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Hope you didn't buy the plastic ones Corvette C7 Leave In Jacking Pad Pucks. One cracked apart, the car slipped and almost ripped apart my rocker panel....
Just a reminder to put a wheel chock behind each front tire on the ramp platform so that the car does not roll backwards when you lift the rear off the ground. Once the rear is lifted, if you check the wheel chocks you will find that they are wedged in place and not easily removed.
Excellent advice...47 years ago I was under my 1970 Mustang MachI with the front tires on ramps. I raised the rear with a floor jack under the rear differential housing and slid under. The car rolled backward off the ramps and fortunately I was very fast and agile and the floor jack wheels rolled with the car keeping the rear in the air. It slid sideways and dented the rear quarter panel on the garage door frame, but I was very happy to be alive to pay a body shop to repair the dent. Ever since that educational moment I have used wheel chocks when on the ramps. I feel fortunate to be able to write this post.
Frankly if I only had one jack, would feel safer getting two 16" x 8" Concrete Blocks and jacking the rear first and putting the tires on the blocks, then jacking the front in two steps and using jack stands on that end. (Similar to what I do with my light weight home made wood stanchions shown in pic in post#6.)
Bad idea...concrete blocks have no strength on the sides. They will crush under the weight of a vehicle.
Hope you didn't buy the plastic ones Corvette C7 Leave In Jacking Pad Pucks. One cracked apart, the car slipped and almost ripped apart my rocker panel....
Not good. Mine are similar (from So. Car Parts) and were used on my C6, first C7, and now my current GS with no issues so far. I wonder if the blade of the jack saddle was on the puck when lifted. If so, that might account for the failure.
Bad idea...concrete blocks have no strength on the sides. They will crush under the weight of a vehicle.
When I first read the thread about using concrete blocks I thought about the story a friend told me regarding his close friend. This person was using concrete blocks to hold up his car. The blocks gave way and he died under the car.
Bad idea...concrete blocks have no strength on the sides. They will crush under the weight of a vehicle.
Have not used those for 50 years but had to place the holes vertically. The way they hold up a house! (Bit heavier than a Vette!) Also remember could not use cider blocks as they were much weaker.
I'm happy with the ~8 lb/each wood stanchions I fabricated. Calculated the safety factor, it's ~15. The bridges you drive over use about 5, some less!
PS: Just to see, checked a concrete block compression strength. This is what I found:
The specifications (ASTM C90) for hollow load bearing concrete masonry units require that the block, assuming 50% solid, would take about 120,000 pounds to break it. The strength is measured for block with the cores and face shells vertical. It is not advisable to use block with the cores horizontal.
Bottom Line, anyone can screw-up using anything! If you're comfortable using one jack and placing one side of one end of the Vette on an extended jack stand, then doing the others One by One that's fine! Just be careful as that, IMO, is dangerous!
Built myself wooden jack stands to go under the wheels. Feels much safer than those store jack stands. Very solid, 11" high, 20" long, 11" wide with wheel blocks built into the top. Built 'jenga' style and probably more wood in there than needed but better safe than sorry. Jack-up front first and then the back. High enough to do most things. Obviously not much good if you have take the wheels off.
Built myself wooden jack stands to go under the wheels. Feels much safer than those store jack stands. Very solid, 11" high, 20" long, 11" wide with wheel blocks built into the top. Built 'jenga' style and probably more wood in there than needed but better safe than sorry. Jack-up front first and then the back. High enough to do most things. Obviously not much good if you have take the wheels off.
Wooden jack stands
Great idea, love the "Jenga style" analogy!
Have a 1000+ hours building my street rod, many underneath with exhaust, trans cooler, fuel/brake lines etc etc. Used these commercial stanchions an felt much safer when pulling on a large bolt etc from under the car vs jack stands! Yours are like what I built from wood, pic post #4! Heavier than my 8 pound'ers but also higher.
Spent many hours under the car when building. Stanchions much safer than jack stands!
That was 17 years ago when the company that made the '34 Sedan body made then from fiberglass. They are 12 inch high and took a two step lift on the street rod and would for the Vette as well. They are no longer made. Too much work to jack unless as was my street rod up in the air for months!
Pardon the newb questions, but the only other time I've ever put a car up on jackstands was quite a few years back and trying to be ultra-careful.
I'm planning to put the GS up on jackstands to replace the brake pads and ceramic coat the wheels. From the diagram in the second post, my plan is to jack the car from the blue spots, and place the jackstands in the red spots.
My main question is this... With the Vette on jack stands in those positions on a flat garage floor, would the car generally stable enough to crank up the engine? I know it usually shakes pretty good when the beast cranks up. Reason I was thinking about doing that would just be to turn the front wheels for better access to the brakes. That reasonable, or a bad idea?
Pardon the newb questions, but the only other time I've ever put a car up on jackstands was quite a few years back and trying to be ultra-careful.
I'm planning to put the GS up on jackstands to replace the brake pads and ceramic coat the wheels. From the diagram in the second post, my plan is to jack the car from the blue spots, and place the jackstands in the red spots.
My main question is this... With the Vette on jack stands in those positions on a flat garage floor, would the car generally stable enough to crank up the engine? I know it usually shakes pretty good when the beast cranks up. Reason I was thinking about doing that would just be to turn the front wheels for better access to the brakes. That reasonable, or a bad idea?
I jacked one wheel at a time! If you haven't done pads replacement recently it has another advantage. If you can't remember if something is going back correctly you can always look at the wheel you didn't remove!
In my early 2014 I did turn the front wheels for better access as they had a double sided tape holding the pads to the pistons.
With the Grand Sport (which I have replaced pads twice!) really no need, pads come right out.
I jacked one wheel at a time! If you haven't done pads replacement recently it has another advantage. If you can't remember if something is going back correctly you can always look at the wheel you didn't remove!
In my early 2014 I did turn the front wheels for better access as they had a double sided tape holding the pads to the pistons.
With the Grand Sport (which I have replaced pads twice!) really no need, pads come right out.
Thanks...I was planning the jack stands more so I don't have to hurry with coating the rims than just for the brake pad change. Good to know the access is good enough on the GS as-is, so I won't worry with the starting to turn the wheels.
You can turn the wheels without starting the car, especially on jack stands. Press and hold the start without pressing the brake pedal for 5 seconds to enter the maintenance mode. After in the maintenance mode, press the brake and you can move the shifter to neutral. That will unlock the steering wheel.
If you have a manual, you can probably unlock the steering wheel in much the same way, but I am not 100% certain because I have an automatic.
Great diagram, going to use the picture to jack up all 4 wheels to change them out and using jack stands also. Hope it works out. thanks
Recall someone wanted all 4 wheels off the ground to coat the barrels.
Just be careful as the car is jacked up when using 4 jack stands. It's not recommended to have both ends on jack stands. Best to do one end at a time. If you're doing, be sure to jack the front first with the parking brake set. Then check that the car is stable and secure before removing the first wheel. See warning label from my best very well built jack stands:
If you have two jacks, suggest you leave them in place with light load on the side jack pads to increase stability.
Hope you didn't buy the plastic ones Corvette C7 Leave In Jacking Pad Pucks. One cracked apart, the car slipped and almost ripped apart my rocker panel....
OMG, do you have the exact model. I just got some of these "semi permanent" and I want to make sure they arent those.
OMG, do you have the exact model. I just got some of these "semi permanent" and I want to make sure they arent those.
There are some things that just should not be made of plastic...
If I don't want to lift the car high enough for jack stands, I either put wood blocks under the frame, or a block under the jack arm just to keep the jack from going all the way to the ground if the hydraulics fail...
I keep looking for a jack that has safety latches at several heights built into the jack frame.
Last edited by TEXHAWK0; Sep 29, 2017 at 05:14 PM.
Great idea, love the "Jenga style" analogy! 
