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Liftbar Positioning

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Old 07-11-2015, 01:57 AM
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ltoolio
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Default Liftbar Positioning

So was putting the car up on the Liftbars to start my prep work for some bushing replacements, and started on the driver side.

Got it up a few clicks on the jacks, switched to the PS, started jacking up the liftbar there and heard a bit of a metal screetch.

Stopped everything, went back to the DS and saw that the pad at the front of the car had rotated outward. Took a few mins to come up with the best way to lower it down without everything crashing down, and got the DS wheels back to the ground.

But it got me wondering if:
1. I'm positioning them wrong
2. I need to level out the jack pads.

The liftbars that the PO provided me have a post for the jackhole in the rear of the car, but only has a pad for the front of the car.

The pad at the front of the car is a bit angled...lower towards the door, higher towards the center of the car. I'm assuming this isn't by design and is due to wear / incorrect prior usage, but am not sure how (if at all) I can safely jack it up.

Am I missing something? Should I hammer down the front jack pad to make it level? Something else?

I had a bit of a sick feeling thinking about what could have been, but its got me thinking of future safeguards I should take when jacking the car up such as putting blocks under the wheels once the car is elevated.

Attached below is what the front of the lift bar looks like.

Old 07-11-2015, 06:51 AM
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bills928
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I can tell you exactly what happened.... You must position the jack perpendicular to the car so that the jack will "roll" as you raise it, If you don''t have it positioned like that the car will pull to one side and possibly fall.... Your lucky you stopped when you did.

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Old 07-11-2015, 07:29 AM
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FredR
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I think you need to contact Ken and take his advice.

The image shown on the liftbars website suggests that the flat pad should be at the rear of the car and the image you present suggests your bar even may be deformed [unless it is an optical illusion].

Ken has two designs - one for the early models and one for the later ones so presumably you have an earlier model 928?

Regards

Fred
Old 07-11-2015, 07:55 AM
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bills928
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Your picture is showing the rear pad of the liftbar... not the front.

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Old 07-11-2015, 08:18 AM
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linderpat
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you did it backwards - the post coming out of the one pad on the liftbar is for the jack point at the front on each side, and that bulge piece of metal at the other end of the bar fits in the rear of each side just under the lip of the body, with the flat pad sitting under the rear jack point. Switch the liftbars and do it again.

Note, when you get them from Ken, they are clearly marked with vinyl tape and black printed lettering showing driver's side and passenger side, as well as markings for the front door seam and the center for lifting. Why the prior owner of the liftbars would have removed that tape is a mystery - it is critical info as you found out. Lucky you didn't drop the car, or worse, be under it and have it slide off on top of you! When used right, they are rock solid.
Old 07-11-2015, 08:23 AM
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linderpat
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Originally Posted by FredR
....the image you present suggests your bar even may be deformed [unless it is an optical illusion].

.,,,
not an optical illusion; the old style liftbars (up to the early vin 86 models) have that curve in the rear of the liftbar. That is how they are supposed to be. BUT, because of that curve, they are side specific. The liftbars for 86.5 and onward, as well as earlier Boxsters and Caymans, some 911s, etc, all use straight bars.
Old 07-11-2015, 12:02 PM
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ltoolio
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Thanks, guys. The front/rear labels on them must be gone, as I don't have any on mine other than a scrawled PASS and DRIVER on a white sticker. Time to get out the sharpie so I don't make the same mistake again

I did go to his site before posting, and just missed the subtlety of the flat pad being at the back in his animated give.

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Old 07-11-2015, 12:25 PM
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AirtekHVAC
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Don't feel too bad, I had mine backwards too......



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