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Jacking the Elise and Placing on Jackstands

129K views 141 replies 76 participants last post by  Help Me DIY 
#1 ·
I am getting ready to send my wheels off for some powdercoating and therefore I need to remove them from the vehicle. My dealer wouldn't let me house the vehicle on his lift for the 4 days that it will take to get back from the shop.

They recommended me to just jack the car up and place them on jackstands.

Couple of questions:

1) Any recommendations on quality jackstands and a jack?

2) What are some good points on the vehicle to jack the car up? I was looking to jack the front and then the rear. I want to avoid having jacking the car up on one jackstand at a time.

Thanks
 
#132 ·
OK, silly newbie question

I thought I knew how to safely raise and support many different cars, but this thread is causing some self doubt.

I just ordered the jack helper after watching this video. I need new rear tires, and I've decided I don't trust any of my usual shops to lift this car.

Can I safely chock the front wheels, raise the rear and place stands under the helper as shown here to take the rears in for tire mounting? It seems like I can skip removing diffuser and undertray this way. I have ultra low floor jack from racing days.

I'm asking only from the standpoint of car damage. I know all the other safety rules. I won't be working under the car otherwise.

Thanks.
 
#133 · (Edited)
DO NOT Chock the front wheels when using the Jack Helper. Since the Jack Helper locates on the the two bolts and there is some horizontal movement due to the arc path of the jack you might run the risk of dislodging the jack helper from the jack arm.

Edit: Actually, can someone fact check this for me. I think the casters on the jack should be safe enough to roll for that change but I have heard mixed things. Just be careful.
 
#134 ·
Interesting conundrum though.



OK. Important safety tip. Good to know.

Won't the car tend to roll backwards with rear in the air and nothing blocking fronts?

I saw the earlier posts about securing the jack helper to the jack, so I'll follow that tip, as well.

Thanks.
 
#138 ·
Does anyone on this forum own an Omega 29023B Low Profile Service Jack?

I would like to know the distance from the saddle centerline to the closest face of the handle base when the handle is in the fully upright position. In other words, how much clear reach does the jack have without having to drop the handle?

I can't find that dimension on-line and Shinn Fu Technical Support is playing dumb.

Thanks in advance.
 
#139 ·
Is there a way to get JUST the front half of the car up on jackstands? I'm going to be installing V2 steering arms and really just need access to the front suspension, but I can't figure a way to do it without putting the whole car up.
 
#141 ·
I usually just do one end or the other, although right now it is on all four stands. Just use the middle jack point to lift it high enough to get a stand under the front. Then it will almost completely level out when you drop the jack. Then just go to the other side and lift that high enough for the second front jack stand.


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App
 
#140 ·
I am jacking the front of the Elise using my floor jack, a 38" length of rectangular steel tubing, and two hockey pucks. I run the car up on a couple of mitered 2x6s per side so that the floor jack will slide under the front of the car. The rectangular tube spans between the B-points with the hockey pucks between the steel and the chassis. The jack runs down the center of the car to the midpoint of the steel tube.
Once the car is in the air, I use two flat top jack stands under the ends of the steel tubing.
 
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