I am on the fence WRT a mid rise scissor (as they are mobile) vs a 2 post ramp in my new garage, as the posts would just be in the way 9/10th's of the time.
The floor is thick enough, it's just planning limited the width of the build.
Jacking points, trolley jacks and axle stands
- Thread starter Jimbob76
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I am on the fence WRT a mid rise scissor (as they are mobile) vs a 2 post ramp in my new garage, as the posts would just be in the way 9/10th's of the time.
The floor is thick enough, it's just planning limited the width of the build.
Oh wow, very nice!
I don’t have room for a 2 post, so didn’t have much choice. If I had yours I’d consider setting a scissor into the floor and having covers! A car lives on top of mine most of the time, so doesn’t cost me any space which is nice.
I love how OT we are now.. sorry OP!
I don’t have room for a 2 post, so didn’t have much choice. If I had yours I’d consider setting a scissor into the floor and having covers! A car lives on top of mine most of the time, so doesn’t cost me any space which is nice.
I love how OT we are now.. sorry OP!
I have space to 'park' a mobile scissor sideways behind the van so I wouldnt have to park on it all the time.
Decisions decisions....
So just a thought, what’s bad about using a trolley Jack under a rear jacking point with a rubber connection, lifting the van and putting a wooden sleeper cut down under the wheel, lowering the van onto that sleeper, then replacing the trolley hack with an axle stand and doing the same on the other side at the rear. Leaving the axle stands and sleepers there as backup?The challenge is, as someone said on another thread, with only 4 official jacking points the only truly approved way to lift the van is with a four point lift on those jacking points. Beyond that people are likely nervous of becoming the "definitive answer" in case the worst happens when people follow their suggestion.
The official jacking points are the 4 angle iron pieces highlighted in the first post of this thread. You will need to use a jacking pad to protect it on a normal jack as it's designed mostly for the "hook" of a scissor jack.
The problem is with a single point jack on the jacking point there is no where to put an axle stand, and it is unsafe to work under a van with only a single thing stopping it falling on you. The best you can do is to take the weight on the jack on the jacking point and put an axle stand as DXX suggests on the body lower wishbone mount. On the rear the challenge is the anti roll bar, which is in the way and not strong enough to use instead. Someone else has posted a picture of a bottle jack and a stand arranged very close together on a large block on the jack point. You need to decide if that is safe enough for you considering the place you have to work on your van and the tools you have.
If you are not comfortable with the safety of that there are places you can hire servicing bays with a four point lift such as:
Self Service Garage Oxford - Vehicle Owners Club
Self Service Garage Oxford - Vehicle owners club based in Oxford. A self service garage with all the tools and equipment that you need - Car lifts Oxfordthisisyourgarage.com
I need to install water tanks, lpg tank and lpg heater.
I guess the issue would be if you need to remove the wheel(s), then this approach wouldn't really help. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Also if you don't need to take the weight off the wheels consider ramps as well, then you don't put any load on anything that isn't taking load every day.
good idea then vehicle is only resting on the wheels which as @roadtripper highlights it does all day long.
The only thing to consider is that as you raise the vehicle the spring will un compress, pushing the wheels down so you might find that there isn't that much space under the tyre to add much height, then when you then lower onto the sleepers it will compress again lowering the vehicle.
Quick question @roadtripper: would you be happy to work under a van that was just sat on appropriately-rated ramps (on the assumption that afforded enough room for the job at hand) or would you still look to use axle stands in addition to the ramps?
I'm really not sure how axle stands would work with a decent well built set of ramps, where would you put them? If the ramps looked like they'd collapse I'd not use them.
The bigger risk, to me, with a ramp is making sure that the vehicle is chocked so it can't roll, I wouldn't rely on the handbrake acting on the rear wheels alone.
The bigger risk, to me, with a ramp is making sure that the vehicle is chocked so it can't roll, I wouldn't rely on the handbrake acting on the rear wheels alone.
