tdellaringa

When I was buying my car, my mechanic wanted to jack up the vette and check things out. The owner insisted that the targa top be removed first, because he claimed the body could flex and the top could break. My mechanic said that was unlikely but certainly said do what you feel is best. Afterward we chatted and he wasn't really sure how much of a risk it really is.

So what is the truth? The guy claimed you should never jack the car until the top is removed or at least the unscrewed, or damage could occur. Myth or no?

Ericsvette

Myth. It doesn't say anything in the owners manual about removing the top before jacking the car up.

tdellaringa

Yeah, I didn't think so. He claimed some corvette shop told him that, and they also told him always close the doors with the windows down

NEVRL8T

Someone on this forum was doing some work on their car and posted pics of their car with the top out and windows down while the doors were open and the car was on a jack. There was a long debate about this and IIRC the determination was made that its all myth.

Andrew

Not sure about C4's, but I can tell you that the body does flex quite a bit on C3's. I know this from experience! I think that the C4's frames are more rigid.

C3's, the door seams will actually close or expand based on where the jack is placed.

Aardwolf

There was a recent thread on the same thing:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1723561

Corvette85350

You have to remove the top when jacking it up and you have to open the doors and hatch also. If not, they'll shatter. It happened to my neighbor's Vette. Zak.

Ibuyvettes

Myth I have jacked em up with floor jacks, by one corner, half the car, the whole car, the front, the back, with a lift, with all the hood open/closed, top on/off, doors open/closed etc, never any problem period.

84number2083

myth. I have had my vette for 21 years and have jacked it up quite a few times, never with the top off. I mean think about it, the body flexes constantly while driving on uneven roads with dips and harsh bumps. Do you always drive with your windows down and top off? I thought the top was specifically designed to help the body flex less while it is in place which is why there are 4 bolts and not some cheesy little clips. If it makes you feel better, take the top off, but I don't think it is a necessity.

eschoendorff

Totally. Have you seen how much teh car flexes WITHOUT the targa top on???????

tdellaringa

To be clear, I am not talking about using lifts at all (seemed to be what the other thread was about) - this is about jacking one corner up only. Zak seems to be one person calling this myth not only plausable but having secondhand knowledge of the fact...

xCCTer

Jacked my '88 Z52 Coupe up dozens of times with a floor jack from any of the 4 jacking points and never had a problem or heard or seen anything alarming with the top off or the doors open or closed.

If it were true then it would most certainly be in the owner's and shop manuals. The GM lawyers would have seen to that.

If it makes you feel better to remove the targa, then by all means do it.

One thing that isn't a myth is that if you close the clamshell like most of us do by dropping it the last 10 inches with the doors open, that the trailing edge of the clamshell can chip the paint (or worse) on the leading edge of the doors.

pettvette

...... If that were true anytime you pulled into a driveway at an angle with an incline the top would break.

corvettedan22

From my understanding if its a glass top, then you do have a risk of braking the top......

Corvette85350

I thought you meant on a lift at a shop.

joecaver

I've jacked up my 90 every way you can think of, one corner at a time, both front wheels, both rears, both wheels on one side or the other, and I've never taken the roof off or opened the doors/windows, and I've never damaged the car at all.

ballertyped

The targa top is definately a reinforcement, no question. As far as your question I think

jrzvette

I know GM can do some really stupid things with designs (think Optispark) but I can't imagine even they would design a car where you have to remove the roof panel in order to jack it up. What would happen if you needed to change a flat tire during a rainstorm?

rap87

Well, for me it wasn't a myth. I noticed it after I finished doing my head gasket. I have jacked the car up and down several times during the process and it cracked my glass targa top...really pisses me off...damn thing is expensive and you would ya would think just jacking it up wouldn't do that, but I can tell you that it wasn't cracked before I started my project.

NEVRL8T

This would never happen because you are not suppose to be driving in the rain.