Jack Stands or Tire Rests

[Tigershark48]

The weight of the engine is carried by motor mounts on the unibody on each side.
The cross member supports the axles, and is an extremely strong beam that has always been used as the jack point to lift the front of the car.
The jacking point on the cross member is shown by the red cross and red star in these photos.

Attachment 641032Attachment 641033

I tried the 2x4 under the rocker panel between the jack points today and as soon as I started raising the car on the jack, the 2x4 started slipping outward due to the angle of the rockers. Not doing that again. I also don’t want to risk denting the panels jacking inboard of the jack points. Between the pictures and description here for front end jack points and Randy’s picture of the coupe halfway to the moon on the differential, these will be my next lift points. Tomorrow, I’ll give these a shot for getting it up on the stands. My stands are set at 16” for the 17” lift range of my jack. This brings the car up approx 10” higher which should give me room to crawl around underneath. The stands will go to 19”, so if need be, I can jack it up a second step using a 4x4 spacer on the jack.

My plan is to inspect the guido for cracks, change fluids and clean the underbody. No rust, grease or oil. Just a 20 year dirt film. I also plan to pull the wheels and apply red high-temp red caliper paint to match the car color. Once completed, I plan to drop the stands down to tires touching for neutral suspension lift position for the winter.

I got my insurance going this week for winter storage. Kemper insurance. They provide comprehensive only for one full year at $28. When spring driving weather arrives, all I have to do is add full coverage and I’m good to go. The downside to driving during winter storage is comp only, so a collision would not be covered. Since there’s always the possibility of salt on the roads throughout the winter months, we just put it on jack stands and eliminate the tenptation of taking the occasional winter spin.

Since we just bought our first ever BMW Roadster, it’s going to be a very long winter. Of course, I’m not new to this. All of my motorcycles sat out winter as well. My present bike (BMW F700GS) is nice and snug covered up and plugged into its Tender.

Living in a warmer climate has its perks, but there are a lot of things we love about Wisconsin winters. It helps to be retired. Sitting in front of a glowing fireplace with bourbon in hand is just one of many.

[Wrench Turner]

If you want to be super thorough, you can do what my mechanic (race car guy) suggested: Jack stands high enough that the tires are still touching the ground a bit. This keeps the various rubber bushings from the weight of the suspended wheels and stuff hanging on them.r.

was looking the whole thread for a post like this

From my understanding it is not ideal but also probably not a deal breaker but still - not ideal to have the suspension hanging from itself for months on end on jack stands. That’s sort of the idea behind preloading bushings and so forth. You don’t want them twisted past their max loaded positions. So in terms of bushes, much much better to have the car under its own weight.

But out the tread managed to devolve into a how to use jack stands thread lol

[Tigershark48]

Put it up on the front jack stands today. Right front first, then left front. Inspected right front stand and found the two inside legs lifted up about 1/2” above the floor from tipping during left side lift. Repositioned it for safety while I inspected the quido. Looked brand new, so no worries there. Took it back down and returning all four stands to Amazon. My lift points were just out (forward) from the jack points on the rocker panels since my jack wouldn’t clear to roll under the car anywhere else. Sure would be nice to have a garage pit for working underneath.

I proceeded to air up the tires to 50 psi and threw a fitted dust cover over it. Battery tender hooked up. Good until spring.

[daven]

I tried the 2x4 under the rocker panel between the jack points today and as soon as I started raising the car on the jack, the 2x4 started slipping outward due to the angle of the rockers.

If you noticed, I said I use 4x4's that rest directly on the plastic covers of the jack points. The wood doesn't contact the rocker panels and stays square on the jack and the car. 2x4's aren't very strong and IMHO would bend trying to support the load. Sorry if you misunderstood my method, but you'll figure out what's best for you. If I could get my jack under the ends, I'd use the frame crossmembers as my first choice, but I chose handling over easy access. To each their own.

[BimmerBreaker]

Lift from the center if you want it on all fours - front subframe in the front, rear from the diff. If you cant reach those, drive it up a piece of wood or small ramps to get access - or lift up one side and slide wood under the wheels, evenly on both sides, until you can get a jack in the middle

Regarding leaving the wheels touching the ground... If I left my car stored on stands Id have the wheels off..

[Vintage42]

... plan is to... clean the underbody. No rust, grease or oil. Just a 20 year dirt film...

I did the same my first winter. Jacktands, hot soapy water in a shallow radiator drain pan, and the thickest most absorptive wash rag I could find. Carried soapy water up in the rag and rubbed and washed off everything. Rinsed the rag in the pan when it was dirty and had lost its water. Some water all over me and the floor. Bottom was shiny.

- - - Updated - - -

Put it up on the front jack stands today. Right front first, then left front. Inspected right front stand and found the two inside legs lifted up about 1/2” above the floor from tipping during left side lift...

I think the rocking of the stands shows the alternating-side lifting method is unsafe. The stands are stable if the car is lifted from the rear and front central jacking points.

[Tigershark48]

Agree with you guys about lifting at front crossmember and differential. Driving up on some form of risers to provide jack clearance to the middle of the car would work great.

My local car wash owner said an easy way to clean the bottom would be to jack up one side at a time and use a high pressure hand wash nozzle to spray off the dirt.

[Vintage42]

... an easy way to clean the bottom would be to jack up one side at a time and use a high pressure hand wash nozzle to spray off the dirt.

Just put the floor jack in the trunk, go to the car wash, and put the jack head under one side of the car then the other?
Aside from questionability of using a floor jack head anywhere on the side of the car, one lift can safely only tip the car so high, and does not get the car very high, compared to a couple of lifts onto jack stands.
And high pressure is good for gross dirt but does not remove the dirt film and leave shining paint like hand washing does.

[Tigershark48]

Agree. Access to areas of the bottom would be limited, although my floor jack gets it up pretty high. I’ll find out in spring when I take it out of storage.

[raubritter]

Every once in a while you find something that is a simple idea, but brilliant... This is another solution to the jacking/jack stand issue.

http://www.jackpointjackstands.com

You are able to jack the car up at the proper factory jack points, then lower onto the jackstands which have a cutout for the jack. They're pretty large, and not cheap, but it's a great idea. I got a set but have not used them yet. Maybe I'll make a review with some pictures in the future.

I also wouldn't want the car on jackstands for very long... but if I needed to, I would remove wheels.

[PbFut]

Been doing it for 15 years. No affect other than rubbing off the factory undercoat. I do not use a any wood. Jack pad straight onto the rail. FrankenCouper has been up, and down, on and off jack stands using the rail as lift point an average 3 or 4 times a month. Given all the work at home and at the track negative affect of doing so would have surely shown up by now.

[PbFut]

I think the rocking of the stands shows the alternating-side lifting method is unsafe. The stands are stable if the car is lifted from the rear and front central jacking points.

You will get the same affect front to rear method if the floor jack is not rolling on the floor while lifting. All lifts do not lift straight up. The jack arches the point of contact as you lift the car. The higher you lift the more the contact point of the jack pulls away from the car. So if the floor jack does not roll while doing the second lift you will always get a pull or tip of the first set of stands. That is why you always go back to the first side and lift the car one more time a tiny bit to verify the stands did not tip. If they did the very small amount of lift will not tip the second side while the first side is re-positioned. First side is now straight and you drop the car back down. Now you have a stable platform. Shake the car violently on the stands to verify.

[Vintage42]

Y... if the floor jack does not roll while doing the second lift you will always get a pull or tip of the first set of stands...

Don't all floor jacks roll and lift without trying to pull and tip the jack stands? My jack rolls during the second lift in the front, and does not pull on the stands I placed in the rear.

[PbFut]

As designed yes. But...there are many causes for the wheels not to roll. Dirt on the floor, rough surface, caster wheel cocked. It won't take much and it happens enough that there is no reason not to double check the first lift. Be it side or front/rear method.

[Tigershark48]

Rusty axle bushings when your floor jack is 50 years old....

[midlife32]

I live in Northern Illinoibus and never do anything special to my 01 3.0i Roady but cover it with a nice cover. No ill effects and it gets blue cold up here!

[Tigershark48]

I’ve always heard it pronounced Illannoyance ;-)