Safest way to get car high with axel stands

[hipwell]

Hey guys.

I'm doing the clutch tomorow on the 172 and my biggest mistake last time i did a clutch was not getting the car high enough.

I own 4 axel stands but only ever use 2 on the front chassis rails and leave the rear sat on the wheels.

Would it be safer to put the rear on stands too on the rear beam? Or on the sills?

If so

Front first then rears second

Or

Left front, left rear
Right front, right rear?

 

[MonkeyKnifeFight]

I raise the front (either side) then place a jack stand on the frame rail on its lowest setting as close to the engine as possible. Repeat on the other side. then move to the rear i support the rear beam as i dont trust the sills after one collapsed on me. You can get both jack stands on the rear at the same time. Then i move to the front i ad blocks of wood to my jack and raise each jack stand 4-6 inches at a time.

Just go slow and watch as sometimes a jack stand can begin to fall over, in this case i hit it with a hammer to level it out.

 

[Crybert]

Make sure you’re on flat ground. If you don’t need the wheels off then I’d recommend car ramps, breeze blocks etc. Something that you can put under the wheels after lifting it. Will also be safer than axle stands.

 

[Eddie555]

What I tend to do is whip the front bumper off first then drive the car up my car ramps. I then jack the rear up in the centre of the rear beam as high as my jack will go and place 2 axels stands under each side of the beam. I then place a piece of wood under the subframe just underneath by the wishbones and jack each side up at a time and place an axel stand just at the triple bracket on the chassis rail and take away the car ramps. As said just keep an eye on the rear stands as you are jacking the front. I also find placing my spare wheels in the boot helps with equalising the weight of the car cause it can be nose heavy. Depending on how high you want to go then I have used old paving slabs under the jack to get the front higher. The bumper is on in this picture cause I was test fitting the splitter

 

[hipwell]

Cheers guys.

If I remove the A frames behind the subframe first is there any more chassis rail to use so I can get the axel stands closer to the front of the car?

I always use those rails but they just feel a little too far away from the engine

 

[Eddie555]

Cheers guys.

If I remove the A frames behind the subframe first is there any more chassis rail to use so I can get the axel stands closer to the front of the car?

I always use those rails but they just feel a little too far away from the engine

You can but you don’t need to. Like I said when you take the front wheels off just put them in the boot for extra ballast. I’ve worked on mine loads of times this way. Also just make sure the front stands are higher than the rears so the weight is tipped towards the rear. My stands are ratchet stands and mine are set 1-2 clicks more on the front.

 

[Brigsy]

Jack the front right up and leave the back on its wheels if only doing clutch, always plenty of room. Need a decent jack to get it up to height any of the smaller jacks will struggle.

 

[dann2707]

They do say not to have the car on 4 axle stands at once, having the car in the air always frightens the hell out of me so I'll always put 3 extra axle stands under just incase. It just takes one Google search to see how many many home DIY and mechanics have died from the car crushing them. Can't you get away with not having the rear jacked?