D.I.Y.: How to Safely Lift Your C7 Corvette

Corvette Forum member’s how-to shows exactly how GM wants its dealership techs to lift the C7, complete with color-coded diagram.

Social media is ripe with images of vehicles that have been horribly damaged by being jacked up at the wrong points. Considering the value of the C7 Corvette, this is obviously the kind of damage that an owner does want to inflict on their Chevy sports car. As a result, some owners might be hesitant to jack up the vehicle to do their own work, but we have a resource on the forum that can help prevent any damage.

Corvette Forum member Theta put together a great how-to write-up showing exactly how General Motors wants their dealership technicians to lift the C7 Corvette, complete with color-coded diagram. This information will all-but-guarantee a safer, damage-free experience when working on their Stingray, Grand Sport, Z06 or ZR1.

Using a Floor Jack

As the diagram shows, GM has four different classifications of jacking points on the C7 Corvette. If you are trying to lift a corner of your car, as when you are removing a wheel or working on the brakes on one corner at a time, you will want to use the jacking points highlighted in green or blue. These points are centrally located and they are firm points that will safely support the weight of the vehicle without allowing any damage to the body, chassis or any other key components under the car.

Using a Hoist or Ramps

Next, if you are attempting to lift your C7 Corvette on a four-point hoist, you want to make sure that the legs of the hoist are contacting the chassis at the four red points located along the sides of the car. These are not points that you want to use when lifting one corner with a floor jack, as the weight of the vehicle is not supported in the same way that it is on a hoist with four points of contact at once.

Finally, the dark red squares highlight each of the four tires, as that is where you would lift the car off of the ground with a drive-on style hoist. Also, if you are using ramps, the tires would obviously be the lifting point and in a situation where you are lifting the front end, the front lower control arms can be used as a jacking point, even though that isn’t clearly display in the diagram.

Important Warnings

Even when using the prescribed jacking points, there is some margin of error, so the OP includes information on what to watch for when lifting the C7 Corvette off of the ground. When using the jacking points towards the middle of the vehicle, you want to be careful to not accidentally place the jack under an exhaust pipe, the catalytic convertors, the engine or the transmission. Also, you want to make sure that when jacking up the car, you do not pinch a brake line or fuel line and you want to be certain that your jack meets the jacking point and begins to lift the car before any part of the jack will contact the body.

Along the same lines, when using a four-point hoist you will want to make sure that you have plenty of clearance between the arms of the hoist and the body. In some cases, the arms of the hoist can contact the body before the hoist pads hit the chassis and begin to lift. When this happens, there can be significant damage to the rocker panel trim while also creating an unstable jacking point. Also, when using a four-point hoist, you will want to use jacking pads (part number J-43652) on the rear chassis points, allowing for more space between the hoist arms and the body while also making for a more-secure point of contact.

Finally, as is explained in the original thread, there are points around the intended jacking points that specifically cannot be used to lift the car and those locations are discussed as well.

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Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com