850r jacking problems

[pigfight]

hi folks, i recently purchased a 1996 (n) 854r, i went to jack up the car to perform an oil change and noticed that the jacking points (one each side) seem to be crushed in (the rest of the car is mint, so was surprised and **** off!!) so only thing i can think of doing is to use a trolley jack with a plank of wood on it (to spread the weight) as to not make it worse. im gona need to buy an aluminium one though because i'l need to keep it in the boot at all times as the supplied one is useless now!! would any one know what load cappacity i need to get (according to specs my car weighs 1535 kg) theres one on ebay for bout £100 which seems reasonable with a 1.8 ton (not tonne) capacity, would this surfice? ive always owned 240s before which had central jacking points at the front and rear but cant find the same on my 850!! does it have them? any info, help, knowledge will be greatly appreciated. thank, david (relative newbie to the forum, based in stoke on trent)

[Tomcat]

You can jack the car up quite safely on the front subframe, the rear is a little trickier because of the layout, however, I usually use the rear subframe mount point as it's pretty beefy.

[pigfight]

thanks tomcat, thats a great help, will be having another go on monday. my motor has been lowered though and it has the full skirt kit (yours looks the same) how do you go on with getting a trolley jack under the front without having to spend a small fortune on a low slung jack? i can only think to drive onto a couple of wooden blocks, then to lift and put on axle stands?? thanks again, david.

[Tomcat]

Yup, mines a pig to get the jack under, there's no way I can go straight under the front. What I do is to jack it from the side first(Just behind the front wheel is the front subframe rear mount), one it's off the ground I put an axle stand under the front suframe, then let the jack down and go under the front with it. It's a bit of a ball ache but these are the things you have to put up with when you have a lowered car.

[pigfight]

again, a great help, cheers topcat.

[pigfight]

sorry tomcat....my typeo

[Tomcat]

Lol....No problem.

[AlanG]

Any motor factor will stock a 2 ton trolley for about £30.I never trust the boot supplied ones anyway. Just my tuppence worth!!

[Tomcat]

Just as a matter of interest, my boot mounted jack decided one day that while I was trying to jack the car up it would lean over, no matter how many times I wound it back in and out it still did the same, in the end it just fell over and bent all the mounting pickup out of shape, I binned it after that.

[AlanG]

Never trusted them TC.

[PaulZX]

Using a trolley jack in a 2 stage lifting operation with an axle stand is the only way mine is gonna get lifted, unless you have aformentioned gold plated low slung jack....

[pigfight]

thanks for all the feedback guys, totally apreciate it.

[Baj]

I bought a 2 tonne trolley jack from Aldi for £15 and a pair of axle stands for a tenner.

Sparewheel jacks are really for emergencies only. I would not use them for anything if I can help it.

[pigfight]

hi folks, job sorted, oil, filter and sparks changed. i found a 4 inch deep plank of wood, sawed into 4 equal pieces (bout 1.5ft each) planed one end of each to a neat slope (piece of **** with power tools) positioned under each wheel and drove onto them, hey presto...loads of room to get a normal trolley jack under. wanted to post this as to help anyone with a similar problem. again, thanks for all the feedback guys.

[Wobbly Dave]

For that it is worth here is the article I wrote some time ago

http://www.vpcuk.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1335