Question regarding jacking procedures

[NYsquarebird58]

I’m getting ready to redo the fuel lines on the Bird and want to have the car off the ground. I’ve seen squarebirds with two jackstands underneath the front cross member. My question is: Is it safe to jack up a squarebird by placing the jack in the middle of the cross member? For those of you that place jackstands under the front cross member, what’s your jacking procedure?

[Anders]

I always use 4 stands. ( I NEVER goes under the car without stands. Never.) I jack the car up in the middle, and place 1 of each side on the crossmember. In the rear, itīs the same. Itīs not a problem as you have two wheels ( or stands ) on the other side of the car, so itīs stable anyway.
BUT: Be aware that the body does move/flex while hanging on the stands, meaning the gap in the door get tighter. So if you are careful of your paint, opend your doors before you jack it up ( and donīt close them until the car is back on mother earth ) or tape in the door opening so you donīt ruin your paint.

[NYsquarebird58]

So just to confirm: it’s perfectly safe to place my jack where I have indicated with the green arrow?



I currently have jack stands placed under the rear axle tubes, placing the jack stands under the front cross members shouldn’t be a problem, right?

(Sorry if I’m over thinking this, I get paranoid when lifting cars. I’m always afraid I’m going to bend something!)

[Dakota Boy]

that's where I lift the front of mine.

jackstands in the same location as yours.

then I leave the jack there too; in case a jackstand fails, the jack is still there in the center.

[NYsquarebird58]

Thanks fellas!

[Yellowbird]

I rebuilt my front end last year and I placed my jack stands where your's are placed. I raised the car by jacking in the middle of the crossmember. Of course for that job I had the front end very high. I also placed jack stands under the jacking points on both sides behind the front wheel. The service manual shows the locations of those areas.

I too, still left the floor jack under the center of the crossmember until the job was finished.

Leonard

[Anders]

I rebuilt my front end last year and I placed my jack stands where your's are placed. I raised the car by jacking in the middle of the crossmember. Of course for that job I had the front end very high. I also placed jack stands under the jacking points on both sides behind the front wheel. The service manual shows the locations of those areas.

I too, still left the floor jack under the center of the crossmember until the job was finished.

Leonard

When I jack my car from the side, using the locations mensioning in the shop manual, I always have a piece of wood in between, as it is very easy to damage the underbody with the jacks "two horns".

So just to confirm: it’s perfectly safe to place my jack where I have indicated with the green arrow?



I currently have jack stands placed under the rear axle tubes, placing the jack stands under the front cross members shouldn’t be a problem, right?

(Sorry if I’m over thinking this, I get paranoid when lifting cars. I’m always afraid I’m going to bend something!)

Looking at your pic, thatīs exactly as I do it also, but with one difference. I always direct the top part ( the "horns" ) of the jack in car leingth position, so it stands firmer if there is any movement. As you have it now, with the horns pointing outboards, it looks little to scary for my taste I also use a bigger type, so the it kind of take up the thickness of the crossmember. The small one you use, I only use for the rear axle.

[simplyconnected]

Didn't we go through this a short while ago? I'm thinking of combining your two threads because your questions and our answers are identical. - Dave

I have a question regarding jacking. I want to get the T-Bird completely off the ground, but I want to do so in a safe way and in such a manner that I can leave the car safely on jack stands for an extended period of time. Typically on a frame-on car, I would jack up the car from the frame and place the jack stands on the frame just in front of the rear wheels and just behind the front wheels. Since this is a unibody car and my rocker panels are rusty, I don’t think it would be a good idea to support the car from these areas.

I was thinking that my jacking procedure would go something like this:

1.) Slide the jack underneath the rear differential and raise the car
2.) Place jack strands underneath the axle tubes and lower the car.
3.) Slide the jack underneath the front cross member and raise the car
4.) Place jack stands where???

[NYsquarebird58]

Didn't we go through this a short while ago? I'm thinking of combining your two threads because your questions and our answers are identical. - Dave

I posted a jacking procedure question on one of my threads about my first t-bird. This question relates more specifically to placing the jacks on the cross member, so I felt it warranted it's own thread.

I think we should have a sticky on jacking procedures. It seems like a basic thing (just follow the shop manual, right?) but some members (like me) don't agree with placing the jack stands behind the front wheels. It just seems like there's too much weight in front of the jack stands. That's why I'd like to hear what other squarebirds owners do.

Here's one of the threads that got me thinking:
http://www.squarebirds.org/vbulletin...highlight=jack

I have to give credit to dgs for the pic I used a few posts back since I pulled it from one of his posts.

[simplyconnected]

Marcello the truth is, none of the Ford dealerships use a bumper jack. Bumper jacks come with every car w/full instructions and pictures.

There are much safer ways to hoist a car. Like your choice of motor oil, everyone has his own preference on how to hoist and support a car, including using ramps!

The real answer correlates with the type of work to be done, and if the wheels will be removed or if the suspension needs to hang. For a simple oil change or shock absorber change, ramps work very well.

Before getting under ANY raised car, give it a good shake. If it seems unstable, IT IS! There is no such thing as, 'too much safety.' We have little to gain and everything to lose, getting under an unsafe car. I know first hand. When I was a kid of 15, the family station wagon needed the snow tires removed. I bumper-jacked one side, removed the lug nuts, and as I was pulling the tire off the rear axle studs the car came down.

I consider myself very lucky on many levels. I was crouched down on one knee and pulling the massive snow tire off the '61 Pontiac Safari. The wheel well arch came down on top of my left knee and I heard a 'SNAP' as I was thrown backward. It happened so fast. I got up on one leg and immediately noticed my left leg had an extra joint right in the middle between my knee and ankle. Both bones were broken with the front one breaking the skin slightly. My leg ballooned at the break and filled my Levi's.

Ten minutes earlier the car was drivable. Did you ever get that feeling... you know, when you wish you were somewhere else. Now it's my fault that the wheel is stuck up in the well, the drum is on the ground; Mom's car is disabled in the driveway.

So, I hopped into the house up the steps and layed on the kitchen floor, yelling for Mom like a stuck pig. When the doctor looked at his x-rays he said, my I hopping up the steps set the bones as well as he could, manually.

It just happened, my cousin was visiting Mom right then. Johnny was a body builder and 22 yrs-old. He picked me up off the kitchen floor and carried me to the back seat of his Chevy, parked in the street. Since then, I have never used a bumper jack. I quickly learned about Craftsman Scissors Jacks and Jack Stands. At home I use two hyd. floor jacks. When the car is on jack stands, the floor jacks are under there, too. - Dave Dare

[Dakota Boy]

that's a pretty gnarly story...

[Joe Johnston]

Another concern with jacking - I have never jacked the rear of a car by using a floor jack on the diff center section. I always felt that was a lot of weight to pick up from the middle of any car, but have often seen guys do it with no apparent harm. Am I too cautious by jacking each rear individually? I have no issue placing a jack in the center on the front if there is a sturdy cross member, but placing a jack under the center of a rear just bugs me....

[dgs]

So just to confirm: it’s perfectly safe to place my jack where I have indicated with the green arrow?

That's right where I put my jack when I lifted it in that shot. In fact, you can still see the jack in this shot (before I moved the stands to the front):



I still had my small 2 1/4 ton jack with limited travel at the time and since I needed to get the car up high to do the suspension, I had to do it in two stages, the second time placing the jack on a solid concrete block. Notice ho high I have the stands in that top image?

Someone mentioned how I had the stands turned sideways instead of front to back. There isn't room on that cross member to put them front to back, I don't believe, at least with my stands. There's a flange on the back side of it that prevents you from straddling the cross member in the U of the stand, so sideways made more sense.

Oh, and those are 3 ton Craftsman HD stands, pretty robust stuff. I think I still have a pair of old 3 leg 2 ton stands. I don't like to use them anymore, though, since I've got 4 of these nice, sturdy 4 legged ones.

[Anders]

Another concern with jacking - I have never jacked the rear of a car by using a floor jack on the diff center section. I always felt that was a lot of weight to pick up from the middle of any car, but have often seen guys do it with no apparent harm. Am I too cautious by jacking each rear individually? I have no issue placing a jack in the center on the front if there is a sturdy cross member, but placing a jack under the center of a rear just bugs me....

I done it a few times. No problems. The load for the suspension is the same as when you drive the car. The 9" diff is a stong one.
Otherwise, when I just need to come under the car in the rear, I jack it on the crossmember that holds the bumper. Again, the bumper is designed to take the original jack, even though it will re-shape the lower part of the bumper quite bad. The only problem I have with jacking the car on the rear crossmember, is that it is located quite high, so with the rear overhang, you donīt get very high before the jack reach itīs full leingth. For that, I have made a special piece that fits the crossmember, and takes up some of the distance down to mother earth. Will post a pic later or tomorrow.

[simplyconnected]

These cars are old, now. Rust continues to take its toll on everything including the rear diff tubes.

Whenever possible, I jack from under the spring perch. In the front, I use the lower shock mount. In the rear, I go under the coil or leaf spring perches. Then, I use the sub-frames for my jack stands. I spread the stands as far apart as I can, for stability. It's the difference between standing with your feet together, or spreading them apart.

After lowering the body onto the jack stands, my jack remains under a support point.

The number of Mechanic-deaths is always a mystery because nobody keeps those stat's. But, the 'rules' change as a result. In the old days, our houses never had outside receptacles. Now, not only are they mandatory, but they must be covered by Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCI's), and they must be 20-amp circuits. Same for your garage. People would electrocute themselves, under their own car! Think about it; we construct a tight confined space, then get in it, and introduce electric light bulbs, drill motors, grinders, etc.

There is potential for the car falling, and a tank of gasoline has enough energy to drive you 250 miles. Coolant mixed with electricity is the worst because it conducts much better than water.

Electrocution renders your muscles useless and if you're trapped under a car... Ever been burned by a trouble light? We all have. My trouble light has one of those 'twisted' bulbs in it from the dollar store. They never get hot, output far more light, and are much more shock resistant because there is no filament. Be safe and think about what could happen if... - Dave