Jack Points

[athflying79]

a piece of carpet or something to pad the jack saddle when using the frame points on the floor pan.

This way you avoid knocking off the undercoating

Mine is already a bit torn up. I got some Mar-Hyde spray on rubber undercoating. Going to clean her up on Sunday and see if I can't patch the spots up.

[genphreak]

What's the difference between a floor jack and a factory jack, and why are some points good for one but not the other?

The direct answer is that factory jacks mate with a hook and guide on the body. Using any other jacks here damages it or at least chips the paint where the salt and road grime promote serious corrosion within a few years in a lot of locales.

Guys, surely if jacking the diff is bad, all sorts of cars would be damaged (at least diff/subframe mount problems) and we'd be noticing at this age as most of these cars have been jacked badly by some indy once they are 15 years old- and E24s, E30s, E28s and so on are much older than that... had anyone seen evidence of this kind of problem as opposed to plain old wear? Nick

[Dave M]

The direct answer is that factory jacks mate with a hook and guide on the body. Using any other jacks here damages it or at least chips the paint where the salt and road grime promote serious corrosion within a few years in a lot of locales.

Guys, surely if jacking the diff is bad, all sorts of cars would be damaged (at least diff/subframe mount problems) and we'd be noticing at this age as most of these cars have been jacked badly by some indy once they are 15 years old- and E24s, E30s, E28s and so on are much older than that... had anyone seen evidence of this kind of problem as opposed to plain old wear? Nick

I always use the diff and front crossmember. Can't count the number of times its been supported by the diff. I've inspected the mounts thoroughly and have experienced no ill-effects.

Lucky?

Dave M

[Jay 535i]

The direct answer is that factory jacks mate with a hook and guide on the body. Using any other jacks here damages it or at least chips the paint where the salt and road grime promote serious corrosion within a few years in a lot of locales.

Guys, surely if jacking the diff is bad, all sorts of cars would be damaged (at least diff/subframe mount problems) and we'd be noticing at this age as most of these cars have been jacked badly by some indy once they are 15 years old- and E24s, E30s, E28s and so on are much older than that... had anyone seen evidence of this kind of problem as opposed to plain old wear? Nick

I've watched Bruno jack my car up by the diff more than once. I trust he knows his stuff.

Thanks for 'splaining me, Nick

[genphreak]

I've watched Bruno jack my car up by the diff more than once. I trust he knows his stuff. Thanks for 'splaining me, Nick

np dude, though with my query I don't mean to take away from Jeff's (and others) suggestion that it doesn't appear to be strong enough to jack there. The pics was awesome, nice contribution again Jeff... thanks Nick

[BigKriss]

All mechanics use the diff and the front crossmember when jacking up the car, unless it's going up on a hoist and so do I.

[billb]

I realize this was all part of the grand experiment, but the original portion of this post had been moved off the main board into Way OT. I went back through it and pulled out that picture of the E30 on its side and questioned why it was put into OT. I'm glad it has stirred up this discussion, but the "anonymous" moderators were the ones that moved it off the board in the first place. I wouldn't necessarily lay large amounts of praise on the fact that it reappeared here...