I posted a "Lifting The Car" question a week ago and I purchased the $50. special blue jack from Wal Mart, hockey pucks, jack stands and Rhino Ramps. I had not attempted to lift the car up till now so I just wanted to make sure that I was doing everything right. Well, the ramps worked fine other than a little scraping to the black front air dams. I slid the jack under the car, located the correct location for lifting, jacked it up all the way and the tires were still sitting firmly on the ramps. I added a couple of pieces of 1X4 and still not enough lift.

I think that the next step is to get the car off of the ramps and just lift the car at the jacking points on each side and slide the jack stands along side the jack. The purpose for this exercise is to add side vent screens and paint the calipers. I also just purchased the GM bra and it will be a much easier install with the front lifted.

So, I guess I have a couple of questions,
1) My new lifing method will work OK ?
2) While I've got the wheels off I probably should paint the hats black as well. Will just brushing on a HT flat black be OK or do these need to be sprayed. It would be some job to mask off.

Sorry for the long post! While laying under the front of the car wondering what to do next I did notice a major amount of crap up at the top of the radiator, leaves, napkins, twigs and other debris. I have heard other folks talk about what they found up there but I thought surely not on my car.

Thanks, Kevin

 

You should be fine for jacking your car like that, your next step is to buy some jacking pucks. when jacking the car AND installing a jack stand, likely they won't be in the disgnated area. Just be very carefull that the jack stand is on the frame and not the underpan or the plastic.

Chris

 

Sounds like the jack you got from Wal-Mart just doesn't have a sufficient lift to it. You can do the lifting as you describe, just be very careful. Perhaps a better option would be to just return the jack for a refund, and then go buy one that has a higher lift to it. The Craftsman aluminim jack I bought will lift the car higher than the Rhino Ramps and makes it easier to do any kind of work on the car. Of course, it did not cost $50 either, so you have to take that into account.

 

When I lift my car I do not use ramps - I lift it with the jack then support it with jack stands. I jack it (usually) from the shipping slot points along the frame and put the jack stands in the rear or front - there are places at both ends that the stands can be placed.

 

that's the way I do it.

 

Several points I picked up from your post that frighten me a bit.

1) I didn't see anything about having or using a board to sit on top of the jack to hit the crossmembers. I get the impression that you're going direct from the jack head to the crossmember. Baaaaaad ju-ju. Use a 2x10 about 2 ft. long to span the crossmember.

2) I'm also concerned about using a $50 jack. For god's sake, don't get under that thing with a cheap jack.

If I were you, I'd send a PM to Patches. He's got a really good picture on how to jack it up, where to put the jack stands and where to place the boards.

 

I have to use the Rhino Ramps to jack the front of my car - it is too low for my low profile jack to get under the engine crossmember. Yes, I know I can jack from the sides in the puck locations, but I use those for placing jackstands.

Jackstands - 4 of them - are your friends. Never, ever go under your car (or remove the wheels) without them.

2 cents deposited

EG

 

I have the same blue jack as you from Wal-Mart. It's orig price was 93 marked down to 75 and then clearance for 50. If I planned to do a lot of jacking I probably would have bought a more expensive one. Mostly for oil changes. When I put my ss inserts on the front I wanted the car a little higher. I used the jacking pucks on the side and then slid the rhino ramps underneath each tire. I wanted the tires off the ground the other night so I bought a 10ft 2x10 and made some 2 pc ramps to lift the front of the car up a little so I could get the jack under the crossmembers. I then took the 2ft pc put it under the front xmembers and jacked until wheels were off the ground and put jackstands with jacking pucks on side jacking points. I don't know how high you're trying to get your car, but so far jack has worked ok for me. Hope this helps.

 

Sears has a great 2 ton low profile jack for $199. I think I paid $175 on sale... Damn, what's a $100. when it comes to the safety and security of you and your car????

 

 

I have the same Alum jack from Walmart no problems with jacking up my car with it. I believe it will go up to 14 1/2" jack is also low enough to fix under car with out raising it.

Just because the more you pay for something doesn't mean its better and without problems.

 

Thanks for all the replies. I was just trying to not do any damage. Jacking up a car is usually a no-brainer but this is a little more complicated. I did put a 1 X 4 between the jack and the front crossmember and I can see the value of a little nicer jack but this one will get the job done. I have been working too much to get back to the car but hopefully will be able to post a picture of newly painted calipers in the next couple of days.

 

About 5 years ago one of my gal friends down in mid state called her brother one day. He was supposed to be at home, so it was not right that he did not answer the phone. After calling all day, she finally drove over to his house and found him quite lifeless under a car he had been working on.....his cheap imported jack puked its fluid and let the car down on him... NEVER get under a car without stable jack stands holding it up, don't even reach under there except to place the jack stands.. One of my now departed relations used to have a sports and race car service shop I hung around in and the rule was absolute....NEVER be under a car without well placed stands. Gravity can kill. I inherited the 1971 vintage Hein-Warner floor jack from the shop, and am still using it. I have much newer jack stands.
Please use common sense and good judgement.
Jennifer