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I don't use that front jacking point. I just jack up the front using the jack points behind the wheel, then put that side on a jack stand. Repeat for the other side.
I don't use the front jack point at all. It is buried too deep into the center of the car. I can get my hydraulic jack in there, but there's insufficient room to use the jack lever and raise the jack.
I built wood ramps instead, raising the car 4.5". This is sufficient to remove the splash shield and do an oil change.
I don't use the front jack point at all. It is buried too deep into the center of the car. I can get my hydraulic jack in there, but there's insufficient room to use the jack lever and raise the jack.
I built wood ramps instead, raising the car 4.5". This is sufficient to remove the splash shield and do an oil change.
Ramps are fine for doing an oil change but if you want to rotate 4 tires with wheels crossing from one side to another, best way is to set the handbrake, loosen all the lug nuts, jack up the front and set down on jack stands, and then jack up the back and set down on jack stands. Same thing if you want to put brake pads or shoes on all 4 wheels, or bleed the brakes. Also, removing either bumper cover is easier if the car jacked up, and level.
Personally I find trying to safely drive up ramps to be difficult an time-consuming. Jacking the car up is a lot easier.
If I didn't have enough room to move the handle up and down I would try driving the front wheels onto 2 pieces of 2 x 6 inch lumber - I think getting the car just 2 inches higher could make a big difference. Edit: 2 pieces of 2 x 10 inch lumber. about 56 cm long
Last edited by nomenclator; 09-27-2017 at 10:08 PM.
I don't use the front jack point at all. It is buried too deep into the center of the car. I can get my hydraulic jack in there, but there's insufficient room to use the jack lever and raise the jack.
I built wood ramps instead, raising the car 4.5". This is sufficient to remove the splash shield and do an oil change.
Maybe because I'm older I want more room than an additional 4-1/2" of space to do an oil change. If it works for you great, but that wouldn't work for me.
Myself I actually put my car on four jack stands so the car sits about 12" higher all around. It doesn't take that long to do. Besides, it's not like I'm doing it for a living and an extra 15 minutes is going to cut into my profitability or time. For extra safety; besides the four jack stands I also have a hydraulic jack on each side under the pinch weld lift point on the rocker panel.
I just bought one of those harbor freight jacks. It won't reach the front jack point from the front. The back of the jack where the handle attaches (the highest point) bumps into the plastic engine cover. I don't think HF's low profile 3 ton jack would work either. The back part where the handle attaches is even higher, and it looks close enough to the lifting pad that to reach the lifting point, you would have to get the back part of the jack under the car. By rolling my 1.5 ton jack in at an angle, from next to one of the front wheels, I was able to reach the jack point, but then there was no room for the handle to go up and down. TorontoBoy below says the same thing. I thought a small jack with less height, about 5.5 inches, might help, but it didn't. The jack was however able to jack up a whole side of the car – both wheels – when placed under the jack point for a front wheel. But the front wheel was much higher than the rear. About 8 cm off the ground as compared to 1 or 2 cm.
Originally Posted by TorontoBoy
I don't use the front jack point at all. It is buried too deep into the center of the car. I can get my hydraulic jack in there, but there's insufficient room to use the jack lever and raise the jack.
I built wood ramps instead, raising the car 4.5". This is sufficient to remove the splash shield and do an oil change.
I guess I am going to have to build the wood ramps you described on page 2. Those should be ok for an oil change, but to rotate the tires or do brake work, I'll try rolling the 1.5 inch jack underneath, jacking up a bit, and then setting down on jack stands. Then jack up the rear on the middle jack point which is easily accessed and again let down on jack stands.
I don't like the idea of lifting a side of the car and then placing 2 jack stands on one side. If I planned to place the front jack stand under the front reinforced point, I would have to jack the car up on the pinch weld behind that point, where it is not reinforced. Can that be done without bending the pinch weld? Can I jack it there without bending the pinch weld if I use a hockey puck there?
Last edited by nomenclator; 09-24-2017 at 12:13 PM.
I don't use that front jacking point. I just jack up the front using the jack points behind the wheel, then put that side on a jack stand. Repeat for the other side.
Either the jack is placed under the front reinforced jacking point, or a jack stand is placed under it. You can't place both under it at the same time. So you have to put either the stand or the jack somewhere else. So which do you put where?
i have jack stands but dont remember the last time i used them. even for suspension swaps i have two hydraulics so no issue with endlinks binding, etc. i just raise the other side with the hydraulic.
if i need to go under the car like doing exhaust mods, just back onto my raceramps, oil changes, maintenance i only use ramps. my jackstands have been collecting dust.
That jack stand is pretty cool, and safe. Thanks. Alas, I have no money and don't go under my car often, so I've fudged by with DIY wooden ramps.
I'd rather not get crushed by my Fit, so if under the car I'd use jackstands, which I have but never used. My jackstands, at 13" at the lowest setting, are too tall to easily get them under the pinch weld points. The Fit is ridiculously low to the ground. The Rennstand or the Jackpoint jack stands would go a long way to solving my issue.
Last edited by TorontoBoy; 09-24-2017 at 03:16 PM.
I have a set of jackpoint stands. Same idea as the ones in the video. They’re pricey, but work as advertised.
...
DaveGee
How do you do both using ordinary jack stands; how do you do both without using very expensive jack stands, more than $300 a pair. Plus I'd need 2 pairs if I want the car to be raised level. For $300 I can get 5 rolling hydraulic jacks (Harbor Freight Pit Berger 1.5 ton aluminum jack is sometimes on sale for $60)
Last edited by nomenclator; 09-25-2017 at 11:12 AM.
Well, I managed to reach the front center jacking point with my little 1.5 ton Pits-burp rolling hydraulic jack from Harbor Fright and I managed to jack up the 2 front wheels at once. I accomplished this feat by first driving onto a 4 cm high ramp made out of a 56 cm long piece of 2 x 10 (inch) lumber. Then I was able to get the jack past the front plastic shroud and situate it under the front center jack point. Took some finesse to get the saddle to hit the spot but eventually I didded it. Took a bit of muscle power on the handle to elevate the saddle all the way to the top floor but I didded that too. Box that the jack came in said the top floor was at 14 1/8 inch; I measured it at 13.8. Liars.
At the risk of being critter-sized for stating the obvious: when you are finished working on the car it is important to remember to put the ramp under the wheels, before you open the release valve to let the car down. If you were to frogette, you might have big trouble pulling the jack out, and big trouble situation the saddle under the lift point, in order to jack the car back up.
Bad news - with the saddle elevated all the way to the top floor, there is only about 12 inches of space between the jack point behind each front wheel, and the ground. When you talk to a pair of prospective jack stands, you'll want to ask them "how low can you go."
I still would like to know how to lift both wheels on one side and support that one side with jack stands, without damaging the welded pinch place. Does I put the jack under the frontal-sidewise jack point, and put the front jack stand somewhere else? Or does I put the Jack somewhere else, and put the front jack stand under the frontal-sidewise jack point?
Last edited by nomenclator; 09-25-2017 at 06:56 PM.
That jack stand is pretty cool, and safe. Thanks. Alas, I have no money and don't go under my car often, so I've fudged by with DIY wooden ramps.
I'd rather not get crushed by my Fit, so if under the car I'd use jackstands, which I have but never used. My jackstands, at 13" at the lowest setting, are too tall to easily get them under the pinch weld points. The Fit is ridiculously low to the ground. The Rennstand or the Jackpoint jack stands would go a long way to solving my issue.
I wouldn't say that using wood to construct a ramp is "fudging." I think wood is a better material for ramps than the plastic stuff that some commercial ramps are made from. You just need a little understanding of which way wood is strong, and of the forces that the car puts on wood, where. Rather than solid wood on top of solid wood, you can design for getting adequate strength with the least weight. I'm got plans for a 6 inch ramp with a shallow incline. I just have to draw them up more precisely, instead of using my sketches.
I just bought a pair of 2-ton jacks at Walmart. Branded "Hyper Tough," a registered trademark of Wal-Mart. Made in China. Owner manual says min height 9 13/16 inch, max 14 15/16. I don't know if that is meant to include the paint on the post, or not. Actual minimum hight, with the post all the way down and resting on the base, rather than on a pawl, is about 9 7/16, measured to the lowest point on the saddle. Min height on the first ratchet: 9 7/8. Max height 14 3/4. Max is 14 15/16 only if you measure to either of the 1/4 inch wide flat areas, one on each side of the central arc.
I cannot find this jack on Walmart's web site. I found them in a Walmart store however. They were sold singly, marked $8.44 each. Comes to 16.88 per pair. That's slightly less than the $17.99 per pair you will pay for a 3-ton, at Harbor Freight, with a coupon. They were similarly constructed to the Harbor Freight's, but with nicer paint on the base instead of that special kind of paint that hides defects, hopefully just cosmetic defects.
I am not an expert welder but I think some of the welds looked better too. On both of products the welds that don't contribute to weight-holding strength, looked kinda sloppy.
It came with the tab that keeps the post from coming out, already pushed in, so I couldn't get a good look at the pawl, or see how well the pawl interfaces with the notches in the post. I did however notice that the business end of the pawl on one of the HFs looked off at a slight angle, rather than square with its sides, or square with the pin going through it, and rather than square with the square tube at the top of the base, so that just perhaps one side of the pawl might engage better with the ratchet, than the other side. But even if it engages well enough, and doesn't impede weight-holding ability, I kind of don't like it when things don't look square, to the eye, with just a casual glance.
Edit: I just noticed that on the HF jack stand, on one unit, the top part of the base is not welded on squarely with the bottom part of the base. It may not affect operation but it isn't reassuring. I'd say its off by about 2 degrees.
Interesting fact about the Fit: with the car on level ground, the distance from the ground to a front support point, is different than the distance from the ground to a rear support point. For some reason I can't remember now which is greater. Also, one or more of the pieces of sheet metal that contributes to the front support, extends about 1/2 a cm or so below the rest of the sheet metal in pinch weld, and then gets a 90 degree bend at the bottom, while the rear support point just has an extra layer of sheet metal in the sheet metal sandwhich, no part of it extends further, and there is no bend at the end. Of course the rear of the car is much lighter than the front so differences between the 2 support points should not be surprising.
Last edited by nomenclator; 09-28-2017 at 12:23 AM.
? Seems to be cheaper way to jack up all 4 wheels than to use those special jack stands that surround the saddle of a rolling hydraulic jack, and allow you to set the car on down on the jack stand, at the same point on the car where you jacked it up with the jack. Of course to jack up all 4 wheels you would need 4 of these bottlejack-jackstands, and jack up each of them. You would have 4 hydraulic jacks instead of one hydraulic jack moving one from wheel to wheel. But despite the repetition of hydraulic units, it comes out cheaper.
Anyone tried something like this? Seems to be cheaper way to jack up all 4 wheels than to use those special jack stands that surround the saddle of a rolling hydraulic jack, and allow you to set the car on down on the jack stand, at the same point on the car where you jacked it up with the jack...
An interesting find, but again, the minimum height is 11". The Fit clearance is 5.5" at the front, so at the pinch weld will be about the same. You'd need to jack up the side to even get this jack under the pinch weld, so it does not solve our dilemma of how to jack up followed by a jack stand.
Height Range: 11 inch to 21 inch
Perfect for SUV’s, off-road vehicles, construction jobs, framing and floor joint work
An interesting find, but again, the minimum height is 11". The Fit clearance is 5.5" at the front, so at the pinch weld will be about the same. You'd need to jack up the side to even get this jack under the pinch weld, so it does not solve our dilemma of how to jack up followed by a jack stand.
You're right. I didn't see that, that the min height is 11 inches. Actually, on my Fit, the measurement from the ground to the under-engine shroud is less than 5 inches. I know this because I measured my rolling jack to be 5 inches at its highest point, and I can't get that point past the shroud. Only after I drove up onto 2 pieces of 10 x 2 lumber (actually about 1.5 inches thick) was I able to get the jack saddle to the front center lift point.
My car is lowered, I was able to jack from the front/middle. I had to get on my low profile ramps first, and then using a low profile jack, was able to reach that hard to reach jack point
09-21-2017, 01:26 PM
