Jacking the 993 safely: what do you reckon?

[Guest]

Here's an idea that sounds safer than the way suggested on p-car.com, which most people quote as the way to jack up the 993. I have concerns about my car potentially slipping off the axle stands one day by doing it that way, so here goes...(apologies if anyone's already suggested this!)

Go to any local metalworker (in abundance in Yellow Pages) & ask them to cut two lengths of nice strong square steel tubing. The length should be slightly longer than the length between the front & rear jacking points on each side of the car. Then, obtain four metal jacking plates of the type that can be found widely e.g. at http://www.type-911.co.uk/ac_spectools.htm (see "budget jack plate"). Then ask your friendly metalworker to weld the jacking plates onto each end of your two metal tubes (obviously measure to ensure that the jacking point holes will match precisely with the pins on the jacking plates).

To lift the car safely, simply locate the arrangement into the jacking points front & rear on one side of the car, then jack in the middle of the square steel tube, then gently lower the car down onto axle stands at either end so that the steel tubing sits nicely in your V-shaped axle stands. Then repeat process on the other side. This should work well with the red Machine-Mart (Clarke) design of axle stands which many people seem to have.

Maybe even round steel tubing could be used, which would turn more smoothly in true V-shaped axle stands (with no flat steps in them), although the jacking plates would have to be welded strongly and the tubing would have to be strong enough not to bend (metalworker's advice important here). A simple securely-welded jacking plate in the middle of each tube could also be easily fabricated (I think this would be important with circular tubing!).

Total cost around £100-150 (ish) but you have a safely raised and secured car, using proper jacking plates just like on a four-point lift. I haven't had these tubes made up yet, but I am keen to look into this. Just look at the price of specialist long drive-on wheel ramps and this doesn't seem so expensive and lets you work with all four rims off.

Although there is a strong body of opinion that jacking under the crankcase is fine, this avoids the issue completely and provides a cheap and easily storable solution and reduces the risk of expensive £££ car damage from slipping off axle stands etc. What do you reckon? I'm sure someone's been here before so apologies if so, but nothing came up on a search of this site. Would anyone be interested in some photos if I do go ahead?

 

[Pickled Piper]

Sounds fine as a basis. iI I could remember anything that I learned on my Mechanical Engineering Degree I would be able to work out the section of the tubing that you would need to prevent it from bending. Also, remember that since the weight is rearward biased you will need to jack nearer the back then the front. Again, if I had been paying attention at Uni iIwould be able to calculate the position of the jacking point for you.

Another consideration is that once you have placed the tube in position you will need a very low entry jack to get underneath it.

I am sure that there are easier ways to do this. I recall that you can jack the car on various crossmembers etc in order to leave the jacking points free for the axle stands. I'm sure others will pitch in.

pp

 

[Guest]

Thanks PP. Good idea on the jacking point. Perhaps closer to the rear wheels, particularly when raising the second side would be wise. The weight of the car should still be distributed more evenly than via the p-car method.

The problem is that you must not jack on in-board suspension components as these are light alloy & could crack/distort (even without you knowing initially). The front cross member is also not a wise place to jack (even the crankcase jacking fans with thousands of posts on Rennlist advise against this).

One further thought: I think that the perfect jack stands for square tubing would be those with a U-shaped saddle rather than a V-shaped saddle. I have a new pair of UK-made Melco stands from Machine Mart which will do this nicely. They were £24 and have nice wide feet. Build quality is very robust.

On the low jack entry issue. You could first jack the car & put some pieces of 3"x2" wood under the wheels before starting this, if necessary. There are plenty of low entry jacks available these days however. I still think this idea might work, any more comments anyone...?

 

[clyde]

I agree with PP, good in theory but maybe difficult to execute. The steel beam would need to be quite substantial and I'm not sure I would rely on the steel fabricator to advise on the size. No disrespect intended to any metal workers out there but their job is to fabricate not design and it's not like he would be able to fall back on previous experience of such a thing.

I would dearly love it to work because I always have nightmares when it comes to working under my car as I can't bring myself to jack it at any point other than those indicated by Porsche, which, as Roddy points out, doesn't leave anywhere to put axle stands. Perhaps if there were two jacking points on the beam to be used simultaneously this would be enough to reduce the depth of the beam to a sensible size? Like PP I should have paid more attention to the engineering lectures.

Hope you can resolve it Roddy.

 

[harry]

Buy a mid-rise lift. Your life is worth at least 2Grand, no? I've got one and it's great. You also won't have to worry about car falling off jackstands etc.

Harry

 

[Guest]

Would dearly love to if my garage was wide/long/high enough.

 

[harry]

It's not the type you see in the professional garage. The width is about 180cm, length 193cm (with theramps extended) and rises by 93cm. It is stored flat about 9.5cm off the floor.

Harry

 

[Guest]

Ah right. I've seen those. Where did you get yours from & how is it powered? Would I be able to lift it to move it around?

 

[oxford_hippo]

slight deviation: as per Rody's timber block jacking suggestion:

lazy option is to have your 4 pieces of wood on the ground,
then drive / reverse the car up onto them - much quicker than all the jacking to's and fro's

3 x 2 sounds a tad small to balance on though.[8|]

suggest you stop by a builder who's fitting a roof ( a cut roof for those technically minded as opposed to trussed ) - as probably loads of 5 or 6 x 2" offcuts going in the skip. - and if you asked nicely they might cut them with a bit of a slope on one face, to make driving up more easy??[]

 

[harry]

Once in position the wheels are removed so stays in place until such time you decide to move it again (it is not so easy to move it so I don't think you will move it regularly). It should be available at Unipart Automotive, or a Motrofactor place near you - the lift is called Hoffman, EuropaMagic. I've changed oil and filters, bled my brakes and changed the transmission oil using the lift. The hydraulics are operated electrically and is included.

Harry

 

[Guest]

Thanks Harry, will bear this in mind if I get a bigger garage.

On the subject of my original suggestion, I think I might have the answer to the potential "bending" square tubing problem...our 993s are heavier at the rear, yes? Well, I spoke to a steel fabricator today, who thought that a (say) 2"x2" square steel tube might bend if jacked in the middle (unless reinforced), but why not jack close to the rear jacking point (car heavier at the back etc)? This would be even better! No bending likely and you can lower car onto the rear axle stand first, then (because little body flex) the car will come down onto the front axle stand very shortly after. Seriously, I still think that this idea could be the answer to many of our jacking woes.

Anyone see a problem with this?