Sorry if this is a repeat, but I searched and couldn't find the front jack point...

I want to lift the car up on 4 jack stands... I see in the shop manual for the rear, to lift under the differential - how does this not hurt things? Seems like it would get something out of whach/alignment/etc.

Also... the 2 exhaust pipes meet pretty much right there.

Second question is, what is the jack point for the front? I see a flat metal panel just inside of the front fender - is that the spot to get the front off the ground?

Oh yeah - I have an 81 if that makes a difference - though I'm guessing the frames are pretty similar for all the C3s.

Thanks for any info.

 

You'll get all kinds of suggestions on jacking.

Foremost, have a good floor jack! DON'T depend on the jack that is in the Vette. And make sure you're jacking against the frame, not something sheetmetal under the car!

When going up at all 4 corners I like to jack from the side with the jack at the end of the trans crossmember where it connects to the frame. But not TOO far out where it could slip out and damage the rockers!

I like to place jack stands at the flat area in the rear just forward of the wheel well where the frame changes direction and if i'm not working on front suspension I go under the lower control arm right under the shock mount.
Shop books recommend front jack stand location as under the frame just before the frame slopes up, basically at the front of the door. I avoid this if possible cause it leaves a lot of weight hanging out in front. Some guys will add jack stands under the frame near the radiator.
Personally, I feel the shop manual recommendation is somewhat a liability thing. They don't want you crawling under the car to place stands!

Many people jack the front under the front crossmember under the engine. That's why so many C3s have dented frames there
And like you noticed, altho the best location on most other rear wheel drive cars, there's just too much stuff in the way to jack under the differential.

 

Thanks KapsSA.... so is it safe to jack the front up on that flat piece of metal that is just inside the front rubber fender where it meets in the middle to come to a point... maybe 4 inches inside the car. It "looks" like that is attached to the frame and it appears to be a pretty beefy piece of steel.

For the rear, I'm actually contemplating taking a 30'' piece of 4x4 under the 2 just stand points, jacking that up to lift the whole rear and then slipping 2 wheel ramps under the back tires.

 

I don't think either of your jacking methods are good. In the front, put the jack under the center of the crossmember. This will be directly in the middle of the 2 front wheels. That point is about 2 feet back from the front bumper. In the rear, use a block of 4 X 4 on your jack to fit between the exhaust pipes and jack up directly under the differential.

 

Best to jack on the frame.

I've been jacking from the side for 30 years, Used to put all my Vettes up on stands every winter til I got tired of doing it.
Never dented my frame.
Had to repair dents in 2 front crossmembers from previous owners jacking there
And on the original poster's 81 there's not a lot of room to get under the front with the air dam.
There is absolutely no room on a later C3 with rear Y pipe to get a block of wood under the differential to jack there. Plus there's a heat shield there you'd dent up if you could get there. I hate dents!

I feel the same way about your method.
How do I get a jack here?
No way to get a 4X4 here either.

 

This is how I have always done it.

Piece of 4x4 on the front to span the front crossmember so you don't crush it.
Piece of 4x4 on the back to fit between your pipes and not crush them.

 

I agree completely

 

Well then you have to jack each side separately like KapsSA described with the jack near the trans crossmember. Both wheels will come up at about the same rate lifting there. I've done it that way many times.

 

The owner's manual shows the GM approved jacking points and they are shown on the jacking instructions on the door of the jack storage compartment. There are no jacking points at the front of the car, including the front crossember.

 

OK. Using the GM approved jacking points and a floor jack, how do you get the car on 4 jackstands?

 

I have 4 Rhino car ramps, 16000 pounds... I like them better than jack stands in terms of stability if I need to get under the car.

So how does this sound... I jack up the left side of the car on the frame at the transmission crossmember and slide two car ramps under the left side tires. Then I do the same on the right side.

This way I only jack on the frame and the car is up in the air, supported by the 4 wheels.

If I need to do some brake work, I can jack that one wheel up a little more and remove that particular tire ramp under that wheel and use a jack stand on the frame near that wheel for support.

 

You can do that but you'll probably have to jack it WAY up to get the ramps in place. Much higher than if you went with jack stands.
Don't forget, the wheels will hang down quite a bit when jacking.

 

I don't think you can raise it high enough.
I'm still waiting for Easy Mike's plan.

 

I'm definitely not a fan of jacking anywhere else than the side frame rails, and I hate jacking just one corner at a time. Whether it does or not I can just FEELthings twisting! And I always use a sturdy floor jack.

I would think the instructions in the OWNERS manual are more geared towards "typical" OWNERS changing a flat tire using the flimsy GM supplied scizzors jackaltho the shop manual DOES show the same locations. I think a lot of it is common sense, you jack from the frame without crawling under the car.

 

NO! Do not do that! That's part of the front 'crash' bar and the nose is directly bolted to it. If you jack from there you run a high risk of pushing the body up and cracking your front quarters, etc.

 

I took KapsSA's advice and jacked from the side.

I have a Sears 3-ton floor jack that reaches just about 20''.

I placed the jack about 2 inches in front of the trans crossmember, took out both t-tops and opened the windows.

It creaked and groaned just a little and then went straight up. The jack just fit under the frame, so I had the full 20 inches to lift, more than enough to lift the tires and get the additional 6 or so inches that the car ramps required.

This procedure worked great - highly recommended.

Thanks Kaps!

 

I have jacked mine up so many times I can't count. Sorry couldn't resist.

 

Just to confirm... the two small metal pads just next to the muffler exhaust pipes are acceptable jack stand/jack points - correct?

It looks like those are connected to the frame.

 

Doesn't sound very good points to me.

I use the two side jacking points as shown in the Owner's Manual and the Chassis Service Manual. Neither, by the way, recommend jacking on the diff. I am able to place the jack stands very close to my 2½ ton floor jack (it's not a mini jack by any means) so the car rests on the stands at the jacking points. Here are a couple of pics of the car up high enough to work under.


I've been lifting the car this way for years and it hasn't failed me yet.

Pete

 

According to post #16, you already jacked the car up and fit ramps under the tires. I don't understand what you're trying to do now.