Jack height

[morebeanz]

I am thinking about buying a trolley jack and some axle stands. Can anyone confirm what is the max height that I have clearance for a trolley jack to get under the relevant mounting points? I don't have access to the car at the mo...

I have done this before where I buy a jack that won't drop low enough!

[Steve_T]

If you don't need it urgently I could potentially get you a trolley jack from Costco - £55, 3 ton lifting capacity and easily gets under a cerb. Only problem is it's very heavy.

Steve.

[jon h]

I use a standard 2 tonne Halfords trolley jack. It is JUST too high, when jacking from the normal jacking points, but you can get it under some parts of the chassis. I keep a couple of bits of 2" thick timber in the garage. Just drive the car up onto these and Bob's your uncle! The Halfords jack was about £15.00. To get a super low profile jack was loads more, from Demon Tweaks IIRC. The 2 bits of wood were left over from when I built the decking in the back garden...

Jon

[Julian64]

from memory, I had to find a two post lift that would go down to 125mm. I remember the lowest I could find was about 160, so I just showed true dedication to the marque by sinking the whole lift down into the garage floor until it cleared.

[Steve_T]

The costco one is 85mm on its lowest setting. It's £90 in Halfwits for the purposes of comparison.

Steve.

[morebeanz]

Thanks for the offer, Steve, much appreciated. I shall have a snoop around to see what's available and come back to you if I may?

I've seen some "racing" jacks on here that state they go down to 90mm, which, from what y'all have said, ought to be fine? Of course, the seller wants 160 notes for them...!

The Halfords one only goes to 140mm, so it doesn't surprise me that it is too big.

From the sounds of it I should be aiming between 100mm to 125mm for the right level. Time to surf! Thanks, everyone.

[Julian64]

I'm not far round the M25 from you at Brands Hatch. You're welcome to use my lift if you ever need

[morebeanz]

Julian64 said:

I'm not far round the M25 from you at Brands Hatch. You're welcome to use my lift if you ever need

Much appreciated, J64! In this instance, I want to be able to fluff around in the front wheel arch to fix the front indicator (usual Sikaflex funtime ) and I have no idea how long it will take an incompetent like me to do it.

Would hate to think of you stuck with me camping in the garage just coz I'm slow with the spanners!

Thanks for the offer though, and I reserve the right to remind you of this if anything else falls off...

[byker28i]

Hum, how far does a cerb sit from the floor then, bearing in mind that the maximum legal height of a speed hump is 100mm, but the Department for Transport say:

"To limit the possibility of grounding, investigations suggest that road humps generally should not exceed 75mm in height."

[morebeanz]

To be honest, I've never had a problem with speed bumps, although I do slow right down for them. I suspect that the Cerb is somewhat over the 100mm, but as Julian has commented for his ramps, probably under 125mm...

[mad mark]

I've just been oout and measured mine, it's about 125mm on all 4 jacking points.
It's sitting on grass at the moment, but still fairly flat.

[byker28i]

I've just been out coating a little surface rust on my chassis which looks like it's been scraped at one time to knock the plastic coating off. 136mm clearence for mine

[TooTall Paul]

I have two planks of wood in the garage that i have to drive onto before i jack the car up, gives it an extra 30mm.

[byker28i]

The two planks idea is excellant. Are they available with a TVR Logo?

[flashheart]

Me too, drive on bit of wood and it fits under easily. I can spend a hundred notes on far more interesting things than a jack!

[TooTall Paul]

byker28i said:

The two planks idea is excellant. Are they available with a TVR Logo?

We can arrange it

[morebeanz]

TooTall Paul said:

byker28i said:

The two planks idea is excellant. Are they available with a TVR Logo?

We can arrange it

I'll bet there expensive if you order them from the factory. Do any of the indies sell them...