the least invasive way of fixing something, even though it may take longer.

 

When there is a right way and a wrong way of doing something, usually the right way takes longer.

 

Words to live by.

[clarkspeed]

There is one other solution...............

 

[JMortensen]

I'm so glad I saw this before I welded up my doglegs...

[Cody 82 ZXT]

Thats a new one to me. How well does that work?

[auxilary]

BMWs have been using it for years. All the new models have little plastic plugs where the jack support goes.

 

you're lifting the car by hte unibody reinforced frame, so you're fine as long as the metal's not bunk

[Cody 82 ZXT]

I always wondered what those little plugs where for?

 

Great idea.

 

 

Back in the day I had a bug and they have a similar place for the jack like that under the running board. When I used mine it bent like crazy.