Shifty, can you help us out, please?
:p 
We need this for an e28
I'll see what I can do. I haven't grown tired of this car yet for some reason. It's weird that I haven't, because I got tired of the Euro after only a few months! Either that or I thought I heard that telephone pole talking smack about my momma, and you KNOW what that does to a man!fastpat wrote:Shifty, can you help us out, please?
That's an excellent visual, but IMO the advice it gives is bad. No matter how convenient it might seem, jacking anywhere on the subframe is detrimental to the subframe bushings. Anyone who's done these bushings will know that they're designed to take lateral and longitudinal forces only, albeit with some capability for vertical forces (i.e. caused by acceleration & braking torque; the vertical weight component is miniscule, as the struts act almost in line with the tire contact patch). That having been said, using a jack or a stand on the CENTER of the subframe bushings is OK, as that section is firmly attached to the body.
I use those most of the time. :p What I need to do, but haven't, is make a couple of hockey puck pads for my floor jack. You glue to pucks together and cut a groove in one to slip over the body flange near the factory jack point to avoid damage. I've seen this use and it's pretty good.pdx 528e wrote:I'll roll my car over and take a pic tomorrow. ~0 Those points look pretty similar to the limitations on jacking an E28 though. I don't really trust the BMW factory jack locations. Do most of you floor jack the rear @ the differential and front @ the subframe?
I guess they learned from these guys, they were doing a clutch job on a VW FOX Wagon behind the old restaurant....
I asked these guys why they did this and they said they couldn't afford a jack??!!......wonder how much the dent repair will cost???? I would say more than the jack......
The kicker was they had rolled it onto the wrong side and had to roll it over again onto the other side to be able to service the clutch....
I asked these guys why they did this and they said they couldn't afford a jack??!!......wonder how much the dent repair will cost???? I would say more than the jack......
The kicker was they had rolled it onto the wrong side and had to roll it over again onto the other side to be able to service the clutch....
Any pictures? This continues to be a subject many don't seem to understand, as I was approached just yesterday in the gas station on the subject of lifting and jack stand placement. I can't get mine up high enough to make meaningful pictures, otherwise I would.Shawn D. wrote:That having been said, using a jack or a stand on the CENTER of the subframe bushings is OK, as that section is firmly attached to the body.
Shawn D. wrote:That having been said, using a jack or a stand on the CENTER of the subframe bushings is OK, as that section is firmly attached to the body.
No pictures -- it's very simple. By the "center" I mean just that -- where the stud and bolt are. I place a 2" thick piece of 4x4" wood on top of my jack and just jack it up. The stud sticks into the wood a bit, and the metal plate/strut (that goes from the bushing bottom to the floorpan) rests on the outer edge of the wood.rodpaine wrote:Any pictures? This continues to be a subject many don't seem to understand, as I was approached just yesterday in the gas station on the subject of lifting and jack stand placement. I can't get mine up high enough to make meaningful pictures, otherwise I would.
Shawn D. wrote:That having been said, using a jack or a stand on the CENTER of the subframe bushings is OK, as that section is firmly attached to the body.
Yes, sir, I understand, I am just looking for something like a URL I can direct people to, instead of getting down on my hands and knees in the parking lot to show somebody what "we" are talking about. Not always dressed appropriately for such activity.Shawn D. wrote:No pictures -- it's very simple. By the "center" I mean just that -- where the stud and bolt are. I place a 2" thick piece of 4x4" wood on top of my jack and just jack it up. The stud sticks into the wood a bit, and the metal plate/strut (that goes from the bushing bottom to the floorpan) rests on the outer edge of the wood.
Shawn D. wrote:No pictures -- it's very simple. By the "center" I mean just that -- where the stud and bolt are. I place a 2" thick piece of 4x4" wood on top of my jack and just jack it up. The stud sticks into the wood a bit, and the metal plate/strut (that goes from the bushing bottom to the floorpan) rests on the outer edge of the wood.
Well, the subframe bushing area is visible by looking forward past the rear tire -- just say "See that cylindrical section? Jack the car on the bottom of that, with a block of wood between it and the jack." No need to get down on the ground to do that. If they're intelligent enough to work on their own car, they should be able to understand that simple description -- if not, they should stay away from tools!rodpaine wrote:Yes, sir, I understand, I am just looking for something like a URL I can direct people to, instead of getting down on my hands and knees in the parking lot to show somebody what "we" are talking about. Not always dressed appropriately for such activity.
Well here are pics of my 535i on a lift...
Yes I just discovered after almost a year of use that Redline is seeping out of my tranny and diff. Oh well. Wasn't like that 6 months ago. And in this case I happened to lift the rear of the car up at the dog bones. With a lift there really doesn't seem to be a good place to use without bending something. Well I'll have fun replacing tranny/diff seals and fixing my front main seal on the engine. I hate having oil leaks...
Yes I just discovered after almost a year of use that Redline is seeping out of my tranny and diff. Oh well. Wasn't like that 6 months ago. And in this case I happened to lift the rear of the car up at the dog bones. With a lift there really doesn't seem to be a good place to use without bending something. Well I'll have fun replacing tranny/diff seals and fixing my front main seal on the engine. I hate having oil leaks...
Do Y'all see that large gap between the bushing and that bottom plate? That's what you get when you jack from the subframe; at best, you're reducing the life of the bushings, and at worst, they'll rip then and there. At most, there should be a small gap (maybe 1/8" ) that allows for no contact during cruise and contact under braking.Justin_FL wrote:
BTW, I did mean to put a space between the 1/8" and the ) above -- it ain't grammatically correct, but putting a " and a ) together gives you ").
Sorry, I didn't mean it to come across as chastising -- I was using your pictures to further make my point, which you were doing as well.Justin_FL wrote:Yeah Shawn I know it is bad to lift the car in that manner--- the bushing was completely shot before I lifted the car by the subframe. Just thought it was useful for illustrative purposes. I was wanting to see how bad they were... and they were BAD.
Ok, so if body integrity is an issue (I spent a good chunk of change having my jack points fixed already), where do you put the lift "fingers"? I would think dangling the wheels off the subframe would be equally bad for the bushings. My car doesn't go up on a lift often, and when I jack it up I always use the center of the subframe (as opposed to the diff casing) as my jack point and put the jack stands under the trailing arms.
Is there a better placement for them? What about when it goes up on a lift such as the one pictured?
Jeremy
Is there a better placement for them? What about when it goes up on a lift such as the one pictured?
Jeremy