blackcrow

Get a thread going to find out if anyone has indeed bent an axle this way...
I 've been wrenching since '78... none so far!

Norm Peterson

On another car of mine the rear axle is slightly bent so that both rear wheels are cambered slightly (about -0.5° each). True, that's not the way a jacked-by-the-pumpkin axle would bend, but it does suggest that axles can in fact bend. Unfortunately, it's a replacement axle, so I do not know its entire history and it never occurred to me to measure it up right after it had been installed or to have measured the original axle to see if a slight negative camber back there was an OE within-tolerance item.


Norm

needforspeed3

Well, If you think about the auto industry has been trying for years to keep people from working on there on cars. How many people have a lift at home to use on there car?
Also I'm sure the liabilty has something to do with it. McDonalds hot coffee spilled in the lap brings millions car falls of jack brings??????????????
Steve

Norm Peterson

Trust me, I'm getting to the point where I really would appreciate having a lift. Bench-pressing trannies in and out and welding up exhaust systems and what-not while laying out of position on my back has gotten old. I've got to get down on my back this week to replace an alternator on my autocross weapon/winter beater this week and I'm not particularly looking forward to having to do so.

There are a few problems with having a lift. Most lifts are $2000 and up (see the latest Hot Rod Magazine advertising section), not all are rated for use as repair lifts, and the neighbors (and ultimately the local zoning board) might not appreciate most of what's available. The lift may not be rated for wind loading, and most home garages don't have the required interior height or may have a sloping floor for drainage. I might be able to engineer my own lift, but after being around commercial lifts I'm not fully convinced that I possess the requisite fabrication skills or that my welding equipment is sufficiently heavy duty to do a proper job.

You're probably right about the liability issue being part of it.


Norm

06elnr

my car is too damn low to jack the pumpkin anyways.... I use a 4 post lift for most of my stuff, nice to have a buddy with a bodyshop!

vasman

I prefer not to jack my pumpkin (being Greek I may be misunderstood.. ) but lifting one side at the time (which I have been doing) can it eventually bent the frame or have some other adverse affect?

Riptide

I don't jack my pumpkin.

I prefer to have my girlfriend do it for me.

moosestang

It is safer for you to jack it the way they say. There is a chance the car will fall if you jack it under the diff. Basically Fords lawyers don't think it is a good idea.

I lift the front under the engine cross member, but I'm sure Ford doesn't consider that a jack point either.

Norm Peterson

It is possible for a really old tired or rusty frame to become damaged or damaged further by lifting only one corner. If that is the case, it's usually apparent if you notice that you can pick the one corner up and the other three tires remain fairly well loaded. That's what led me to find a cracked frame on one of my cars 25 years or so ago. Better to find out that way that your frame has structural problems than to have it completely break somewhere while you're driving.

For the short duration of getting the corner up onto a jackstand this should not be particularly worse than jacking up one corner to remove a flat and replace it with the spare. IOW, this is not an issue at all for any car that's in sound structural shape.

I would not make a practice of leaving only one corner of the car raised up on either a jack or a jackstand for an indefinite length of time though.


Norm