Almost a jacking disaster! Advice please

[Mky77]

Tried jacking the coupe this evening for the first time and almost toppled it off Jack stand.
So Jack NSR stand under NSF, Jack OSR and rear was really high. OSF tyre still just on ground both rears in air and NSF on axle stand which was just about to topple forwards. Stopped at this point.
So how do I get the OSF up without the rear going sky high and toppling offf the NSF stand?

 

[enuff_zed]

Another option is to jack under the OSF Wishbone forward mounting joint and put the axle stand in the OSF jacking point. Then jack the rear under the diff and stick both rear axle stands under the rear jack points

 

[bigwinn]

I tend to use the rear central bracing point behind the diff and at the front I use a block of wood on the jack and place it on the subframe plate. Or the wishbone as Martin said but that can slip sometimes

 

[Mky77]

Another option is to jack under the OSF Wishbone forward mounting joint and put the axle stand in the OSF jacking point. Then jack the rear under the diff and stick both rear axle stands under the rear jack points

where the balljoint is at the right angle part? And do you use a block of wood or straight on with Jack pad?
Thanks

 

[raymond.harper]

I never raise either the whole front or the whole rear of the car. The risk, as you have seen, is just too great. Just lift the car from one side only with both the handbrake on and the car in gear. If you take a wheel off, stick it under the car to stop you from getting crushed should it fall off the axle stand.

 

[enuff_zed]

I never raise either the whole front or the whole rear of the car. The risk, as you have seen, is just too great. Just lift the car from one side only with both the handbrake on and the car in gear. If you take a wheel off, stick it under the car to stop you from getting crushed should it fall off the axle stand.

Perfectly safe if you take your time and do it properly. Rear is simple. Front fiddly getting a jack under there but I run the car up on a couple of planks first.

 

[enuff_zed]

Another option is to jack under the OSF Wishbone forward mounting joint and put the axle stand in the OSF jacking point. Then jack the rear under the diff and stick both rear axle stands under the rear jack points

where the balljoint is at the right angle part? And do you use a block of wood or straight on with Jack pad?
Thanks

I have a piece of wood which deforms slightly to the shape of the metal. Just take your time and if it looks iffy lower it again. Have the axle stand ready to go in

 

[Zedebee]

If raising front or rear (rather than just one side or one corner), I always use the centre jacking points - at cross brace at rear, at stamped point on the brace plate at the front, then support with axle stands when working under the car. I usually leave the jack in place for extra security. Always chock the wheels on the ground. Use the correct sized jacking block at the front or the stamped area on the brace plate will deform, but don’t worry too much as there is a substantial cross member underneath.

 

[snotrag]

I never raise either the whole front or the whole rear of the car. The risk, as you have seen, is just too great. Just lift the car from one side only with both the handbrake on and the car in gear. If you take a wheel off, stick it under the car to stop you from getting crushed should it fall off the axle stand.

Gotta disagree here. Doing what you suggest, and what the original poster has done, is putting all sorts of angles at work, diagonal loads across the car, and you very quickly end up with a car that is 'teetering' with its weight diagonally across one stand and the diagonally opposite wheel.

Jack the front up (from the centre jacking point of the car, under the engine, big rubber donut there so its easy to spot) or Jack the rear up from the bracing/heavy structure behind the diff. If you want all 4 wheels off or to work on one side, do both front and rear.

At no point is the car anything other than perfectly balanced left to right, the jacking action is moving purely vertically, no side loading, your trolley jack wheels are not trying to drag or skip sideways....... much, much safer.

Doing if front/back, there are never less than 3 points of contact. Tripods dont fall over.

Doing it diagonally frequently ends up with 2 points of contact, tyres rolling over onto their sidewalls or 'skipping' across your garage floor, and a car precariously balanced whilst you scrabble around adjusting stands of moving your trolly jack.


(If you can't get your jack under the front mount, drive onto some planks first).

 

[enuff_zed]

Jack the front up (from the centre jacking point of the car, under the engine, big rubber donut there so its easy to spot)

Only if you have an 'M' I believe. :wink:

 

[snotrag]

Apologies - M roadster is indeed my only experience with the Z4. One assumes there is a structural cross member under the engine on all Z4 variants though - my advice still stands for these and any other car. Front and/or back is far, far safer than diagonally!

 

[Zedebee]

Apologies - M roadster is indeed my only experience with the Z4. One assumes there is a structural cross member under the engine on all Z4 variants though - my advice still stands for these and any other car. Front and/or back is far, far safer than diagonally!

Same jacking point. There are some good threads on here from members who have made and fitted the equivalent “donut” to their non-M Zeds.

 

[STC_Zed]

This is one thing that concerns me about my new Z4 - I’ve always had a very obvious and secure front jacking point.

Some say don’t jack up front the front metal plate where there is a recess because on none M cars it’s not string enough, others say it’s fine, some jack up from the sides using wood to spread the load (not so keen on that idea).

I need to get it up in the air at some point to change the gearbox fluid but before that I need to change the front wishbones and RTAB. Jacking the rear up doesn’t worry me, but the front does just because of the conflicting stories.

 

[axelleveau]

Some say don’t jack up front the front metal plate where there is a recess because on none M cars it’s not string enough, others say it’s fine, some jack up from the sides using wood to spread the load (not so keen on that idea).

Jacking at the front plate on non-M does not damage anything structural, it will just crush the shield plate at that location until it touches the subframe which just is not looking great. I did it on mine as others have done and it was fine. I ended up drilling through that plate and adding a puck to the subframe thanks to [ref]Liam22[/ref]'s example on his race car thread. This end up making an even more secure jacking point and I should have done that in the first place, easy to say with hindsight but you can jack directly at that location with a piece of wood to make sure your jack pushes where there is slight recess.

 

[STC_Zed]

Some say don’t jack up front the front metal plate where there is a recess because on none M cars it’s not string enough, others say it’s fine, some jack up from the sides using wood to spread the load (not so keen on that idea).

Jacking at the front plate on non-M does not damage anything structural, it will just crush the shield plate at that location until it touches the subframe which just is not looking great. I did it on mine as others have done and it was fine. I ended up drilling through that plate and adding a puck to the subframe thanks to [ref]Liam22[/ref]'s example on his race car thread. This end up making an even more secure jacking point and I should have done that in the first place, easy to say with hindsight but you can jack directly at that location with a piece of wood to make sure your jack pushes where there is slight recess.

Thanks for that, good to know that I can jack from there. I’ll look into that mod that you referenced.

 

[Mky77]

Cheers for the info Guys

I ended up doing the front by getting stand under one side then jacking the other side wishbone with a block of 4x2 and placed stand in jacking point. At no point did the car look unstable doing this.

I did the rear separately from central point and left Jack in place with a bit of tension on it and 2 rear Jack stands.

My ground was not exactly straight and level so didn’t risk all 4 wheels off at once.

I got my expansion tank done with coolant flush and with front up it bled itself no problem. Got 2 new callipers fitted to front, painted all 4 callipers carriers and disc hubs then flushed brake fluid. ( Calipers painted off the car).

Nice to get a good drive in it yesterday after it being laid up for a while

 

[Mr Tidy]

I'm glad you managed to get it sorted, although probably not nearly as glad as you! :lol:

 

[Mky77]

I'm glad you managed to get it sorted, although probably not nearly as glad as you! :lol:

 

[Big Bad Boris]

Yeah, glad you got it sorted, Given the average age of the punters on here I doubt there are many that haven’t had a jacking disaster.

Yep, we all thought it, but looks like it was down to me to say it

 

[pvr]

With age, I now cheat :lol: