So I definitely made the mistake of using improper jack points while trying to put my car on jack stands. On the front driver side, just aft of the actual jacking point, my “side skirt” is now pushed up in the area where I raised the car. I have two questions. First is did I create any frame damage by doing this? Second is I notice the side skirt appears to be a single unit that is molded onto the rear ¼ panel. How would I go about having this repaired? Could a body shop tack something onto it and then pull it back down? This is the result of installing springs at 2AM after just a few hours of sleep the night prior….

 

Here are some pics:

 

Being a monocoque construction there is no "frame" per se that one can damage. There is a good possibility that a body shop can tack weld on about 3-4 pins in that area and then pull it back out. Then they would grind off the pins, finish it, add some of the flex-agent to replicate the factory body shutz stuff, and then color coat it. Thanks for sharing this with all. It's something that can very easily be done If you deviate from the designated jack points. In the future, suggest you either use the jack points or the junction of suspension points. Have a good shop point those good places out to you. Sadly, these bodies are quite weak unless they have been specifically beefed up for this purpose.

 

Thanks for the tip Dan. Glad to hear I haven't severely damaged the chassis.

 

There is only one more thought I can add to Dan's response. Check with your mechanic as to whether this can affect the crumple zones on the car. Most modern cars are intentionally designed to have the car crumple at specific points in the event of a collision in order to dissipate the energy of impact and protect the occupants. I cannot say with authority whether or not the area you have pictured is part of that safety feature, but suspect it may be. Just something to consider and look into further.

Jerry

 

https://rennlist.com/forums/997-gt2-gt3-forum/360524-warning-jack-points.html

 

I wanted to purchase one of the floor jack adapters sold by the aftermarket dlrs but they are designed for shop floor jacks that have a larger saddle then my 3.5 ton NAPA jack. I made my own adapter so I could use the factory jacking points and still to use floor jack. Not the most elegant solution but it worked perfectly when I had my M-3.

I have always tried to to avoid the jacking points for jack stands and tried to place them at a suspension juntion or frame rail if available.

 

A standard hard rubber hockey puck in the saddle of your floor jack will fit the jacking points perfectly... at least it does with my 3 ton Craftsman aluminum jack.

Somebody here (Edgy?) posted that quite a while ago, and it works like a charm for me. Just make sure the puck is centered against the jack point and not on the bodywork.

 

Sorry to hear of your jacking mishap. I service my 997 on my lift. Every time I put it on the lift I always take care to make sure the lift pads( made of hard rubber) are always on the 4 jacking points. Performance Products sells a jack pad the fits in the hole of the factory Porsche jack points. I have them and I will take some pics when I get back to my warehouse tomorrow morning.

 

Hockey pucks work great. I like to use this product since I can attach this aluminum lifting puck to the slots on the jacking points on the underside and then just move my jack to a perfectly postioned point.


http://www.eliteengineeringusa.com/jacking-pads.html

 

Can somebody please confirm that the parts from Elite Engineering (link in the above post) will fit and work with a 997 type model.

Thanks,

 

Look in the lower left corner of the page from this link

http://tinyurl.com/295m53

The inserts referenced earlier are for a Corvette

 

They work on a 997.

 

SOrry to hear and see your problem/pain. Will look into jack points/hockey puck method next time I have to jack my 997 up. Am about to change my oil and filter so that migh be sooner than I had planned it seems. Timely post indeed.

Rob

 

Here are my jack pads from Performance Products. They cost $29 each and are well worth it. They go in the hole of the jack points on the 997 and sit on the rubber pad. The car cannot move. Never damaged my Porsche with them.