Jacking a saloon car - two wheels airborne: Is it ok?

[mrmr96]

I have a saloon car which I take to trackdays. I usually jack up each corner one at a time with a trolley jack when swapping track wheels on and off.

However I frequently see people with similar cars and trolley jacks and they place the jack kinda central on the sill and then lift high enough to get both the front and rear wheels off the ground at once.

It's obviously a bit quicker as there's less jacking up/dropping down, but I'm not convinced it's safe... but not sure why.

What's the general consensus? Is it ok to forego doing each corner separately and jack the whole side of a saloon car up with one trolley jack?

Cheers

[xr287]

I wouldn't. Just for the sake of whats the advantage of changing wheels 5 mins quicker as opposed to the cost if it falls off.

[SoliD]

Don't see the problem, my car a normal old man mondeo, back wheel goes up when jacking from the front jacking point. Not much you can do to stop that.

[Ian_sUK]

When you jack a clio sport at a front corner the rear lifts first anyway, theres no way to just jack one corner at a time, its never been a problem.

[GTP rpm]

Ian_sUK said:

When you jack a clio sport at a front corner the rear lifts first anyway, theres no way to just jack one corner at a time, its never been a problem.

This.

I put "sometimes" as it depends on lots of variables.

But if you've got a normal car (not an alloy/carbon bodied one for example which may distort) and a decent jack - no problem.

I reccomend the bluepoint racing jacks from Snap On for £200. Fantastic bit of kit and look very sexy IMO.

[hornetrider]

Good cars with a decent stiff chassis usually lift both wheels on the same side when jacked up, no problems.

Exceptions to this rule would be MkIV Golfs/Boras where if ytou jack it up the chassis is so effing baggy then the door won't even open and shut

[miniman]

Normal modus operandi for jacking an MX-5 is to lift from the rear diff.

[Altrezia]

My mini is so stiff that I can get THREE wheels off the ground if jacking from the front subframe - both fronts and one rear in a weird diamond balancing thing.

I don't usually do anything to the car like that though, but lob a brick under one of the two I don't need.

[Munter]

miniman said:

Normal modus operandi for jacking an MX-5 is to lift from the rear diff.

Have to raise the diff quite high though to change the fronts that way.

[miniman]

Munter said:

miniman said:

Normal modus operandi for jacking an MX-5 is to lift from the rear diff.

Have to raise the diff quite high though to change the fronts that way.

[PabloTeK]

They do this in NASCAR, no fancy air jacks or flimsy little lifting boards, single trolley jack where I can see it matey They are designed for it though so maybe the cars you see have reinforced points under them for it?

[xr287]

Ian_sUK said:

When you jack a clio sport at a front corner the rear lifts first anyway, theres no way to just jack one corner at a time, its never been a problem.

I drive a clio sport but voted no anyway. It does lift both wheels but theres no proper jacking point in the middle. The sills tend to fold and I wouldn't be 100% confident just jacking behind them.

[MGJohn]

When I jack the front wheel clear on my MGZS using the jacking point, body stiffness I guess also means the rear wheel is clear too. Useful when swapping wheels front to rear ...
..

[Munter]

Was it the original Mini that had one jack point in the middle on the side? I remember some car like that but can't remember exactly what it was.

[andy rob]

get some air jacks !
as said above if your cars got a good cage & sorted supension you cant help but jack 2 wheels @ a time