Jacking up my Vette (So to speak)
07-08-2005, 10:50 PM
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Jacking up my Vette (So to speak)
Here comes the crazy question of the day... Can/Should I use my Honda Accord jack to lift a corner of my Vette at a time to replace brake pads? Its the only jack/lift that I can fit under my car. Well??
07-08-2005, 11:23 PM
#3
Corvette C5 Enthusiast
There were a few posts a number of months ago about a member who was using a jack from a Mercedes. Nice compact jack and not exactly a sissor jack. I checked my BMW and I have the same type of jack. Although I haven't tried it with the Vette the other guy had with good results. Not sure if the Honda deal is the same setup. If you can post a pic I'm sure you'll get some responses about it. 
07-08-2005, 11:53 PM
#5
Race Director
Originally Posted by pcfred
Hope you have jacking pads.
07-08-2005, 11:58 PM
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Type R
I thought I might have to put the type R sticker on the Vette to make the Honda jack work... thanks for the advice!! The jack is the scissor type... maybe I shouldnt mess with it. By the time I buy a usefull jack (where can I find a low profile jack?) and jackstands I could have just taken it to a shop to have it done... more fun to do it yerself though right?
07-09-2005, 12:08 AM
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Originally Posted by afone
Here comes the crazy question of the day... Can/Should I use my Honda Accord jack to lift a corner of my Vette at a time to replace brake pads? Its the only jack/lift that I can fit under my car. Well??
Electirc sissors jack, bought at Wal*Mart under $60.00 plugs into your cig lighter lifts and hold car off the ground. My $.02
07-09-2005, 12:47 AM
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Ok to have the front on jack stands only? Then the back only? Sorry for all the questions... appreciate the help. Think i'm going to tackle this in the morning one way or the other.
07-09-2005, 01:01 PM
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New baby... dont make much to begin with... I'm lucky to have the car at all.
Called local Chevy dealer this morning... told him I was looking for brake pads for the Vette... his question... "You got discs on the back?" This from the Chevy dealer parts departmen. Unbelievable.
Called local Chevy dealer this morning... told him I was looking for brake pads for the Vette... his question... "You got discs on the back?" This from the Chevy dealer parts departmen. Unbelievable.
07-09-2005, 01:15 PM
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St. Jude Donor '04-'05-'06-'07
Originally Posted by afone
New baby... dont make much to begin with... I'm lucky to have the car at all.
Called local Chevy dealer this morning... told him I was looking for brake pads for the Vette... his question... "You got discs on the back?" This from the Chevy dealer parts departmen. Unbelievable.
Called local Chevy dealer this morning... told him I was looking for brake pads for the Vette... his question... "You got discs on the back?" This from the Chevy dealer parts departmen. Unbelievable.
Typical
And he's gonna charge you $300.00 <rolleyes>Go through either Ken Finchtner or Fred Beans .. you can get a set of around 100.00
Oh yeah, the Merc. Benz jack is great for keeping the car. I have the Craftsman jack (around 199.00), but I saw a decent low-pro jack at CostCp for around 76.00.
07-09-2005, 06:17 PM
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i'll 2nd the costco recommendation; we were there today & i happened to notice that they had 3 floor jacks. i think the lowest cost one was somewhere between $69 & $76. bub
07-09-2005, 11:58 PM
#15
Harbor Freight sells a racing jack with a low profile of 3" with a 360 degree rotating rubber saddle that lifts 3000 lbs. for $79.99 + $8.99 shipping. Go to www.harborfreight.com part #91039-2vga
07-10-2005, 11:39 AM
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St. Jude Donor '10
re
invest in a set of rhino ramps.
use a brick or wheel chock with the ramps, the e brake will do you no good when your jacking the rear.
get a low profile hyd. jack and a board that will span the rear frame member.
get a set of jack stands.
buy 4 hockey pucks and 4 eyebolts that fit the corvette slots.
always be extra safe so you can live and enjoy your ride! also remember saftey glasses.
Working on the new Corvette
Part 1: Engine issues and proper jacking
by Hib Halverson
Jacking the C5
Most C5 DIYs will raise their car with a hydraulic service or "floor" jack. Do not use a floor jack to support the car while working underneath it. Hydraulic jacks can fail. If that happens while you are under the car; it is unlikely you will live to enjoy your C5. Use the floor jack only to lift the car. Use jack stands to support it.
The floor on which you are going to work must be reasonably level. If you are going to get both ends off the ground, start with the front. If you do the rear first; you won't be able get the jack under the front.
All the lower control arms mount to a pair of robust aluminum castings called "suspension cross members". They bolt to the car's structure and are the easiest jacking points when a floor jack is used. Each is a rectangle formed by two longitudinal rails and two cross-car rails. Do not, under any circumstances, use the front or rear leaf springs as jack points.
To jack the front, drive the front wheels up on wood blocks that are at least 12-in. long, 3.5-in. wide and 1.5-in. thick. Some floor jacks have a tall frame and thicker blocks may be necessary. With a C4, after you rolled the front up on blocks, you usually had to turn the front wheels full lock and roll the jack in from behind a front tire. Because of C5's longer wheelbase, you can lift the front by just rolling the jack under the nose.
Jack the front with either of the front suspension crossmember's two, cross-car rails. Each rail has two reinforcing ribs. To lift the car without damaging the crossmember, the jack's lifting pad must span those ribs. Most floor jacks are sized such that, coming in from the nose of the car, the front ribs are an easy reach. If you choose the rear pair of ribs, know that the LS1's expensive, cast aluminum oil pan is very near and in the darkness under the car, it may be mistaken for the crossmember. Take care that you do not lift on the oil pan.
In the back, jack the rear suspension crossmember's rear most cross-car rail by spanning its two reinforcing ribs with the jack pad. Looking at the back of the car, the two rear ribs will be on the first ribs you see. Do not jack the front cross-car rail's single, reinforcing rib. Doing so will damage the vehicle.
All floor jacks are not alike. Working on '84-'96 cars, we've had trouble with jacks having high pick-up heights. In researching this story, we stumbled upon a great two-ton floor jack (p/n W93642) made by Lincoln Automotive. It has advantages that made it the jack of choice in our shop. The Lincoln's jack pad is lower (3.75") than those of others we have used. Driving the front up on blocks is still required, but the blocks can be small. Other jacks require a larger elevation of the front wheels. The Lincoln has low side frames. This is important when you not only need a low jack pad but the rest of the jack needs to be short enough to not interfere with the front air dam. In our jack search, we found some with acceptable pad height but with other parts too high to get under the car.
Lincoln's hydraulic and mechanical design provides significant upward movement with small strokes.This is important under the front of a car with a long overhang that restricts handle movement. Lincoln Automotive jacks are American-made and designed for the service industry. While it's tough, durable construction adds to its cost, it not only makes working on your C5 easier but it will be the last floor jack most DIYs ever buy.
Once you have either end of your C5 up on a floor jack, place your jack stands. If you look at the bottom of each hydroformed, perimeter frame rail, near where they turn inboard to clear each wheel, you will see a welded-in ('97 and early-'98) or riveted-on (later-'98s) circle of steel with a slot in it. These "shipping slot reinforcements" are used to hook the car onto the truck that brings it from Bowling Green. Stands should be placed such that those reinforcements rest on each stand's support pad. Do not allow the surrounding rocker panel material to get stuck between the jack stand and the frame. We think the above is the best way to put a C5 on stands, however, there are alternatives listed in the Service Manual.
To learn how to lift a C5 with a hoist and to get the car up high enough to photograph jacking points and other items under the car, we took a '98 we borrowed from Chevrolet to Auto Masters, an independent Corvette service facility in Palm Desert, California. Auto Masters is the home of the "Street Skinner" engine package for ZR-1s and is known to enthusiasts in the southwest as "The Corvette Tech Center" for its specialized service of America's Sports Car.
Auto Masters has several above-ground, frame-contact hoists having arms that come in from the side. If you are lifting the car with a hoist like that, position its contact pads under the shipping slot reinforcements. In the front, this is easy because the rocker panel cutouts are large. Turn the pad such that its long side is parallel to the frame rail and the reinforcement centers on one end of the pad. It can overlap but not lift on the floor panels inboard of the frame. Do not allow the rocker panel material to get pinched between the hoist pad and the frame.
Lifting the rear shipping reinforcements with the pads used on most hoists is impossible because the rocker panel cutouts are not large enough. A pair of blocks, small enough to fit inside the cutouts, is required. We made them out of one-inch thick pieces of 2.25-inch diameter, aluminum, bar stock. We have seen similar devices made by C5 owners out of one-inch thick blocks of hardwood, 2-2.5-inches on a side. Be they aluminum or wood, place the blocks on the hoist pads. Position the pads such that the blocks contact the shipping reinforcements but not the rocker panel material. Then, raise the car.
We did not have access to a single post "drive over"Hoist, however, if you find one that clears the C5s underpinnings, the hoist pads should be positioned as discussed above.
During research for this article, GM Service Technologies Group (STG) told us Kent-Moore, the company that distributes GM service tools, will be releasing a device designed to address problems with lifting C5s with hoists. It will be similar in concept to the blocks we made but will twist-lock into to the shipping slots.
If you are lifting a C5 with a twin-post, suspension contact hoist; position the front lift such that it catches the outboard ends of the front lower control arms just inboard of the lower ball joints. Position the rear lift under the rear tires.
use a brick or wheel chock with the ramps, the e brake will do you no good when your jacking the rear.
get a low profile hyd. jack and a board that will span the rear frame member.
get a set of jack stands.
buy 4 hockey pucks and 4 eyebolts that fit the corvette slots.
always be extra safe so you can live and enjoy your ride! also remember saftey glasses.
Working on the new Corvette
Part 1: Engine issues and proper jacking
by Hib Halverson
Jacking the C5
Most C5 DIYs will raise their car with a hydraulic service or "floor" jack. Do not use a floor jack to support the car while working underneath it. Hydraulic jacks can fail. If that happens while you are under the car; it is unlikely you will live to enjoy your C5. Use the floor jack only to lift the car. Use jack stands to support it.
The floor on which you are going to work must be reasonably level. If you are going to get both ends off the ground, start with the front. If you do the rear first; you won't be able get the jack under the front.
All the lower control arms mount to a pair of robust aluminum castings called "suspension cross members". They bolt to the car's structure and are the easiest jacking points when a floor jack is used. Each is a rectangle formed by two longitudinal rails and two cross-car rails. Do not, under any circumstances, use the front or rear leaf springs as jack points.
To jack the front, drive the front wheels up on wood blocks that are at least 12-in. long, 3.5-in. wide and 1.5-in. thick. Some floor jacks have a tall frame and thicker blocks may be necessary. With a C4, after you rolled the front up on blocks, you usually had to turn the front wheels full lock and roll the jack in from behind a front tire. Because of C5's longer wheelbase, you can lift the front by just rolling the jack under the nose.
Jack the front with either of the front suspension crossmember's two, cross-car rails. Each rail has two reinforcing ribs. To lift the car without damaging the crossmember, the jack's lifting pad must span those ribs. Most floor jacks are sized such that, coming in from the nose of the car, the front ribs are an easy reach. If you choose the rear pair of ribs, know that the LS1's expensive, cast aluminum oil pan is very near and in the darkness under the car, it may be mistaken for the crossmember. Take care that you do not lift on the oil pan.
In the back, jack the rear suspension crossmember's rear most cross-car rail by spanning its two reinforcing ribs with the jack pad. Looking at the back of the car, the two rear ribs will be on the first ribs you see. Do not jack the front cross-car rail's single, reinforcing rib. Doing so will damage the vehicle.
All floor jacks are not alike. Working on '84-'96 cars, we've had trouble with jacks having high pick-up heights. In researching this story, we stumbled upon a great two-ton floor jack (p/n W93642) made by Lincoln Automotive. It has advantages that made it the jack of choice in our shop. The Lincoln's jack pad is lower (3.75") than those of others we have used. Driving the front up on blocks is still required, but the blocks can be small. Other jacks require a larger elevation of the front wheels. The Lincoln has low side frames. This is important when you not only need a low jack pad but the rest of the jack needs to be short enough to not interfere with the front air dam. In our jack search, we found some with acceptable pad height but with other parts too high to get under the car.
Lincoln's hydraulic and mechanical design provides significant upward movement with small strokes.This is important under the front of a car with a long overhang that restricts handle movement. Lincoln Automotive jacks are American-made and designed for the service industry. While it's tough, durable construction adds to its cost, it not only makes working on your C5 easier but it will be the last floor jack most DIYs ever buy.
Once you have either end of your C5 up on a floor jack, place your jack stands. If you look at the bottom of each hydroformed, perimeter frame rail, near where they turn inboard to clear each wheel, you will see a welded-in ('97 and early-'98) or riveted-on (later-'98s) circle of steel with a slot in it. These "shipping slot reinforcements" are used to hook the car onto the truck that brings it from Bowling Green. Stands should be placed such that those reinforcements rest on each stand's support pad. Do not allow the surrounding rocker panel material to get stuck between the jack stand and the frame. We think the above is the best way to put a C5 on stands, however, there are alternatives listed in the Service Manual.
To learn how to lift a C5 with a hoist and to get the car up high enough to photograph jacking points and other items under the car, we took a '98 we borrowed from Chevrolet to Auto Masters, an independent Corvette service facility in Palm Desert, California. Auto Masters is the home of the "Street Skinner" engine package for ZR-1s and is known to enthusiasts in the southwest as "The Corvette Tech Center" for its specialized service of America's Sports Car.
Auto Masters has several above-ground, frame-contact hoists having arms that come in from the side. If you are lifting the car with a hoist like that, position its contact pads under the shipping slot reinforcements. In the front, this is easy because the rocker panel cutouts are large. Turn the pad such that its long side is parallel to the frame rail and the reinforcement centers on one end of the pad. It can overlap but not lift on the floor panels inboard of the frame. Do not allow the rocker panel material to get pinched between the hoist pad and the frame.
Lifting the rear shipping reinforcements with the pads used on most hoists is impossible because the rocker panel cutouts are not large enough. A pair of blocks, small enough to fit inside the cutouts, is required. We made them out of one-inch thick pieces of 2.25-inch diameter, aluminum, bar stock. We have seen similar devices made by C5 owners out of one-inch thick blocks of hardwood, 2-2.5-inches on a side. Be they aluminum or wood, place the blocks on the hoist pads. Position the pads such that the blocks contact the shipping reinforcements but not the rocker panel material. Then, raise the car.
We did not have access to a single post "drive over"Hoist, however, if you find one that clears the C5s underpinnings, the hoist pads should be positioned as discussed above.
During research for this article, GM Service Technologies Group (STG) told us Kent-Moore, the company that distributes GM service tools, will be releasing a device designed to address problems with lifting C5s with hoists. It will be similar in concept to the blocks we made but will twist-lock into to the shipping slots.
If you are lifting a C5 with a twin-post, suspension contact hoist; position the front lift such that it catches the outboard ends of the front lower control arms just inboard of the lower ball joints. Position the rear lift under the rear tires.
