I need to get my starter out and just wanted to check the wisdom of the forum on the best place to put the jack stands. I've owned my '87 since new and jacked it up often enough but always wondered about the optimum placement since I obvioulsy can't put them at the jacking points with the jack there. I do have a floor jack. Is there a center point I can raise from without getting into the flex issue I was warned about way back when? Also, except for changing a tire, I have usually raised an entire side when doing work underneath rather than raise the front or the rear.
Is there a good spot under the suspension to place jack stands?
By the way, eyeballing the issue of getting the starter out, is it as tight a process as it looks? Any tips for making it easier to any degree?
Thanks.

Jim

 

You can place some jack stands under the engine cradle/suspension. I would also use some type of back up like a cinder block and 4x4 wood blocks for support if needed. Emergency brake and bricks behind rear wheels.

 

Cinder blocks can shatter. That leaves 3400 lbs of car sitting on your chest. Use extra jack stands placed where they would hold the weight in the event of a collapse.

 

Jim.....I had a thread about this awhile back with pics, but my image hoster went belly up, and the pics disappeared. I still have them, I've just been too lazy to repost.

Anyhow, I jack it up from the front jack point, which raises the whole side of the car. Place a jack stand under the REAR jacking point. Now, lower the jack, and move it under the front crossmember toward the side that is on the stand. Raise the jack, and place a stand under the front jacking point on the side that is lifted.

Now, go to the other side, and place the jack dead center of the door, ensure that it contacts the frame and doesn't bind anything, and lift the car like a Nascar racer. Place your two stands under the jacking points.

Voila.....she's up in the air. I'll try to repost the pics, and just host them on my home page here.

Oh...listen and look for anything that doesn't sound or look right, and lower it back down if anything seems awry. Also, shake the car before getting under it just to be sure everything is OK.

As for flex, as long as the roof is on and the hood and doors are closed, the C4 is the most rigid car I have ever seen. My car will, in fact, rest on only 3 jack stands. I can almost always see daylight between the jack head and the frame on one stand. The mere fact that you can jack the front jacking point and the whole side of the car comes up tells you how stiff this chassis is.

Have fun, be safe.

 

Hope these help.









I also like to put a set of ramps under the front wheels just as a backup. From here you can just alternately raise each side until the car is high enough. I just did a transmission R&R on my 84 a couple of months ago. Was plenty high enough.

 

Since I'm hogging the thread anyway....

The starter is actually very easy. I usually disconnect the trans cooler lines from the trans and move them out of the way (assuming you have an auto).

It's also easier to remove the exhaust collector bolts from the manifolds and lower the front Y pipe for a little more access. Should take you about an hour to swap the starter.

 

I hope you listen to frizlefrak because this is how it's done. Just jack it from the middle with a floor jack like in his pics and place the jackstands in the manufacturers suggested jacking locations. Do one side first with the stands at thier lowest setting then do the other side and and set the stands there. Then jocky back and fourth from side to side raising it until you have it to desired height. Reverse the procedure to lower it again.

 

My method is fairly simple: I bought a 3-1/2 ton floor jack a couple of years ago that has a large rubber covered pad. I lift the front first at the cross member under the engine, place jack stands at the jack points behind the front wheels, then using a short piece of 2x4 on edge, I lift the back of the car at the differential. 2 more stands at the rear jack points and I'm done.

 

Coincidentally, I just put mine on stands today and have been meaning to take pictures to share. I raise the rear first with the jack at the rocker panel locations, then the front using the crossmember. My jack somtimes barely fits under the front, but this time I had to drive onto 2x4's. Side-to-side works as well and I may try it next time.

I put the stands under the frame:

Front


Rear


Both of those are on the passenger side.

 

That is why I always lift the front first.

 

This time around it didn't fit before lifting anything, but I still do the rears first because I otherwise there will be some point at which the car is on 3 stands, and that makes me nervous. (I don't have a jack-a-vette and don't see any other way to do the entire rear at once.) The first time I jacked all four corners, I had that situation and the car was stiff enough to be rocking on only two of them. I about crapped my pants when it started moving.

 

am i understanding this correct?? the first jacking point when starting
is in the middle of the side of the car?? first time vette owner

 

am i understanding this correctly ??? the first jacking point is in the middle of the side of the car?? is a 3-ton floor jack heavy duty enough?
first time jacking my vette

 

The 2x4 on edge (1-1/2"wide, 3-1/2" high) fits between the exhaust pipes to lift the entire rear at once from the diff.
I have true duals, though. Maybe the stock exhaust is to close together.

 

No. Although you could.

The first jacking point is where you would put the factory jack.....ie, just behind the front tire on the rocker panel between the two arrows. I lift it this way because 9 times out of 10, it's sitting in one bay of my garage with limited clearance to the wall. This allows the jack to go in at an angle, and once a stand is under the rear, move to the front crossmember to enable me to put a stand under the front. Once that's done, the other side is lifted from the middle, and she comes up nice and even.

The whole side of the car will come up, even just lifting the front. Yes, the C4 is that rigid. I'm telling you, this chassis is stiff as a board.

A 3 ton jack is more than sufficient to raise the Corvette any way you want to raise it.....and then some. 3 tons is 6000 pounds. The entire car weighs just more than half of that. You're only lifting a portion of that weight at any given time.

 

I know you cant just believe in everything you read but Richard Newtons (author of 3 reputable Corvette books since the eighties and an editor at Corvette Fever Magazine) book 101 c4 projects tells us to do just that. It's a pretty good read from an experienced, far from first time corvette owner. I've done it this way with success with 2 C4's on numerous occasions.

From his book...




It goes on in more detail about jackstand placement like frizlefraks pics show but you get the jist.

 

Put the stand under the folded steel, not between them.

 

Those jacking points from the factory are for noobs on where to put the factory jack when changing any one of 4 tires on the side of the road. That's all they're there for.

Lift the whole side at once under the mirror. Many jackstands will damage the rocker panels, so instead, place them inboard under another portion of the folded steel.

Watch out for brake lines, parking brake lines, and fuel lines.