GS2006

The ones around here use floor jacks on some bays and the long drive on with the padded rails on the others. Most of the time, they use four floor jacks and depending on the location of the lift points, they use the lift pads.

I have seen the dealer use the tie down plate on the front of the 3rd gen GS.

Care to share the pictures with me?

chuckb

hey e, the cross member is the spot on the front center of car in this diagram, right under the oil pan. that's what makes me a little nervous.

jacking from under the rear diff is the best way for rear imo, because weight is distributed evenly and both tires come up at once.

Neo

iTrader: (3)

Thanks for the updated GS pics Chuck.

e-man

Apparently, wood is no good. Check out this thread:

http://forums.evolutionm.net/showthread.php?t=193825

If you're going to lift the car from the pinch weld rail, I'm thinking that the eastwoodco.com device is better because it actually attaches to the jack plate as opposed to just laying on top of it:

e-man

I've been looking for this picture for a while. I remembered Cliffud had posted a detailed picture of how he jacks up his car. As you can see, he places the hydraulic jack cup directly on the pinch weld as well as the jack stand. It looks like the pinch weld can withstand the load just fine. The one thing I'd be concerned with is that the platform on the top of the jack stand is a kind of wide and it looks like the edge is in contact with the side skirt, doesn't it?

GS2006

I think it is the angle and it is fine. That is the correct way. BTW, I have some phots with a hockey puck. Still trying to determine if the puck can handle the stress long term. Going to check with a stress engineer friend.
BTW, I have some photos of failed pinch welds from LS430s. They can fail, but if care is taken, it should not be a problem. That pinch weld looks to be in good shape.

e-man

The problem with a hockey puck, as with a piece of wood, is that there's a chance it could slip off the jack plate and the car would come crashing down on the jack (as described in the Mitsubishi Evo forum link I posted above).

I am seriously considering buying the pinch weld adaptor from Eastman Co. It replaces the saddle plate on the hydraulic jack and has a post to mount into the existing hole in the jack plate. The more I think about it, the more I realize that it's not safe to put anything between your jack plate and the car unless it's permanently affixed to the jack.

GS2006

If care is taken, no slip. That pinch weld adaptor you show above is crap.

I have looked and can no longer find those pads. If you can find a flat steal plate with a pin welded to it that would be the best. Then attach a puck to it with adhesive.

http://www.realtime.net/~rentner/Por...pt#257,2,Slide 2

This is ideal if you have a machine shop.

IAGS400

e, you a ricer now?

e-man

Just curious, why do you feel that the pinch weld adapter is crap?

So, if you like the idea of a puck, then I take it you think the ProTech pads are a better idea:

GS2006

That pinch adaptor on my car would not make contact with the pinch weld but the area around it which happens to be molding. . You would be better off just using the cup from the floor jack.

It looks to me the groves are too deep in that yellow adaptor and the price seems a little high to me. I would get the flat one. Also, not sure how durable that material is and if it is mounted on a flat plate of steal. I did some tests with the hockey puck on top of the jack cup and it did fine. Just have to make sure you center it or you will have problems. Hockey pucks 99 cents each.

e-man

Okay, now I see where our opinions differ. Given the U-groove design of the OEM jack, I'm still thinking that it's best to use an some kind of adapter on top of the jack plate (whether it be a grooved piece of wood, the yellow rubber adapter, or the U-grooved metal adapter) to accommodate the pinch weld and to use the area on either side of the pinch weld as the point of contact. You believe that the point of contact should be the pinch weld itself (as shown in Cliffud's picture). If that's the case, then I think you would say something like this would work best:

GILLEXUS

iTrader: (14)

Yea i have this one by Protech and the grove is alittle deep for our car. so I cut it down by about 1/4" and it works great.

sleeper408

iTrader: (6)

I'm just going to buy a lift....

GUNRU-GS4

Whats up E, sorry to hear about the troubles. I read the link you posted about the block of wood slipping off the guys jack and it got me thinking. What is the diameter of the metal plate on your craftsman jack? The one on my jack looks about twice the size so using the piece of wood works very well for me. It would be extremely hard, almost impossible for it to slip off. It seems like a lot of the jacks for sale have some pretty small plates on them. I've been jacking up the GS and mine friends ES using my 2-1/4 ton $45 Harbor Freight jack with the wood and it works very well with no damage.

I'm an engineer at a metal fabrication shop so if someone has an idea about making something out of metal speak your mind. You name it I'll make it.