hi guys

 

i am wanting to know where i can place the axle stand near the front, can anyone tell me or show pictures please?

 

i have been searching on internet, finally found one on here but the pictures got deleted.

 

had a look in my manual and didnt find anything either.

 

many thanks guys

I put mine under the wishbone console, very solid and out of the way if working under the front.

18 minutes ago, sepulchrave said:

I put mine under the wishbone console, very solid and out of the way if working under the front.

is it this part where i have circled?

 

yes

thank you

 

my tyre jack does not go up that high for the axle, was thinking once i have put the axle on lowest settings, i use the jack again with a block of wood to go to next level on the axle.

yes you could.

 

really would advise not to use the tyre jack...............you would be better popping to halfords and buying a trolley jack

22 minutes ago, UrbanPanzer said:

yes you could.

 

really would advise not to use the tyre jack...............you would be better popping to halfords and buying a trolley jack

thank you again, will buy one from halfords

 

im guessing this will do

 

https://www.halfords.com/tools/garage-workshop/axle-stands-trolley-jacks/halfords-2-tonne-hydraulic-trolley-jack-657081.html

yes plenty good enough to lift the vehicle far more safely than any tyre jack

 

When it comes to placing under the sill, you could then use a small block of wood on the jack to avoid the metal contact of the jack "pad", this will also aid as it will increase the lifting height a little to get your axle stands under the console bushes,

 

only then go under the vehicle to do what you need to do.

 

 

The tyre jack is designed by the manufacturer to safely jack the car, what's your issue with using one as the manufacturer intended? It's perfectly safe whether the foot of the jack is sitting on the ground or on a block of wood or on a concrete slab or any other incompressible substrate.

2 hours ago, sepulchrave said:

The tyre jack is designed by the manufacturer to safely jack the car, what's your issue with using one as the manufacturer intended? It's perfectly safe whether the foot of the jack is sitting on the ground or on a block of wood or on a concrete slab or any other incompressible substrate.

hi sepul

 

the jack works perfectly but just not high enough for the axles. i have decided to use some axles as before i was relying on just the jacks.

4 hours ago, sepulchrave said:

The tyre jack is designed by the manufacturer to safely jack the car, what's your issue with using one as the manufacturer intended? It's perfectly safe whether the foot of the jack is sitting on the ground or on a block of wood or on a concrete slab or any other incompressible substrate.

 

for removing / changing a wheel in an emergency...............not for jacking a vehicle for routine maintenance, but as usual you know better.

Edited 4 April, 20215 yr by UrbanPanzer

10 hours ago, UrbanPanzer said:

 

for removing / changing a wheel in an emergency...............not for jacking a vehicle for routine maintenance, but as usual you know better.

 

If you read further up I told him to use the jack to get it onto axle stands, I just don't understand why you're being so proscriptive.

 

What exactly is wrong with using the jack to put the car on axle stands?

Please enlighten us, I'm all ears.

You are BOTH correct. Sepulchrave saying the tyre jack will suffice to lift and use stands, UrbanPanzer by saying a trolley jack. 

The true jack is basic and designed for occasional lifting at the side of the road, etc but the trolley one will be kept at home, not in the boot and will most likely be used when doing your routine work, where the overall power, safety etc will be way over that of the tyre jck, which can be easy to overwhelm. 

 

That said, it is strongly advised to ALWAYS use axle stands and don't just rely on ANY jack as if it fails, it kills! If just swapping a tyre, loosen the wheel bolts first, prior to raising the car as trying to do so at the roadside, will almost certainly make the car try to pull off the jack. Use wheel chocs too, if you have them.

 

I have a jack very similar to that Halfords one, I purchases from Argos many years back and it is still in great working order. You can also try Machine mart as they have great tools, often at decent prices and sometimes, you can buy jacks with chocs, as a set. (M.M. have a set of chocs, axle stands and a jack with a case, for around £60. I have chocs and ramps, both from Halfords).

The chocs are clever little folding ones but you do need to be sure to lock them open and slip them close to the wheel so they do not close under pressure but they come in a neat little box and take up very little space in the shed. I swear by them. 

 

So, a decent jack, axle stands and chocs will make any raising job much safer. Just looked at Halfords and the chocs now have a rubber base to help prevent slip. £8 a pair so great value. Gone a bit off the orig topic there so sorry for that. Stay safe though so we can all chat/argue/agree/disagree for years to come!

Oh my god, did somebody call the safety police because they are here in force!

If you intend to carry on maintaining your car(s) in the future @froggy8, a trolley jack is a very wise purchase.  

 

 

 

Edited 5 April, 20215 yr by Wino
wrong froggy

Here's what I think.........

 

The questions the OP is posting "suggest" he's not an avid DIY'er or regular mechanic...

 

Wheel jacks are inherently "unstable" because the base is fixed and the vehicle "moves" away from the jack when jacking, this is where it becomes even more "unstable", this is "ok" when your just changing a tyre etc which is what it's designed for as you don't need to go that high to accomplish the task.................to get the vehicle up on axle stands will most likely involve going a lot higher which = more instability....................the movment "away" from the jack as you lift is somewhat compensated by the wheels on the trolley jack allowing it to move with the vehicle as you lift.

A trolley jack as a larger base and 4 points in contact with the ground.

I agree with the axle stands, that's I would hope common sense to not work under an unsupported vehicle however you get it up there.

 

I have no doubt those with lots of experience working on vehicles could use the wheel jack to accomplish lifting it onto axle stands............however there is a risk, it is unstable at the best of times and "imo" not something those without any experience should be doing, a trolley jack is by far the best and safest option for all concerned.

 

Using the vehicle jack to get a car onto stands is not ideal. Without a central jacking point on the car, it needs to be lifted one side at a time and the car can shift sideways quite a bit during this process, more so as the height is increased. There is a very real risk of this sideways movement unsettling the jack and dropping the car off it, particularly getting it onto the second axle stand.

 

I have a McAnax 3 tonne trolley jack with about 50 cm max lift, and more often than not if I'm jacking to higher positions, I'll have to go back to the first side and lift it a little again to get the axle stand solid on all three legs. The distance the jack moves during jacking is certainly enough to make the vehicle jack unstable if I were using that rather than the trolley jack.

If the tops of the axle stands look like this one,

 

I like to put the stands on the longitudinal chassis member just aft of the engine bay, in the area just behind the curved section, around where the rectangle is on this image.

They fit around it neatly if you're careful positioning it.  (You can see one or two scuffs in the underseal where I've been less careful once or twice.

 

 

If there's a plastic cover over (under!) that section of the underbody it's not quite so easy, though those covers do come off quite easily.

 

 

Edited 5 April, 20215 yr by Wino
typo fixing

The £30 Halfords 2 tonne trolley jack is unusual among cheap 2 tonne trolley jacks in that it has a bigger/wider 67mm outside diameter saddle. Minimum saddle height 14cm. Maximum saddle height 34cm.

https://www.halfords.com/tools/garage-workshop/axle-stands-trolley-jacks/halfords-2-tonne-hydraulic-trolley-jack-657081.html?utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=skimlinks_phg&utm_campaign=phgreferral

 

The 2 tonne Halfords trolley jack has a 67mm outside diameter saddle.

 

The relevance of this, is that it will allow a junior ice hockey puck (60mm x 20mm) to be used as a jacking pad. You do however have to remove the inner saddle to fit the 60mm x 20mm rubber jacking pad. This is easy, as it is only held in place with one circlip.

 

Even the big Halfords 3 tonne trolley jack uses the same size saddle, so again the "junior ice hockey puck" could be used as a jacking pad to prevent metal to metal contact between the trolley jack saddle and the underside of the car. Minimum height 14cm. Maximum height 43cm.

 

So the 3 tonne jack has a maximum saddle height of 43cm compared to the maximum saddle height of 34cm on the smaller 2 tonne trolley jack. This extra 9cm (3.5") could come in handy when placing the car on axle stands, although a block of wood could be used as a workaround with the smaller jack.

 

Edited 5 April, 20215 yr by Carlston

Not everyone has the budget to go out and spunk £100 on stands and a trolley jack just to accomplish a simple DIY fix.

 

Axle stands are the minimum safe requirement for getting under a car to fix something, how you get it onto those stands is far less important.

 

All this BS about the standard jack is crazy, the standard jack does NOT move the car because the foot rolls as it goes up, a trolley jack DOES move the car because the wheels often get stuck and don't roll freely on asphalt.

True.

 

A standard jack on a solid non wobbly support is no more unstable because of the height.

 

There is one problem though, if you use the highest spacer & then try to lift the weight of the car with the jack near to its closed position the geometry will overload it and at that point you will find out why the acme threaded nut is plastic with two shear lugs, very early VAG versions from the 80's & 90's used a metal nut and the side frame would deform releasing it under overload.

 

You get plenty of warning that you are overloading it as you really have to put a lot of force on the crank handle, the higher the jack lifts the less it is stressed.

 

As Sepulchrave has stated its a much safer lift because it can pivot whereas a trolley jack has to roll and often the surface precludes it.

 

The danger with the standard jack is if the vehicle can roll forwards or backwards, an inexperienced person will not realise the need to chock the opposite wheels in both directions, the handbrake may only be working on the side that you are lifting off the ground.

 

Needless to say a flat level firm surface is the safest.

Another plus for axle stands. Years ago came back to then girlfriend's house to find her father trapped under her mums car . He'd tried to work under it supported just with a sissor jack.

At the time he was headmaster of a school for special need children and an ex aircraft traffic controller, so a very intelligent man, yet still took a short cut.

Also once had to drive a truck off a tyre fitters hand , when his jack collapsed with his hand under front wheel.

For me jacks for lifting , axle stand for supporting.

Although maybe easier with trolley jack, can't see prob with sissor jack, we have a brick paver drive on a slope , often find trolley jack wheels moving as car is lifted

 

 

On 05/04/2021 at 14:33, Wino said:

If the tops of the axle stands look like this one,

 

I like to put the stands on the longitudinal chassis member just aft of the engine bay, in the area just behind the curved section, around where the rectangle is on this image.

They fit around it neatly if you're careful positioning it.  (You can see one or two scuffs in the underseal where I've been less careful once or twice.

 

 

If there's a plastic cover over (under!) that section of the underbody it's not quite so easy, though those covers do come off quite easily.

 

 

tried putting teh axle stand where i have circled on your picture but it was too low, i managed to put the axle on the thin metal as that was bit higher.

 

Thin metal?

Just now, BrumTom_ said:

Thin metal?

yeah, dont kno what they are called