Hello,

Hope someone is still out there - last postings are dated 2005.

Two questions,

1.new Cavalier owner - want to raise my car to get a look at the left side front brakes - where is the best spot to place the hydraulic floor jack to safely raise the car.- and place a jack stand.

2. I hear a very subtle clicking on the front left side when turning to the left ( even changing lanes) this is a low mileage car - the sound goes away when I apply the brakes - could it be something simple with the front left disc? - I don't think it's a CV.

Any help is welcome.

Thanks,

Cavalier \ Corvair Owner

oh thank God..... i thought this was another post about some newb wanting to lift their J.... lol i have a 99 sunfire, so im not sure exactly where to tell ya... but there should be a ridge that the top of the factory jack fits. then again, ive had this ridge buckle on me while jackin up my car.

but wait till someone who has a newer car chimes in... hopefully they dont ignore the thread for the same reason i almost did...

Hi,

Thanks for the reply, love the car - and would like to be able to work on it safely - so knowing where to put Jack Stands is a good thing:-)

Have worked on my older cars - but obviously these are much different.

JF

I always use the "frame rail" part of the unibody. Past the pinch rail, it is a somewhat wide flat area that the cradle bolts to and then extends back a little bit.

mitdr774 wrote:I always use the "frame rail" part of the unibody. Past the pinch rail, it is a somewhat wide flat area that the cradle bolts to and then extends back a little bit.

yes, use that.

very secure, and wont buckle on you like the pinch weld can.

ive always just used the pinch welds to jack the car up on. sure it does crinkle them over time but it doesnt bother me. ive never had a problem. also off the rad support off front is a good place to jack



Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Monday, December 29, 2008 1:20 PM

Thanks for all of the replies - very helpful.

Am going out to check it out now.
Thanks,

JF

both of my rear pinch rails have been flattened... I've just went ahead and kept jacking it up from there

is there a better place to jack up the rear of the car? (assuming i have to deal with suspension stuff as well so under the trailing arm is out

for the front ive heard mixed feelings on this. some say dont put stands here because is a weak part of the sructure... me personally... ive always used the front radiator support brace and thats also where ive always put my jack stands (but out on the very edges of the brace, right underneath the body's 'frame rail' if you will) and have never had a problem. i jack my car up every year and it sits that way the entire winter.

for the rear of the car (if you dont have an eibach or addco style sway bar installed) just throw the jack under the middle of the rear "axle" and go up from there. place the stands right in front of the mounting points in the body for said "axle". it gets tricky as hell if you have a big honkn sway bar hanging down in the way of where the jack goes here though... best advice i can tell you is to one side at a time, thats what i do.....

my jack's mounting point 'insert' comes out and ive made a special one to go in here. its just a piece of steel with a flat top welded on it and i have a 2X4 piece of wood i cut a 'channel' out of the center so the body's pinch welded seem can go down into it. works damn good.

and if you DO have those pinch welded seems all @!#$ up and folded in you can take a crescent wrench and adjust it to where its the size of the seem and bend it back down and into place the way its supposed to be. then use a rubber or dead blow hammer to further bend it back in place if need be.





Are you scared of the changes coming? The answer is on the inside.

z yaaaa wrote:for the rear of the car (if you dont have an eibach or addco style sway bar installed) just throw the jack under the middle of the rear "axle" and go up from there. place the stands right in front of the mounting points in the body for said "axle". it gets tricky as hell if you have a big honkn sway bar hanging down in the way of where the jack goes here though...

I'm sick of killing my pinch welds.. So is it safe to say that jacking it up under the axle is fine? As long as you have no sway in your way..

I've always used the frame rail right where the front is overlapped and welded to the body portion (basicly right behind the pinch weld approximately in line with the front of the doors). As for the suggestion of using the radiator support, I don't recommend it. Remember, that was never meant to hold weight. Even if you are placing it directly under the vertical post where the lower support bolts to, you're still pushing up on the upper radiator support, which isn't that thick. While you might be able to get away with it, you're better off sticking to a main point of the body.

For the rear I use the axle, but I put the jack stands under the frame rail just before the mounting points for the axle.

Ok great, i wasn't sure if the metal on the axle would bend or deform in any way.