Axel stands..

Rob CTR

Advanced Member
Messages
344
Having never used axel stands before – is there a knack to it?

i.e. do u jack the car up from the centre at the front and then place the axel stands under the jack points? Or use the rear jack point to jack up and then put a axel stand under the front jack point and repeat on the opposite side of the car?

I really just want the front to be elevated for a couple of hours, rather than having the whole car in the air…

Help ! :D
 

MJ Type-R

Advanced member
Messages
1,578
Rob

When I jack my car up at the front, jack (trolley type) up on the center point of the front sub frame. I then place two stands either side of the jack, so the stands hold the car up on the sub frame once the jack is removed.

The easist way to jack the rear of the car up, with a trolley jack, is to use the rear tow rope point. I once in the air, I would then place jack stands under the rear jack points and lower the car on these.

Hope that helps

Mike
 

Rob CTR

Advanced Member
Messages
344
mike that is fantastic help mate - my main thing is knowing what is subframe and what isnt...

i guess this is one of those things that u can easily spot when the car is slightly up..

Do you recommend using a piece of wood on the trolley jack initially for lifting to spread the load? as i take it u'd have to be jacking dead central to be safe?

i feel like i should know all this but i dont lol
 

MJ Type-R

Advanced member
Messages
1,578
Rob CTR said:
mike that is fantastic help mate - my main thing is knowing what is subframe and what isnt...

i guess this is one of those things that u can easily spot when the car is slightly up..

Do you recommend using a piece of wood on the trolley jack initially for lifting to spread the load? as i take it u'd have to be jacking dead central to be safe?

i feel like i should know all this but i dont lol
When you look / feel under the car.. your see the sub frame.. it's a large, black painted, tube frame... the bottom of the engine sits within it....

I do not use a woodern block, no need on the sub frame. The front center of it is easy to spot . locate too.. as the front engine mount attachs at that location.

Mike
 

dan the man

Advanced Member
Messages
3,682
always look for where the suspension parts are to the body as these are what the car is suspended off in the first place.
 

Foxx

Member
Messages
16
IMG_20220408_154802.jpg
Hi all,

Had a bad experience in the past with fking in some pinch welds on a supra so paranoid now :/ would someone be so kind as to tell me/ circle on that pic where you would out an axle stand.

Thanks in advance
 

JordanSuth

Advanced Member
Messages
225
View attachment 8487
Hi all,

Had a bad experience in the past with fking in some pinch welds on a supra so paranoid now :/ would someone be so kind as to tell me/ circle on that pic where you would out an axle stand.

Thanks in advance
For the front you can use the subframe but on the rear you're limited to using the pinch welds.

Sent from my SM-F926B using Tapatalk
 

JordanSuth

Advanced Member
Messages
225
That said I usually leave the jack on the rear toe eye to distribute the weight.

Sent from my SM-F926B using Tapatalk
 

Teggs

Active Member
Messages
83
Always thought the only way to jack up the car was using the 4 jacking points (as per Fox's Pic) but actually there are lots of points on both the sub-frame and even parts of the suspension components, the key thing is to understand what is stuctural (a bit of a diffcult thing to convey without pictures, sorry!) but if something looks like a hefty steel 'beam' under the car it's probably safe to have an axel stand here.

Working underneath the car can be a bit tricky without an inspection pit or a lift and you may find, if you have basic jacks, that they don't really provide the required amount of lift to give you enough clearance to work .

If you have a friend or family e.t.c that have experince of working on cars, get them in, even just to help with the jacking process.

A couple of things I use are;
-Handbrake on
-In Gear
-If only jacking up front or back, choc wheels with either shop bought chocs or timber blocks of a suitable size pushed hard into the tyre/ground meeting
-there is a large steel 'tube' (LCA??) at the rears that basically runs from the front of the rear arch to the wheel hub, this basically supports the weight of the car in this quarter and can be supported by axle stands, kind of gets them a bit out of the way too to help with working.
-always jack up as evenly as possible, I have 2 jacks to allow me to do this, one side a bit, next side a bit e.t.c
-to get the extra height (if your jacks are running out of lift and your axel stand adjustments are too big increments) there is no problem in using a LARGE, WIDE peice of SOLID timber underneath them to give them the required boost.
-try to avoid working on a surface that is anything but almost perfectly level, my driveway has a very low gradient, but even with this it can really affect how the car behaves when lifting it.
-Removed wheels placed under jacking points or other areas where you're not working
-before getting under the car I like to give it a good shove (rugby scrum style) from the sides and front and back, it should'nt really move at all!

Just be really careful tho, this is probabaly the most dangerous thing that you can do with your car and I would imagine a ton of steel on a squidgy human body is gonna be an issue when you've got 12HR waiting times in A&E.

I'm fairly new to the whole 'working on cars', if i'd known what I know now I would have bought a 2T trolley jack
 

Foxx

Member
Messages
16
Always thought the only way to jack up the car was using the 4 jacking points (as per Fox's Pic) but actually there are lots of points on both the sub-frame and even parts of the suspension components, the key thing is to understand what is stuctural (a bit of a diffcult thing to convey without pictures, sorry!) but if something looks like a hefty steel 'beam' under the car it's probably safe to have an axel stand here.

Working underneath the car can be a bit tricky without an inspection pit or a lift and you may find, if you have basic jacks, that they don't really provide the required amount of lift to give you enough clearance to work .

If you have a friend or family e.t.c that have experince of working on cars, get them in, even just to help with the jacking process.

A couple of things I use are;
-Handbrake on
-In Gear
-If only jacking up front or back, choc wheels with either shop bought chocs or timber blocks of a suitable size pushed hard into the tyre/ground meeting
-there is a large steel 'tube' (LCA??) at the rears that basically runs from the front of the rear arch to the wheel hub, this basically supports the weight of the car in this quarter and can be supported by axle stands, kind of gets them a bit out of the way too to help with working.
-always jack up as evenly as possible, I have 2 jacks to allow me to do this, one side a bit, next side a bit e.t.c
-to get the extra height (if your jacks are running out of lift and your axel stand adjustments are too big increments) there is no problem in using a LARGE, WIDE peice of SOLID timber underneath them to give them the required boost.
-try to avoid working on a surface that is anything but almost perfectly level, my driveway has a very low gradient, but even with this it can really affect how the car behaves when lifting it.
-Removed wheels placed under jacking points or other areas where you're not working
-before getting under the car I like to give it a good shove (rugby scrum style) from the sides and front and back, it should'nt really move at all!

Just be really careful tho, this is probabaly the most dangerous thing that you can do with your car and I would imagine a ton of steel on a squidgy human body is gonna be an issue when you've got 12HR waiting times in A&E.

I'm fairly new to the whole 'working on cars', if i'd known what I know now I would have bought a 2T trolley jack
Hi Teggs,

Appreciate you posting and the extra jacking locations, I'm also fairly new to all this at 34. I've got the kit ie jacks and stands but my drive way is block pave and maybe 3 4 degree gradient :/ I did change full suspension on a BMW on stands on it and that was fine. My mindset working under cars on the drive is polar in that I think I can only be either complacent or paranoid :)

This time I was after changing the exhaust cat back. That is right in the middle underneath ofc and the bolts are seized. Guess my nerves got the better of me in my old age! Going to get a shop to whack it on the lift and change it for me quickly, pretty sure I could technically do the job and can take the pride hit :D

I doubled down on the already creamed jack points on the supra once (pinch welds). Wasn't the cheapest to rectify so wanted to double check. Thanks again.
 
Top