I was debating for a while whether to take my car to the porsche shop to get the oil pan replaced or to attempt it myself. Only ting I've done myself was the timing belt and water pump and it took me a long time and I used ramps.

Now I'm thinking I might try this oil pan gasket replacement myself main thing that made me want to take it to a shop is that I don't really trust jack stands especially because I've never used jackstands and I'm scared of doing it wrong and having the car fall on me.

anyways I've searched and seen the pics of where the jack stands go but from the pics I can't clearly see where the rear jackstands are suppose to go I need to see some close up real life picture of where the jack stands stand on the back of the car.


So I'm thinking of putting the car on jack stands in the front on the frame rails which look pretty obvious and then putting the rear wheels on my ramps to keep the car level and not on a big angle.

I'd obviously put the parking brake on and put the car in second gear but would this be safe enough or can the car roll off the jack stands with the rear wheels on ramps and the front on jack stands? that would be very dangerous but I highly doubt this can happen.

The jack stands are also curved to help keep you from driving over them and my driveway isn't on a hill so I don't think it can rolll off.

I'm mainly concerned about the jack stands somehow tipping over especially when I'm loosening bolts under the car..

For extra safety I'm thinking of removing the front wheels and putting them under the car maybe put a layer of brike / wood under the tire to rais it up more so it's almost touching the body.

I"m buying 6 ton jack stands to hold the car up and I still have 2 2 ton jacksands which are pretty small and wouldn't trust them to hold up the car when I'm unde there but I can put them somehwere for extra safety but not sure where.

the crossmember is going to be removed so I can't use that for back up jack stands so I guess maybe I can put them to almost touch the jacking points under the doors.

I'm just paranoid and want to make sure I'm safe before getting under there the car is pretty low to the cround witht the oil pan only a few inches off the ground so I'm not even sure if teh tires under the car would stop the car from crushing you should the car fall.


also what is the likelihood of the jack stands tipping over?

this is the reason I'm looking for the biggest jack stands I can find not because I need one that can support 12,000 pounds but a bigger base also means less likely to tip. I'd get jack stands larger than 6 tons but cant' find them anywhere.

also only 6 ton jack stands I can find are from Canadiantire and they are the motomaster brand which is a store brand so I'm not sure if they are quality stands. The two ton jack stands I bought are michelins but they are all still made in China.

 

I had the same setup when i dropped the engine in my car. I just used $30 harbor freight jack stands. I had the car up for like 2 months and no problems. There isnt really much to be afraid of except bending the frame.

 

I have 15 dollar Mach jackstands I and I still alive... did a tranny swap on my F-150 using them on top of blocks... I think mine are 2 and a half ton....

 

Jackstands are made so they DON'T tip...lol. Positioning them on the frame rails front and rear is fine. I had my entire car up on wooden blocks for 6 months and the blocks were on the inside corner of each wheel well, right under the rails. If you're concerned about the quality of your stands, buy new ones

 

Hah oh yea mine were on top of bricks and 2X4's to get the 21' ground clearence.

 

If you have ramps, just put the ramps under each rocker panel with a block of wood as necessary to keep them near touching the bottom of the rocker. I also don't trust jackstands by themselves.

 

I got the radiator out using the OEM jack, lol.

Talk about unsafe...

 

Think about this: Jackstands are designed and built to serve only one purpose, to hold up cars. Thats what they do, thats all they do. use 'em and trust 'em. If your unshure about them, then give the car a good shake before you get under just to make shure its stable.

 

my main question was if it's safe to have the rear tires on ramps while the front of the car is on jack stands.

I was wondering if the back tires are on ramps if it can cause the car to roll off the front jack stands. I'm guesing not very likely but still going to ask.

I dion't get where the rear jack stands are suppose to go, I need a clear real life picture but I can't find any so I want to use ramps on the rear.


I thought the frotn frame rails where the raised parts on the floor panel close to the exhaust not close to the wheel wells. On the rear I can't even tell where teh jack stands are suppose to go just know it's somwhere in front of the rear wheels.

 

true but that's only if you use them properly and put them in proper spots.

and I'm not so sure if I trust all jackstands I've heard of some bending or even breaking but maybe someone used them over their rated capacity.

 

Hmmm. I dont see how they could bend. All the pressure on the jack is being directed straight down.

 

maybe they were just really cheap chinese made jackst.

anyways would it be safe to have the front of the car up on jackstands while the rear wheels are on ramps? I'd try and keep it level as possible so the front isn't higher or lower than the back end.

would this be ok or is this a risky thing to do ?

 

Its easy to tell where to put the stands on the front of the car. I wish I had a pic but I don't; it will almost look like 2x4s stuck to the bottom of the floorpans. My little 2ton stands fit them perfect, and my car was on them for ~2 weeks while replacing my oil pan.

 

Thats what i did, and i had the front way higher than the back (which was on ramps). I had it like this for a couple months, i even sat in it and worked on it up on the jacks. If you set it up right it will be perfectly safe.

 

yeah in the front the frame rails look pretty obvious but they are just reinforced parts of the floor pan and they do dent a bit. I don't want the front of the car too much higher than the back because that increases the chance of jack stands tipping over.

I'll post a pick of the car up when I put it up so you see better if it looks safe.

I think I remember the warning on the jackstands that said do not use a combination of jack stands / ramps so i'm not sure if it is ok to have the rear wheels on ramps while the front is on stands.

yeah if I do it the car will probably be raised until August because I only have like 1-2 days off a week from work so I don't have much time to work on it but it needs to be done by August because I go back to school in september.

I'm also buying a engine support to hold the engien from the top. I know someone here posted a pic of homemeade support (wood) but I'd rather use the right tools.

ebay has some engine supports for around 60 bucks but shipping with UPS to Canada will likely cost a lot in duties.