Crazy Door Gap Change on Jacks?
Thread Starter
7th Gear
Joined: Dec 2018
Posts: 7
Likes: 0
Crazy Door Gap Change on Jacks?
Hi there,
I've been doing some work on the steering and such and needed to be working under the nose of the car so I jacked it and had two stands essentially under the mirrors on the frame. I come back tonight and can't open the door and assumed the door handle assembly stopped working on me as I just replaced it all until I saw the massive gap in the door. There must have been roughly a 1/2'' gap running down the rear end of driver door to the point where it would not open. The passenger one seemed fine and as soon as I got it off the stands it went back to normal. I assume its frame sag? Should I be alarmed?
I've been doing some work on the steering and such and needed to be working under the nose of the car so I jacked it and had two stands essentially under the mirrors on the frame. I come back tonight and can't open the door and assumed the door handle assembly stopped working on me as I just replaced it all until I saw the massive gap in the door. There must have been roughly a 1/2'' gap running down the rear end of driver door to the point where it would not open. The passenger one seemed fine and as soon as I got it off the stands it went back to normal. I assume its frame sag? Should I be alarmed?
Drifting
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 1,964
Likes: 579
From: Pittsburgh PA
Pretty normal. Some cars flex more than others. I’ve had cars never flex no matter how I put them on stands, others I’ve had the same issue with doors not opening. All of them drove just fine.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 893
Likes: 7
From: Orange Park Florida
I have jacked my '72 up many times from every possible frame location and never had issues. Is your vette a convertible? I've heard the convertibles tend to flex. I would check things out just to be sure!! can you tell if the car sags if both seats are occupied?
Former Vendor
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 76,656
Likes: 1,853
From: Jeffersonville Indiana 812-288-7103
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15
Seems to me that they all flex to a degree... coupes (ever so slightly), and convertibles. So our rule here is that all doors are open to the first click before the car is put on any 2 pole "non flat bed" lift.
Willcox
Willcox
Is my vette stock?? HAHA
Joined: Oct 2015
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From: Im not allowed to tell you
2020 C3 of the Year Finalist - Modified
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Im guessing you have a convertible. My convertible is about 3/8 ths gap on the lift, maybe more. My doors open but dont want to close well. The gap always closes up when it hits the floor
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Race Director
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 13,082
Likes: 3,399
From: SW Florida.
The car will flex some while driving, but at no point (I hope) will the car's weight be supported by the frame between the front and back wheels with the suspension hanging in space pulling downwards while driving. And when the center does flex upwards, it is for a couple 10ths of a second til the weight settles on the wheels. Not 45 minutes to 6 months. The frame weighs about 600 lbs. You wanna pick a bare frame up in the middle? Fine. But the other near 3000 lbs hits the frame at the engine mounts, suspension mounts, 8 body mounts, rad support and trans mount. Only the trans mount is centrally located weight. The OP picked the car up at the mirrors. All the weight is bowing the frame downwards at both ends from that point.
Last edited by derekderek; Dec 16, 2018 at 08:11 AM.
Is my vette stock?? HAHA
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 20,221
Likes: 9,357
From: Im not allowed to tell you
2020 C3 of the Year Finalist - Modified
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
2019 C3 of Year Winner (performance mods)
2016 C3 of Year Finalist
Hi there,
I've been doing some work on the steering and such and needed to be working under the nose of the car so I jacked it and had two stands essentially under the mirrors on the frame. The passenger one seemed fine and as soon as I got it off the stands it went back to normal. I assume its frame sag? Should I be alarmed?
I've been doing some work on the steering and such and needed to be working under the nose of the car so I jacked it and had two stands essentially under the mirrors on the frame. The passenger one seemed fine and as soon as I got it off the stands it went back to normal. I assume its frame sag? Should I be alarmed?
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 979
Likes: 258
From: Maryland
On my 69 convertible, I jack it up under the front engine cross member, then I put jack stands under the frame behind the front wheels on both sides. I then secure the front cross member with a jack stand. Once this is done, I get very little if any
flex and then can work on the front suspension. If you are not doing any suspension work, you probably can use the suspension points behind the front wheels on both sides. Just make sure both sides are equally raised and you should not
have an issue.
flex and then can work on the front suspension. If you are not doing any suspension work, you probably can use the suspension points behind the front wheels on both sides. Just make sure both sides are equally raised and you should not
have an issue.
Race Director
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 13,082
Likes: 3,399
From: SW Florida.
Front engine cross member. Use a piece of wood. Crossmember itself is strong enough, but the surface the jack hits gets flattened and ugly. I think there is actually a repair piece to fix the jack dents there.
Is my vette stock?? HAHA
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 20,221
Likes: 9,357
From: Im not allowed to tell you
2020 C3 of the Year Finalist - Modified
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
2019 C3 of Year Winner (performance mods)
2016 C3 of Year Finalist
