Jacking Height Question

Jay247 · Mar 27, 2019

Have had a search and found some posts but still wasn't quite sure.

How high using the front or rear jack points does the car have to get to be able to put axle stands underneath. I believe axle stands can either go on the sills or the support members underneath the car.

Thank you

Alibro · Mar 27, 2019

Jay247 said:
Have had a search and found some posts but still wasn't quite sure.

How high using the front or rear jack points does the car have to get to be able to put axle stands underneath. I believe axle stands can either go on the sills or the support members underneath the car.

Thank you

I'm a little bit confused by the question as it sounds like "how long is a piece of string".
To my simple brain the answer is high enough to push your axle stand under the chosen support point.
And that height will depend 100% on the height of your axle stand.
If it helps any I mostly use 3 tonne axle stands bought from Halfords. I use a trolley jack placed under the sill which has a wide rubberised the head to minimise damage to paint and usually put a piece of wood on top of the axle stand to spread the weight as much as possible along the sill.
I have seen lots of Freelanders with sills damaged by careless jacking.

Jay247 · Mar 27, 2019

I want to use the front and rear jacking points, the toe eye at the front and the reinforced cross member at the back to lift both wheels off the ground at the same time, then put an axle stand under the sill jacking points.

I have the jack stands which are 3 ton sealeys which have a min height of 278mm. Was trying to work out what jack I would need to lift high enough to get them underneath, I have read through my forum search of someone jacking there car one side and put it on an axle stand then went the other side and as they were jacking it slipped sideways off the stand so rather lift both wheels at the same time.

resto_d1 · Mar 27, 2019

Jay247 said:
I want to use the front and rear jacking points, the toe eye at the front and the reinforced cross member at the back to lift both wheels off the ground at the same time, then put an axle stand under the sill jacking points.

I have the jack stands which are 3 ton sealeys which have a min height of 278mm. Was trying to work out what jack I would need to lift high enough to get them underneath, I have read through my forum search of someone jacking there car one side and put it on an axle stand then went the other side and as they were jacking it slipped sideways off the stand so rather lift both wheels at the same time.

That wouldn't happen if you did front then rear. I put axle stands on the.... axles

Another useful thing is a few breeze blocks or a lump of timber. I use timber on standard sills to spread the load as it's not uncommon to put a jack through a rusty sill

Alibro · Mar 27, 2019

Jacking up a car is always a bit scary but trying to lift the front in one go is not always the safest thing to do. I had a car slip off a jack and almost wrecked the radiator when I was trying to do that.
If you are using a trolley jack it will always cause the car to move as the arm swings up unless the wheels on it are perfect and the ground is totally smooth.
Even with a trolley jack you should be safe enough to lift one side at a time so long as you don't try to lift it too high in one go. Get the wheel off the ground by an inch or so on one side then go and do the other side but DO NOT try to lift it higher then the first side. If you need it higher go back to the first side and lift a few inches then go back to the 2nd side. Do it this way to allow the car to settle on the axle stand each time.

Alibro · Mar 27, 2019

Top tip is if removing the wheel always tuck it under the car so that if it falls off the axle stands while you are under it the wheel will stop it crushing you.

Allycat · Mar 27, 2019

Better still, use a pair of ramps. Safer than any axle stand or jack.

Jay247 · Mar 27, 2019

Thanks for the advice will try one side at a time.

Yes ramps are useful but not too useful when you need to do the brakes

Beneagles · Mar 27, 2019

Alibro said:
Top tip is if removing the wheel always tuck it under the car so that if it falls off the axle stands while you are under it the wheel will stop it crushing you.

+1

Nodge68 · Mar 28, 2019

Alibro said:
I have seen lots of Freelanders with sills damaged by careless jacking

resto_d1 said:
I use timber on standard sills to spread the load as it's not uncommon to put a jack through a rusty sill

There's a reason for that. The sills "aren't" designed for jacking full stop, except for the 2 strengthened sections at each end, where the factory jack goes.

Also large portions of the chassis rails aren't designed to take the weight of the vehicle. Rearward of front suspension rear mount is strong enough for jacking and supporting, but otherwise supporting on stands should really be done under the subframes.

Jay247 · Mar 28, 2019

Nodge, is this correct, can jack up on the reinforced section on the sills and place an axle/jack stand under the longitudinal members as in this picture :-

Nodge68 · Mar 28, 2019

I've never had a problem lifting the whole front or rear of the Freelander in go. I put my 3 ton trolley jack under the centre of the subframes, in the position marked for jacking. The complete end can then be lifted and supported on stands. It's important to remember, that a troller jack lifts in an ever increasing arc, so the higher it lifts, the more it pulls back. So it's best to lift the vehicle from the front or rear, keeping the jack in line with the vehicle's centre line. If you're lifting from the side, then the vehicle can't roll towards the jack, so a huge side load is applied to the area on the jack, and should be avoided IMO. I personally think it best to only lift from the ends, and only have one end lifted at a time.

If one side needs to be lifted, then that's best done with a jacket under both strengthened sill plates, keeping the jacks arc as low as possible, with blocks of wood used as spacers. Axles stands should only be used on the chassis rail, in areas that are strong enough to support the weight without distortion. I actually use the stands as a safety measure, but keep the jacks in position while I'm under the vehicle.

Jay247 · Mar 28, 2019

Ok, I see. When you lift from the front or rear where do you place your axle stands? As the only places I can see in the manual are the two straight bits in the picture above. The work I actually need to do is oil change and handbrake adjustment(for which I need the rear wheels off the ground)

Alibro · Mar 28, 2019

Nodge68 said:
There's a reason for that. The sills "aren't" designed for jacking full stop, except for the 2 strengthened sections at each end, where the factory jack goes.

Also large portions of the chassis rails aren't designed to take the weight of the vehicle. Rearward of front suspension rear mount is strong enough for jacking and supporting, but otherwise supporting on stands should really be done under the subframes.

I always try to jack up as close as possible to the factory jacking points but still allow space for the axle stands to sit there. I don't like having the axle stands too far inboard as the car wobbles a lot more. Especially if I have it on 4 stands (Yes I know it's not advisable but sometimes needs must). I'm aware the sills aren't that strong but because I spread the load across at least 6 to 8 inches of sill I haven't had a problem. Also sometimes the knackered bits of sills are right at the factory jacking points.

GrumpyGel · Mar 28, 2019

Alibro said:
I always try to jack up as close as possible to the factory jacking points but still allow space for the axle stands to sit there. I don't like having the axle stands too far inboard as the car wobbles a lot more. Especially if I have it on 4 stands (Yes I know it's not advisable but sometimes needs must). I'm aware the sills aren't that strong but because I spread the load across at least 6 to 8 inches of sill I haven't had a problem. Also sometimes the knackered bits of sills are right at the factory jacking points.

One problem is that the jacking points are designed for the jack supplied with the car. There was no jack in my son's Tomcat when he got it and I used another jack on it - might have been my trolley jack that has a round pad to lift the car. This just flattened the ridge in the sill that sits in a slot in the original jack. Presumably that's now weakened the metal as well as cracked the paint and exposed the metal and it will deteriorate.

Nodge68 · Mar 28, 2019

Jay247 said:
When you lift from the front or rear where do you place your axle stands?

Under the front suspension rear mount (large alloy thing).

Jay247 said:
As the only places I can see in the manual are the two straight bits in the picture above

They're call longitudinal chassis members.

These run from front to back, and can be used for support, but put a piece of wood between the stands and chassis, to reduce slipping and stop paint chipping.

Jay247 said:
The work I actually need to do is oil change

I don't need to lift my TD4 to drain the oil. The sump has enough room underneath to get my drain container underneath.

Jay247 said:
handbrake adjustment(for which I need the rear wheels off the ground)

Lift it from the centre of the rear subframe in the marked position, then put your stands each side of the jack. This will lift and support the vehicle in the safest way possible, without doing any damage.

Jay247 · Mar 29, 2019

Thanks Nodge

Well just dug out my old challenge extreme jack and it wont lift high enough to get the wheels off the ground lol. Looks like I will be looking for a new jack it seems.

Colthebrummie · Mar 29, 2019

Don't use breeze blocks or modern bricks as packing between a jack and the vehicle. I've seen both crack and become very weakened when this is done. Also wooden blocks should be of good quality, bits of scrap timber should be treated with caution. When I was a teenager, I would crawl under a car that was supported by next to nothing but not now. Also, it's not just the lift and support equipment you need to consider but the ground under the Jack/axle stands, Tarmac isn't usually strong enough, especially in summer.

Col

Nodge68 · Mar 29, 2019

Jay247 said:
Well just dug out my old challenge extreme jack and it wont lift high enough to get the wheels off the ground lol. Looks like I will be looking for a new jack it seems.

Cut down lengths of scaffold board work as perfect packing, to put under a jack that doesn't lift high enough.

Colthebrummie said:
Don't use breeze blocks or modern bricks as packing between a jack and the vehicle.

As Col said. NEVER use any kind of building block, as they crumble without warning.

Madmustang · Mar 30, 2019

Yep I jacked it up on the middle cross member either side of the car. Result....One cross member buckled and the other one collapsed resulting in a new section needed to be welded in

Jacking Height Question

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