Placing Jackstands

Red Bull 78

Red Bull 78

True Classic
I'm tired of Jacking around on the Bull. I have to work on the Cooling System and maybe pull the radiator for Cleaning. I want to get all four corners off the ground with enough room to actually work safely under it.
I'm thinking, putting the Control Arms on the Jack Stands, would be safest and get the best Height.

The normal Jacking points on the side are fine for one side at a time, but if I put both sides on stands and start jacking up the front, I'll end up with an expensive See-Saw.
 
I usually lift from the center front or rear points to lift one end or the other, and use suspension pick up points for jackstand placement. I like to leave wheels and floor jacks under the car as a safety measure.
 
That's Where I'm Planning to Lift

But looking to get the stands out of the way, so I have room to work down the center of the car.
 
If you're careful, and depending on the design of the foot of your jackstands, you can place them under the ball joints.
 
Red Bull 78 said:
I
I'm thinking, putting the Control Arms on the Jack Stands, would be safest and get the best Height.
Click to expand...
That works if you can get your jackstands safely engaged with the control arms... But the four hard points at the outside corners of the four wheels (in front of the rears and behind the fronts) are well placed and rock-solid stable.

The normal Jacking points on the side are fine for one side at a time, but if I put both sides on stands and start jacking up the front, I'll end up with an expensive See-Saw.
Click to expand...
I've been successful jacking lifting the rear by the jack point at the center of the crossmember, placing stands, then lifting the front by the jack point in the center behind the radiator, then placing front stands. However, I will admit that ever since I found shop space with a two-post lift it's gotten a lot easier.
 
Yeah! I Know

Had the rear on my stands, under the ball joints. While I was under it, something slipped. Before I could Bail, the whole thing shifted to the Right, as the Stand slide UP the CV Shaft to the Trans. I looked at the left stand still holding, at about a 45 degree angle
OK! You can breathe now. I'm writing this so you know it didn't "get me". :excited:
Now you know why I'm asking what seems to be a DUMB Question.:headbang:
 
Red Bull 78 said:
Had the rear on my stands, under the ball joints. While I was under it, something slipped. Before I could Bail, the whole thing shifted to the Right, as the Stand slide UP the CV Shaft to the Trans. I looked at the left stand still holding, at about a 45 degree angle
OK! You can breathe now. I'm writing this so you know it didn't "get me". :excited:
Now you know why I'm asking what seems to be a DUMB Question.:headbang:
Click to expand...

That is why I do not like to put the stands anywhere on the control arms. Those hard points at the corners of the wheel wells are flat and rock-solid stable... The suspension components were designed to move.
 
Convinced Me

In my early days, I was a Commercial Tire man. Sometimes took THREE 20 Tom Jacks, just to the tire I needed to work on off the ground in the Snow & Ice. :eyepop: Had my share of "Close Calls".
 
Well Excuuuse Me

Some things just slip my mind, these dazed. Sometimes I remember what didn't work, better than what did, because it didn't try to kill me.:excited:
 
I use these points for jack stands:

X bottom 2b_MU.jpg


Photo shamelessly lifted from this thread by Rodger.

On the forward points I always use a piece of wood between the car and the jack stand.
 
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EricH said:
So at the front you are few inches back from the corner of the wheel well where the scuttle drains pass through... Any particular reason? I'm not arguing here, just curious,
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It is mostly a guess that the hole (circled) is intended to mark where to position the front arm of a two post lift. Just like the rear points (just forward of the rear wheel well) have holes in them.

Looking at the inside of the car, it seems to make sense; this is at a beefy part of the chassis rail.
 
I always assumed those four holes were used as the mounting points for the in-production bodies to be transported around the Bertone factory on the dollies you see in the pix below:

x19_factory_08.jpg


x19_factory_09.jpg


And for the overhead carrier that you see in this pic:

x19_factory_07_1981.jpg
 
Red Bull 78 said:
I'm tired of Jacking around on the Bull. I have to work on the Cooling System and maybe pull the radiator for Cleaning.
Click to expand...
For this job, I'd consider jacking the front up from the front jack point and placing ramps under the front tires and moving the jack to the rear jack point and bringing the rear up onto a second set of ramps (or jack stands of course) for the widest possible base for the car-in-the-air.
But I don't have a flat floor to work on, either!
 
Safety first
Always be sure to have some sort of buffer between jack stand and car. One should never end up with metal resting on metal, this can be very hazardous to your health. Thin piece of rubber or thin block of wood will do it.

Just my thoughts from previous experience:oops:

Stoney
 
Can you tell us why you don't want metal on metal?
By the way, I have no problem supporting an X with jackstands on the sill pinchweld.
 
Metal to metal will slide along the two surfaces. The jackstand has some dynamic stability in its tripod design, having that load up high can make for an object that is not stable. Particularly if the the whole car is not up at the same height and there isn’t some ‘hook’ like feature between the vehicle and the jackstand.

Years ago when I was younger and even dumber than I am now I had a LTD up on stands, it slid on the steel head of the jackstand. I was able to get out from where I was in time. It was one of several stupid moments I learned from. Not tightening the lug bolts on Dave Dellinger’s Peugeot (Chicago 7) was another learning moment.
 
On the topic of stability, I like to position the jack stands as far toward the 4 outside corners of the vehicle as possible to increase the overall "footprint". However, on the topic of things sliding on the stands, I like to place the stands in a spot with the most contact between them and the vehicle (which is not a movable object like a suspension component). So those two objectives are not always compatible and some compromise is required.

On my X's I put the rear two stands in the same spot as described earlier (red circles toward the rear end), and I put the two front ones next to the mounting points for the front control arms (yellow circles). That front location is a little further forward than the earlier suggestion (the 'fuzzy' red circles), and it is a very thick/solid and flat plate for my stands to rest on. It will depend on your stands' particular design, but mine don't sit well under that corner (fuzzy red circles). And I have those urethane covers on the tops of my stands ...mostly to prevent scraping up the undercoating.

stand.jpg
 
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