gsholz

Today was the first time I jacked up my new to me car (95 C2 conv) to change tires and was surprised to find that the front jack point was twisted and loose. I did not see that when I bought the car 2 months ago because the lift was covering that area.

I removed the plastic covers to get a better look and sure enough the jack point is almost ripped off and squeezing the oil lines. The jack point hardware seems only welded on at two points and one of them was torn off. Most likely by using one of those safety jacking points that lock onto the car.

I have no idea how long the car has been lifted that way. People seem to just shove the lift arm under the car without checking the condition of the lift points. I'm surprised that the shop that did the 60k service when I bought it did not notice...

How do I get this fixed properly? Cut the jack point cup completely off and weld back on? Do I need to have them remove the oil lines? Where would you go to have this fixed- a body shop, a mechanic, the dealer? Thanks for you help

AOW162435

Probably happened at the last shop.... that would be hard to miss.

A competent body shop can get this handled. If the lift point is too distorted to reuse, a new one can be purchased from Porsche.


Andreas

NC TRACKRAT

No matter who does the repair, be sure they understand that the battery must be disconnected before doing any welding.

Flying Finn

This is actually pretty common, usually happens when being towed on a flatbed and the idiotic tow guy puts the straps on those jacking points.
They're strong enough when you jack the car but not when you pull them forward...

Mine are both kinda messed up (both happened when the previous owner had the car towed because of flat) and I've bent them back to where they should be but haven't welded them in place which would be the permanent fix.

I jack the front by placing a 2x8 under the trunk floor between the suspension points (common location folks use because you get both front wheels up) and don't really use the front jacking points anymore although mine can still hold the car up.

First thing I'd do it bend them back so they don't rub the oil lines and then if you need to, have a shop weld them back into their correct location.

gsholz

Ahh that makes sense! Although mine is bent towards the rear it must have happened during a tow or transport. What is the proper way to tow/tie down these cars during transport?

It is a difficult location to weld and I'd probably have to remove the oil lines or at least get them out of the way.

I'll definitely have them disconnect the battery during welding. What about disconnecting the harness to the computer, ABS unit etc? Is one type of welding MIG (DC) safer than say TIG (HF)?

Mike J

Yeah, its VERY common for these to be bent. I would say every third car I have in the shop has them mangled some some way - although I have not seen one totally torn off before.

My left hand one on the Turbo is bent as well - so I took a closer look. One of the spot welds had broken, and without that support, the mount will twist and bend, since its not now a three legged stool with only two legs..

I was going to weld it up, but would have to remove A/C cooling lines, inside insulation, and then paint - not worth the trouble and risk welding, since the sheet metal is pretty thin there. I could also drill a hole through the old weld spot and put in a bolt - but did not want do to that either, so I now just make sure all the pressure is just upwards when I lift the car. I will get to a solution eventually, likely this winter when it's parked.

Cheers,

Mike

Flying Finn

It seems mine are very similar to yours, I can put the jack stands there and the car is stable once on the jack stands, I just can't use them to actually jack the car up because then the force is not straight up.

I was thinking of using some aero quality bonding material to put it in place, haven't investigated what exactly to use, but I'd think with the right stuff, it will be as strong as a welded.

Mike J

If you find something that works, let me know, I would like to try it!! I have the lift at home, so the force is always upwards, so that helps.

JMR

My indie welded pieces of brake pad backing plates to the front ones to give them some added strength. Worked great!

Mike J

I do not think the actual mount is at fault, its how its attached to the body. If all the attachment points remain, well, attached the mount should be strong enough. It only bends when one of the attachment points breaks, and there are twisting moments on the piece.

cheers,

Mike

Flying Finn

Exactly.
It's a fine design for jacking the car upwards, but not pulling forwards (as in a case of using straps to tie it down).

Garth S

Repaired the left side lift point 6 years ago ...... better than new after the repair ( which isn't probably saying much ).

Welding in place when shielding the lines is no problem.

Mike J

There are two tiedown points on the frame in the front just below where the steering tie rods are - its pretty clear when you look. As for the rear, I think the rear jack mounts are fine, but not the suspension alloy members.

Cheers,

Mike

gsholz

Progress ..... I managed to bend the jack point back into position without destroying the oil lines. I raised the car using it and it kind of works but it is probably just a matter of time before the other spot weld fatigues.

So... I'll either have to have it spot welded close to where the original weld failed or go with some of the 3M structural epoxy pastes. I think I'll try the epoxy. If it does not work I can always fall back to welding.