bboyferal

iTrader: (9)

Sup guys,

My red Trans Am sits pretty low, and even with a low-profile service jack, I could never get the car high enough to get the jack beneath the K-member... That's never been a problem because I've always gotten the car up on Rhino ramps first, then slid the jack under the rear and lifted to where I could put jackstands, then jacked up the front a bit higher if I wanted it higher from the K-member, and then go higher all around and put the jackstands at whatever height I needed for a particular job.

Last week, my car's scavenger pump that pulls oil from the turbo died while sitting over the winter. My car can't run longer than a few seconds without it on, or else it will start to leak oil past the seals into the downpipe. So I couldn't turn my car on to drive it up the ramps... I went through such a pain in the *** without being able to use my ramps to drive on first... I ended up having to jack one subframe up a bit first with one jack so I could get the other jack under the K-member. Then, I put the jackstands up at their lowest setting, which is still pretty high, making it a mission to get a jack under the rear end. I ended up having to do the same on the back (getting one side first) to get to the pumpkin, finally getting jackstands all around. Then it was a pain to get both the front end and the back end of the car to the height I needed.

What a mission...

My car is pretty damn low, but is there a better way to get this done when the car cannot be driven under its own power on ramps or 2x4's?

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

Yup, I do it all the time with mine. I use my factory stock scissor jack to lift it just a couple inches so my hydraulic floor jack can roll under. Thats it, from there I can pump it all the way up with the floor jack. No need to run the engine.

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bboyferal

iTrader: (9)

Yeah, that's kind of what I did for both the front and the back with a second jack... Really ate up a chunk of my time compared to usual... I'm always in a hurry to try to find faster ways of doing things.

Would love to have a real lift someday.

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

When I do it its pretty fast. As soon as the stock jack makes contact with the lift point, I make like 3 turns and its high enough for my floor jack. Maybe takes me 15 seconds and my floor jack is going underneath.

I saw a pretty cool jack when I used to go to all the CART races back in 2001, 2002.

It was maybe 1" above the ground and had as roller on the end, they used it to lift the car instantly for a fast repair or adjustment underneath. You wheel it up to it, it reaches about 1 foot under the car and then you just pull down on it. It lifts the car like a lever. But you need someone to do that while you slide the floor jack underneath. All it really does is gives you that extra upward force to lift the car a few inches, not all the way off the ground. Although when they used it in the front center or at the rear center, one guy could lift either the two front or two rear tires off the ground about 1 foot high. But those cars only weighed like 1550 pounds total. But this thing would be great for what we need it for.

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LS6427

iTrader: (2)

Another thing that was pretty badass, which any car can have built into it relatively cheap. A built in jack. They ran lines to two rams that were welded to the frame in the front and rear centers. They walk up, hook up an air compressor line and bam the car rises 1 foot in the air instantly. Toss the jack stands under it that are 11" high and unhook the air hose till you need to let it down.

I wouldn't see that costing much more than $100 in parts and maybe 30 pounds of weight.

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bboyferal

iTrader: (9)

Damn that's crazy... I have never heard of that. Where'd you see that? I went crazy on youtube hoping to stumble on a built-in car jack vid but no luck.

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

In the pits, the cars would come in and a pit crew guy would step out and hook up a line and the car would instantly go up in the air so they could work on it. At first I thought the lifts were in the ground but there's no way they could come in like that and line up perfectly right over them in the right spot.
I was Mauricio Gugelmans personal pilot, (TEAM NEXTEL), I flew his jet to all of his domestic and South American races. Usually had other racers with us catching rides. Pappas, Michael Andretti and others always out of Opa Loacka Airport. I hung out with all of them in the pits for each race weekend.

Maybe I can find something.

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LS6427

iTrader: (2)

This explains exactly what they had set up on the car:

An automobile pneumatic jack system that can be easily attached to all currently manufactured automobile chassis and frames. There is a front suspension pneumatic jack that is mounted centrally to the front suspension of an automobile between its front wheels. There is also a rear suspension pneumatic jack that is mounted centrally to the rear suspension of the automobile between its rear wheels. The system operates from a compressed air reservoir tank that has connections for the front and rear car jack outlets. Additional outlets can be added to the compressed air reservoir tank for connecting a pneumatic lug wrench and another for a tire inflating hose. A further option to the system could include a connection to the master brake cylinder such that when the car is locked, the compressed air is applied to the braking system to lock the brakes hard on for an anti-theft feature.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4993688.html