Is there any issues jacking the rear of my 1990 by using the differential? I have seen a fixture on line that fits between exhaust and supports the differential. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks

 

Had done this for a decade on my 85 without any problems, even being lazy several times jacking from the exhaust under diff when in a hurry.
The batwing being aluminum and the mounting points being a few feet apart would be the weak point, however no different to bench pressing weights with your arms all force through your spine. Technically would be a bad idea, however have yet to see a broken batwing.

There are adapters that have been made to attach to trolley jacks just for this purpose, lifting the car with the adapter that fit between the exhaust to connect to the diff .
So yes many of us are very bad, as i doubt GM engineers thought the diff would be used to quickly lift the back of the car.

I have not done it to my ZR1 as i am sure murphy's law would mean an expensive D44 would break, but the common D36 would not.

So in short it is not be the best thing to do, however having done this for well over a decade without issue with the weaker D36 batwing on my 85 having survived.
I would not be too worried doing it now and then unless i see someone has broken their batwing, then i would change my ways in future.....

Cheers Gerard

 

Found this after reading the thread. I use quickjacks but this seems fine too.

 

Thank you for the response. My 90 is a 6 speed and has the Dana 44.

 

I jack the rear of my car up with the differential when swapping wheels. I put a block of wood between the jack pad and the differential. No issues so far.

 

As convenient as it may be, I wouldn't do it myself.

I've been tempted at times to do it when flushing and bleeding brake fluid just to get the rear wheels off the ground and agitate the ABS since I don't have a Tech-1 tool, but decided on not.

Really want to pick up one of those, but supply and demand is gonna keep em sky high given they come up for sale few and far between these days.

 

With the front on stands I'll lift directly on the pipes (with a block of wood between the pipes and diff) to get the rear up. With the car set up that way the rear is really light.

 

I was looking for a quick safe means to lift the rear. I made up a set of elec/hydraulic jacks with a control box. I also machined some custom blocks that fit the lift points. I can lift the front and rear independently.



It works well but is time consuming