How To: Proper use of the floor jack and jack stands on the front/rear of a DeLorean

[Rich_NYS]

Good post, I referred to it this past weekend.

I had trouble getting my floor jack under the car in the rear, so I used a 2x4 as a lever (without a fulcrum) to lift the car enough to get the jack in place. I put it under the frame & lifted, temporarily jammed a large wood block under the 2x4, then slid the foor jack into place.

[Doug.gaspo]

Hello, I am going to send my four wheels out to be refinished and have a question. I see by the thread and photos very clearly where the four stands need to go and I understand using the wood.
My question is: I have one floor Jack like the one in the photo, please confirm its ok to raise the car in the front from the center with the floor jack and then lower on to the jack stands. Same question for the rear end. If the four corner jack pad locations are for the jack stand, where is it stated it ok to lift from center? Seems the safest way is to have to two floor jacks to use at the same time, or is it an over kill? Can someone also confirm the car can sit for tree weeks on only the four jack stands with the wheels( suspension) hanging down?

This will be my first time jacking my car, thanks for the advice in advance.

Gaspo

[JohnZ]

That is an incredible coincidence! I currently have my car standing with out wheels on two jack stands (rear, more weight) and a jack to the front. I put pieces of wood between the frame and both the stands and the jack.

It was supposed to last just a few hours, since I did all this to replace my old tires, but they had troubles and tomorrow it will all be ready. So tonight the car is going to rest on stands until tomorrow morning!

[mluder]

Hello, I am going to send my four wheels out to be refinished and have a question. I see by the thread and photos very clearly where the four stands need to go and I understand using the wood.
My question is: I have one floor Jack like the one in the photo, please confirm its ok to raise the car in the front from the center with the floor jack and then lower on to the jack stands. Same question for the rear end. If the four corner jack pad locations are for the jack stand, where is it stated it ok to lift from center? Seems the safest way is to have to two floor jacks to use at the same time, or is it an over kill? Can someone also confirm the car can sit for tree weeks on only the four jack stands with the wheels( suspension) hanging down?

This will be my first time jacking my car, thanks for the advice in advance.

Gaspo

I have jacked my car up in the middle of the rear and front of the frame numerous times. Be careful up front - You do NOT want to jack it up by the front frame extension (crumple zone). Make sure you are on the frame. I would not rely on a jack to hold the front end up for long periods - way too risky. Invest in 4 good jack stands. Your car and maybe even your life depends on it.

If you are expecting to raise the car really high then the lift can be done in stages so you're not "pushing" the car due to steep incline. In other words, Raise the rear high enough to get your jack stands in place on the lowest setting. Then raise the front a little higher and install jack stands with a higher setting. Then go back to the rear and lift it higher again. And so on until you get the car to the height you need.

To answer your other question... I left my car in the air on 4 jack stands in the areas indicated in the photos for over 2 months while I rebuilt my engine and engine bay. No adverse effects that I'm aware of.

Cheers
Steven

[refugeefromcalif]

Invest in 4 good jack stands. Your car and maybe even your life depends on it.

If you are expecting to raise the car really high then the lift can be done in stages so you're not "pushing" the car due to steep incline.

Cheers
Steven

One way I've done the 4 stand method was starting with one end of the vehicle on car ramps. Jack up the other end, add stands, then raise the first end off the ramps enough to put it on stands.

George

[Farrar]

I don't understand the confusion. If you have four jack-stands, you should be able to jack up one end, put two jack-stands under two of the plates, then jack up the other end, and put the remaining two jack-stands under the other two plates.

Please forgive me if I read your post wrong.

[DMCMW Dave]

Can someone also confirm the car can sit for tree weeks on only the four jack stands with the wheels( suspension) hanging down?

This will be my first time jacking my car, thanks for the advice in advance.

Gaspo

http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?95...l=1#post140196


I have had a couple of cars in the shop experience shock absorber failure (oil leaking out) upon being lifted, but it is immediate and not related to how you lift the car, just that they had likely not been fully extended for decades and hanging them like this upset the balance of crud in the shock. If that happens, it would have happened the first time you drove the car aggressively.

[Rich_NYS]

Why is there a preference to use jack stands on the frame and not the lift points?

[DMCMW Dave]

Why is there a preference to use jack stands on the frame and not the lift points?

Just because. We lift cars on racks with the lift points all the time but we have flat/rubber lift arm pads. Often jack stands have cupped tops which will miss the jack points and poke holes in the fiberglass.

Long ago working at home, I'd put the front jack stands under the lift pads (With a plywood spacer) since that is a relatively light end of the car, I'd still put the stands under the frame at the rear also being careful to spread the load and not dent the frame.

If you are careful there's nothing wrong with using the lift points, but again most jack stands don't have the right shape at the top.

[Rich_NYS]

Just because. We lift cars on racks with the lift points all the time but we have flat/rubber lift arm pads. Often jack stands have cupped tops which will miss the jack points and poke holes in the fiberglass.

Long ago working at home, I'd put the front jack stands under the lift pads (With a plywood spacer) since that is a relatively light end of the car, I'd still put the stands under the frame at the rear also being careful to spread the load and not dent the frame.

If you are careful there's nothing wrong with using the lift points, but again most jack stands don't have the right shape at the top.

Thanks Dave,

I think that for me, it would be easier to use the lift pads. I'm going to work on something to put over the top of the jack stands like I saw earlier in this thread.