I don’t know jack…

Apart from changing a wheel, I’ve never jacked a car up to get underneath it and strip back rust/apply underseal, etc. But in a previous thread you guys encouraged me to have a go, so at some point during a sunny spell, I will!

So I have a plan…and it may be as cunning as a turnip or as daft as Balrick, thus I need some guidance to avoid killing myself….or worse.

I’ve purchased two car wheel ramps, two axle stands, two wheel chocks and a bottle jack. Everything is rated 2 tonnes or over.

So the plan is to drive the front wheels up onto the ramps, then possibly block the rear wheels (behind them) with the chocks. Then use the bottle jack at a suitable central place on the rear axle to jack up the back (but obviously the chocks become redundant if I do that).

Once the car is raised at the back, I’ll pop the extended axle stands under both sides of the rear axle and lower it onto them. Hmmmm, does a bottle jack lower things gently?

The car will then be on ramps at the front and axle jacks at the back all ready for me to crawl underneath in the (false?) knowledge all is well!

So is this a safe and logical way of doing things? Also, I don’t have a scooby right now where I should position the bottle jack centrally on the axle to jack up the back, nor where to put the axle stands when it’s jacked up. I’m assuming it will be obvious……but who knows, maybe the exhaust will suffice instead of the axle!

If anyone has any photos, with arrows, of the jacking and resting points, I’d be very grateful:-)

driving the fronts onto ramps then raising the back up onto axle stands is how I do mine, but I wouldn’t use a bottle jack under the rear diff. When you raise the rear with a trolley jack the front will want to move back, this is why you need a smooth surface under the trolley jack so the jack wheels can creep forward with the car following an arc the body wants to take until it’s level. Then support under the jacking points on either sill (provided they are solid) with some pads or old rubber matt inbetween the axle stands and the sills to protect the paint. If you use a bottle jack it won’t be able to follow an arc and will probably either lean the jack or drag the front back along the ramps.
Good idea to use some wood to chock the front wheels on the ramps, then when/if you take the wheels off slide them under the car so you get a security policy if it does fall. If you’re not happy with anything then either do it again until you are, or do one end of the car at a time on the ramps.
When you drive up ramps them may skid along if the ground is uneven so make sure you check the car goes up level.

I would suggest that you have someone with you whom has experience of jacking up a car. Little things like the front valence hitting the ramps as you drive up may cause problems.

Richard.

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I would find someone with practical experience to show you how to do it “properly and safely”.
Yes, we all had to start somewhere but….
By your own admission it sounds like an accident waiting to happen.
Failing all that I would just concentrate on knitting or something else. :wink::+1:

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Definitely not a bottle jack. Would you be able to fit one under the car anyway?
I use a low-profile trolley jack and I still have to run the car up a pair of low wooden ramps to get it and a sheet of 18mm ply for it to run on underneath the car (We have a shingle covered drive.)
I changed the gearbox oil yesterday with the car on stands at the sill jacking points and the jack itself at the centre jacking point on the sub-frame with just the slightest pressure on it as a backup, just in case. (Rear wheels were on the ground, chocked and handbrake firmly on.)

The car was rock-solid like this but it’s still a case of putting a soft body in a space which is going to suddenly become far too small for it if the worst does happen.

I did notice a bit of surface rust on the underside but decided that treating it is not really a job you can do properly on a drive. Not enough access, not enough arm-room, unpleasant fluids in close proximity to your face. No.

Here is a link to the jacking point document : https://mx5oc.co.uk/download/how-to-jack-support-the-mx-5-nc-mkiii/
(I’m hoping that using the exhaust as a jacking point was a joke.)

Thanks, that’s useful. Incidentally I cancelled the bottle jack from Amazon and I’m now looking at trolley jacks around £50.

So your suggestion is again very helpful, particularly because the Halfords axle stands I bought have a maximum height of 36cm and this Halfords jack is one of the few, at this price point, that exceeds the pretty standard 32cm maximum height. So have some brownie points from me…which I’m deducting from Scarletpimpernel.

Yes, the exhaust jacking point was a joke. I realise it would melt the rubber thingy on top of the jack.

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“Yes, the exhaust jacking point was a joke”
And so was my knitting.

Good luck! You did ask. :slightly_smiling_face::+1:

PS when you work underneath any vehicle don’t take chances or risks.

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One way to prevent ramps from skidding is the put a strip of carpet on the ground in front of the ramp, feed it under and round the first cross rail (the one at ground level) and double it back over itself. As the wheel drives over the double layer of carpet it traps the ramp. Once it has ridden over the first cross rail, you’re on.

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I thought that in order to change gearbox oil, the car had to be level.
Do you start with the front raised just to access the plugs, then lower the car to empty the oil? How do you refill it though?

The drain plug is at the back of the box so the slope helped to empty it. I went for a drive first so the oil was warm and thinner which helps too.
I used an oil transfer pump to refill and put in a measured 2.1L my mk3 2L sport needs. The pump was a tenner from eBay and was quite a slow process, even when I lifted the new oil container as high as I could.

I’ll let you know when I do mine.
Tried various methods, I have another idea which I used on Mk1/Mk2 gear boxes.

Hi Andy. So this morning I acquired a shiny new Halfords trolley jack, I thought they’re bound to be going up!

I then started reading the jacking point document. Given I intend to first drive the front wheels up ramps (using carpet technique, nice tip), is it still ok to raise the rear on the diff jacking point shown in point 9. (of the doc)?

I’m asking because the doc doesn’t assume the car is raised at the front on ramps and thus has a slight downward angle towards the back. Also, given MX5’s are RWD and (I assume) the handbrake applies to the rear wheels, does that mean there is nothing locking the front wheels in place on the ramps?

Perhaps daft questions, but probably I’ll only get this wrong just once, gulp.

You could reverse the car onto the ramps, then jack under the cross member to get the front up.
I assume you’ve got a ‘low level’ trolley jack, as a standard height one may not fit under your car.
No disrespect intended, but it sounds like you could do with someone else with you that’s got some experience before attempting to get the car in the air.

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That’s not something I’d feel safe doing so I won’t advise either way, but yes, the front wheels would not be locked when on the ramps. There are others on here who have a lot more experience doing this and I think I’ve seen it mentioned somewhere that the diff is actually not the best place to jack the rear.

(Jacks may be going up but you definitely don’t want MX-5s coming down!)

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Never a good idea to use the differential as a jacking point.
I might have to stop reading this post as I am getting scared about what might happen. :flushed:

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To answer some of the questions.

Yep, it’s the Halfords low level jack in AndyGadget’s post further up. If it’s good enough for Andy…

Yep, I guess I could reverse her onto the ramps, assuming the rear bumper section doesn’t catch the ramps.

I’d love someone to come and hold my hand (well, perhaps not literally, depends how nice they are), but I’m not sure who that would be. We moved to Frimley, near Farnborough, 3 years ago…and BAM! the pandemic happened.

Since we haven’t had Covid, as the nice Asian doctor pointed out, we probably don’t have any friends.

That’s not strictly true, but most of our friends are back in Kent and many are creative luvies (like me…but with masculinity, you understand) who think a torque wrench is when lockdown prevents them from seeing each other.

So it’s just me and you virtual buddies on this dangerous mission!

Understood. You could just drive/reverse it up the ramps and do one end at a time…

My ramps have cross braces into which the tyre sits and together with aother brace across the front of the ramp prevent the wheel from moving either forwards or backwards.
However I always try to keep one set of wheels on the ground with chocks if necessary. I have also found that the ice hockey puck on the top of the axle stands seems to make the whole thing more stable. You can buy these from fleabay or make them yourself rembering that the sill flange is offset from the reinforcements on the inner side of the sill.

Yep, I’m coming to the conclusion it might be better (well safer) to do one end at a time up the ramps.

But at least I’ll feel more mechanic’ey with a new trolley jack and axle stands in the shed….even if I never use them!

I drop a length of 4x2 timber at a 45 degree angle inside the rungs of the ramps, with one end resting on the ground under the wheels. This prevents the wheels from rolling off them.

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