jfmitchell44

just reading a couple of old jacking threads no definitive answer found and want your opinions, the road i live on is narrow and has a terrible camber into the kerb making it really dangerous to put on four jackstands. so if i want to just raise the rear or front of the car where would you lift from underneath???

Cyberpunky

I use ramps(with extensions for low cars) as I don't trust doing it any other way, as these cars are so low I would get squished like a bug if they fell off a stand or jack
peace
Cyberpunky

flightline

I believe it's safe to jack from the front crossmember, but there's no way to get a jack in there with the car on the ground. If you get some pieces of 2x6 and roll the car up onto them so you can get the jack in there that might work. Don't think there's anything in the back to use as a jackpoint, the transaxle is a no-no.

A.M.H

Get a low profile jack and you can get under the car with it on the ground. Jacking from the front cross member is fine, just make sure you have your jack centered well. You can also jack the back up from the center of the diff. This, from what I have seen and read over the years, is a heavily debatable topic. Some say its fine, others say never, like flightline above me. You can see that there is a flat-ish spot/area on the bottom center of the diff. You can jack right there, then place your jack stands at the jack stand points. It is harmless. I have been doing it like that since I bought my 944, 3 yrs ago, and have YET to have any problems.

The diff basically hangs there, in essence "floating" in place, suspended by one mount, two if its the early model 944. I think of it this way: If jacking up on it is harder on the diff or diff mount, than the twisting torque and weight of the diff HANGING on the mount, then it would be a really stupid design. I am aware of concern of cracking the diff case as well. Unless you already have a weak case, or already cracked case, or you drop it on the diff, say w/o wheels and tires on, then yes, you risk damaging your diff case, and possibly your diff. But using the center of your diff as a jacking point, just long enough to get jack stands in the appropriate locations, you have nothing to worry about, IMHO.

This image shows you of the safe and unsafe places to jack up your 944, though it doesn't have the diff marked as a safe place, I assure you, I have also had others that have owned 944's almost longer than I have been alive, tell me it is fine as well. And in the second pic, where I squared in in red, that is the area that you can place a jack under. If you are uneasy about it, use a block of wood between your jack and the diff and get as close as you can get to assuring the weight is evenly distributed on the jack.

mytrplseven

After having taken apart my car from stem to stern I have several concerns: Recommended jacking point is the center jack point under the door where the triangle shaped dimple shows the location of the jackpoint underneath. Afterwards if you put a jackstand or support underneath a front of rear recommended support spot as shown in the previous photo and then go to the other side to put one on the opposite side, I worry that you're putting a major torque (twist) in the body of the car. I'm not sure if that's an issue or not but it scares me. Second, after looking at the two narrow bolts that hold the Transaxle to the body mount under the floor, I can forsee only damage to that fragile mount and they're not cheap to replace. Same things with trying to use the engine or the cross-member as a jackpoint with a floor jack. If you must do this, I'd go a couple of inches at a time (using central jack point under the door) and use recommended support spots as you go. When I jack my car up to work underneath, I jack up the entire car one side, place jackstands under the long rails that run under the driver/passenger floor (front) and the rear trailing arm near the pivot point. This has proven solid and I've spent many hours under there doing rebuilds of the front and rear of the mechanicals of the car. What ever you choose to do, take the time to do it a little at a time and be careful.

A.M.H

I agree with everything mytrplseven said. In the left pic that I posted, the spots he points out that are in roughly the middle of the car, circled in green, I dont feel safe with those locations either, for the exact same reasons mytrpseven stated. But where it says hoist or jack stand safe points, at the rear, just in front of the rear tires, those ARE good points to use with your jack stands. And yes, If you use the diff to raise the back of the car, again, like guy above me stated, do it slowly, couple inches at a time. Ease into it.

As far as the front cross member being used as a jacking point. It is safe. It is cast aluminum, thick at that, and you notice all the cross bracing in the mold. That is for lots of strength. The two bolts on each side that hold the cross member to the frame rails/aprons, are big bolts. And being it is mounted to your frame rails/aprons, you can be assured that everything is strong enough to hold.

jfmitchell44

cheers guys great advice

Rich Sandor

Do not use the Diff to jack up or support the car. The Diff hangs from the tranny mount like a sack of *********. If you remove the CV shafts, you can rock the tranny/diff back and forth quite a bit. I would NEVER use the tranny to support the back of my car, and I would certainly never get under it when supported like that. The secondary reasoning is that the way the tranny hangs, the mount only has to support the ~500lbs of the tranny weight. But when you jack the car UP there, that mount suddenly is supporting the entire rear half weight of the car, which I don't think it's designed to support. If you are on uneven ground, start jacking the car up via the diff, and your jack slips, it will force the tranny sideways, and if the car's full weight is on that mount as your jack is sliding sideways, well, I'd rather not take that risk. I've some pretty unbelievable **** happen on hoists in our garage here at the dealership. Best not to take any chances.

If your driveway is uneven and it is unsafe to put your car on 4 jackstands, perhaps you should find another safer place to lift the car. It may not be what you want to hear, but sometimes you have to put safety ahead of convenience.

Rich Sandor

PS if you can get a jack under the front crossmember, it's perfectly safe. Just be careful not to squish any of the steering rack parts.

Fara

Also if you're jacking from the front crossmember, I suggest using a piece of wood to avoid damaging the cross member. Mine's got quite a few nicks and scratches from the jack.

MAGK944

How accurate is that diagram? I always use the two round points behind the front & rear wheels for my stands after I jack from the center jacking point. They have never felt unsafe or look like they would collapse. I never use the front frame rail as I've seen cars with severe metal distortion there due to use of stands.

The four round points where used on the assembly line to transport the cars around the factory, see no reason to avoid them, they are in the most convenient place for stands on the 944.

Only reason I would think they would be unsafe is that they are prone to attract dirt, moisture and road salt, which would corrode the metal and make them prone to collapse. But if they are in good shape, go ahead.

944Ross

Those round points are not on particularly reinforced areas of the pan. Most jackstands have a very small contact area with the rounded surface and I would not want to be pushing/shoving on parts while on them.

Absolutely not, as far as jacking on the transaxle!!

944Ross

As far as the OP, it is a Rule (for good reason) not to work on any surface that isn't flat and level.

Rich Sandor

The difference is those transport points were used all the the same time with the weight distributed evenly all for at once. This is impossible to duplicate when you are jacking one side of the car at once.

Take my word for it, I have owned a few of these cars over the years, and worked on MANY more. The sheet metal around those front cups is PAPER thin, and to make matters worse directly below the passenger footwell. What happens if you put a jackstand underneath those cups, and when you are jacking up the opposite side, if the weight shifts and collapses that cup, it will push up a big bump in the passenger or driver footwell.

The frame rail is the safest place to put jackstand. Think about it, the frame rail is significantly stronger than those puny cups by the fender. If the frame rails are getting kinked and dented (which is normal!) from the jackstands, how well do you think those little cups are going to hold up with no structural support above them?

MAGK944

Totally disagree, been using them for years. Factory used them. They are one of the strongest reinforced parts on the car, definitely better than the frame rails. I don't know where people get their info on this except for maybe a few people have had them fail because they were corroded. I do use a jack pad there, this one:



Even Clarks says the same thing years ago (Clark Fletcher post #2): http://www.clarks-garage.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1168&sid=efa71e61324b9c698bf6ecd08c52b8af