Stuck in the air

[briggy]

Time to change the rear discs and pads on my 987.2S. How hard can it be? Well, pretty straight forward, but I can't get the car off the axle stands now. How did this happen, you ask?

 

Well, I jacked up the front left, and stuck an axle stand under the rear left jacking point, then let the jack down. No problem there. However, I stuck another axle stand, somewhere that looked sturdy, as a backup. Now that I've finished the brakes on that side, I can't get the backup stand out of the way. Jack up the front left, remove axle stand from rear left jacking point, but unable to get the front left high enough to remove the backup axle stand. See picture :

 

Note that the the front left is in the air, even when the jack is lowered, so the whole thing is pretty unstable.

 

Any advice on how to tackle this?

 

Cheers,

Bryan

[briggy]

I guess it would be useful if someone could name the place where I've got the stand stuck? If it'll take the weight of the car, I was thinking I could remove the axle stand from the rear jacking point and just jack it up there, which should give me enough height to remove it. At present, I don't want to do that as I'm unsure that the other stand is in a place that can take the weight on its own.

[Beanoir™]

Which stand are you trying to remove first?

[briggy]

5 minutes ago, Beanoir said:

Which stand are you trying to remove first?

 

The one under the rear jacking point can be removed. I've left it there to take the weight while I work out how to remove the other one. Does that make sense?

[Beanoir™]

Can you get another jack?

[briggy]

Yeah, I can get another.

 

Component is the support arm, part number 987 331 031 20. I think I can put the second jack under the very end of this, where it supports the suspension. So, jack there, remove stuck axle stand, then lower. Remainder is normal practice - raise front jack enough to remove axle stand under rear jacking point, then lower.

 

Front right wheel is chocked, so not going anywhere.

 

My only worry now is that raising the rear there will lift the driver's side rear off the ground, which would make the whole thing too unstable.

[twopointnine]

A couple of suggestions/guesses......

1: jack the car on the front left, place a block of wood under the nsr wheel and lower jack, that may compress the nsr spring and alter the suspension angle to allow removal of backup stand, then jack nsf again and remove block from under wheel, remove nsr stand and lower car.

 

2: put a block of wood under the jack to enable you to raise the car a little higher which may allow you to remove the backup stand, lower the car onto nsr stand, lower jack and remove wood block, raise car again and remove nsr stand.

[SpannerMan]

On 21/09/2018 at 21:55, briggy said:

Yeah, I can get another.

 

Component is the support arm, part number 987 331 031 20. I think I can put the second jack under the very end of this, where it supports the suspension. So, jack there, remove stuck axle stand, then lower. Remainder is normal practice - raise front jack enough to remove axle stand under rear jacking point, then lower.

 

Front right wheel is chocked, so not going anywhere.

 

My only worry now is that raising the rear there will lift the driver's side rear off the ground, which would make the whole thing too unstable.

 

Go slowly on the jacks and watch the balance of the car and where the other wheels are.  

 

Im still confused how you can’t get the jack high enough to remove the back left axle stand though... 

[Buggyjam]

What’s maybe  happened is the suspension on the passenger side has settled once it’s in the air with all the weight, lowering the car slightly.

 

looks like you’ve put the back up jack under the alloy cross brace. That’s quite a thin flat section, can’t see from the photos if there’s anything substantial above it. I wouldn’t let the weight of the car settle on it.  

 

Only thing I can think it’s try another jack, or jack up and put ramp under wheel? Then drive off the ramp. You’d need a shallow ramp to watch the rear bumper. 

[briggy]

Guys, I appreciate the replies. I've decided to throw money at problem and buy a better jack. Ordered "Hilka Pro-Craft 2.5-Tonne Low-Profile Jack" from Screwfix for £125.

 

I can't lower the jack under the NSF as that'll but too much weight on the backup axle stand, which is under the support arm, which may not be able to take the weight.

 

The new jack raises to 500mm, so put that under the NSR jacking point and lift. Gives me more than enough height to remove the backup axle stand. I can then lower the 2 jacks.

 

OPC wanted £900 to do the discs and pads, so even adding the cost of a new jack to the DIY route, I'm still saving a stack of money.

 

Cheers,

Bryan

[twopointnine]

I know that keeping the car stable is important as you don’t want it to slip off the axle stands, but thinking again about the problem I think I’d lower the jack, sit on the nsf wing  to compress the spring/damper and hopefully the car will pivot on the axle stand under the nsr jacking point releasing the other axle stand which can be removed by an assistant?

[Bushman]

I went over to a low profile aluminium race jack from Amazon and made a nylon 'puck' that locates in the jack point and locks onto the jack. I had a similar problem when I first got my Cayman, cant use ramps either as the car is too low. 

[Mk1]

Jack up the offside rear, at the jacking point ... put a small block of wood between the jack and the jacking point. This may take the weight off the `stuck` jack and maintain a level of stability. 

 

Have an assistant with you to monitor the stability as the weight transfers etc... 

[extanker]

and you had no problems working on the brakes ????wow

[briggy]

4 hours ago, extanker said:

and you had no problems working on the brakes ????wow

 

And your point is....? If you want to question my competence, pm me and we'll have a chat, leaving the forum for helpful comments.

[briggy]

New jack delivered today and problem solved. Use existing jack on NSF which raises the NSR enough to remove its axle stand. Put the new jack under the NSR jacking point and raise enough to remove the backup axle stand. Lower both jacks and job done.

 

Best thing about the new jack is it raises almost vertical to a reasonably high point. The old one would pivot as it raised, causing either it (via its casters) or the car to move sideways a little, which always made me nervous.

 

Thanks to all those that chipped in with helpful suggestions.