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When I had tires and an alignment done on mine the shop owner told his boys to do the same thing to my car. At that point I'd never heard of that so I agreed. I have had my car up on jack stands many many times and I can open and close both doors while up in the air. I guess it’s really dependent on the individual car how much frame flex you have. The only flex that I see while on jack stands is the gap between the rear of the door and the rear quarter panel widens a bit but that’s all.
I have a '69 it's 35 years old now.
I never open anything to jack it up. I can open and close the doors just fine either way.
Think about it, You're doing 70mph, you enter a hard turn and pull .95G's.
All that weight, 3200lbs, is basically on the front wheel, do ou open you doors? I doubt it.
Or you enter a shopping mall where the drivewayrises up from level. The force on the first tire to hit it is way more than the weight of the car.:rolleyes
So if your body flexes whilst jacking it's time to do some frame repair
I have a '69 it's 35 years old now.
I never open anything to jack it up. I can open and close the doors just fine either way.
Think about it, You're doing 70mph, you enter a hard turn and pull .95G's.
All that weight, 3200lbs, is basically on the front wheel, do ou open you doors? I doubt it.
Or you enter a shopping mall where the drivewayrises up from level. The force on the first tire to hit it is way more than the weight of the car.:rolleyes
So if your body flexes whilst jacking it's time to do some frame repair
i agree, an old wives tale. I've jacked mine probably a thousand times in the 24 years i've owned it and never opened anything. As a matter of fact i open and close the doors alot when its jacked. No binding whatsoever.
I have a '69 it's 35 years old now.
I never open anything to jack it up. I can open and close the doors just fine either way.
Think about it, You're doing 70mph, you enter a hard turn and pull .95G's.
All that weight, 3200lbs, is basically on the front wheel, do ou open you doors? I doubt it.
Or you enter a shopping mall where the drivewayrises up from level. The force on the first tire to hit it is way more than the weight of the car.:rolleyes
So if your body flexes whilst jacking it's time to do some frame repair
:iagree:
I have jacked mine up many times and opened an closed the doors , hood while it was jacked up without knowing any differences from when it was sitting on the ground.
Eric
BS, Wive tale or not...what does it hurt. This simply falls into the ounce of prevention category.
Some one even mentioned above..,"prove it"...well, IMHO, the post I ref about the glass top breaking was proof enough.
I'll be first to let anyone know if I damage anything by popping the hood, opening the doors and taking off the tops when I jack up my car. :D
Semper Fi
2TONE82
:iagree: What can it hurt to pop the doors and open the hood just in case? But if you're gonna do otherwise just to show the rest of us how absurd we are being and something on your car does crack as a result, do let us know. I'm long overdue for a good "I told you so"! :lol:
Re: Tire Store Jacking Experience (Corvette_fetish)
Hmmm ... used to have my door bind up terribly when I put the vette up on
stands.
NOW - I know why, and I replaced the frame !!
If this happens to you, then you need to seriously examine and repair yoru frame.
vert or coupe ... the body doesn't keep itself from flexing ... the frame does.
While lifting the body off the frame : well, that's totally different.
However, it is in the best interests of the shop to not incurr any NOTICABLE
damage. You won't have paint chips, but hopefully they will tell you when they
punch through the corner of your frame with a jack.
From: Kansas City, MO ...I'd like to go fishing and catch a fishstick. That'd be convenient. - Mitch Hedberg
Re: Tire Store Jacking Experience (NHvette)
Are you guys talking about tire shops using floor jacks as opposed to two post lifts? If so, I've never seen a shop use that method.
As for my car, when I use my floor jack to lift the back tire off the ground, the front end on that side of the car starts to lift off also. Don't have any problems opening the doors or hood while it is lifted either. That to me, is the sign of a very strong and rigid frame. Try getting those results with a unibody like a F-body or a Mustang.
I agree with 427V8. I have owned my '74 for 23 years and have jacked it up more times than I care to remember without cracking any fiberglass or causing any misaligned panels. I have had tire shops wanting to open doors and hood. I just tell them NO!
Thanks for all the replies! After reading them.............I don't know if I was wrong in telling them to jack the car with the doors closed. I guess you can do it either way. My problem with unlatching the t-tops would be, I'd forget to latch them when I was done and they would depart the car at 80 mph. Thanks again, this thread is my new record for replies posted!
Semper Fi 2Tone82 :flag