Jacking points

[Paul Chapman]

Hello everyone

I am new to LotusElan.net and this is my first post. I very recently purchased a 68 S3/SE and am still finding my way around it and already ready have many questions that I need help and advise with.

So here goes, firstly how do I safely jack the car up to avoid any damage to the Elan or its owner, I have no owners hand book so am unsure were to place the jack ???

Sorry for asking such a basic question but I don't want to find out the hard way !

Paul

[jimj]

The original jack was half a scissor jack (if you see what I mean) with an angled plate on the top to spread the load. It was placed under the foreward or rearward cill of the bodywork. Sounds dodgy, I know, and I normally use a trolley jack under the chassis, DEFINITELY not under the wishbones. For an emergency, say a puncture, I carry an ordinary scissor jack which I (reluctantly) place under the cill and spread the load with a boot board.
A bit Heath Robinson but on the hard shoulder of a motorway I have twice had to do this without damage nor death.
Jim

[Elanintheforest]

I've always jacked Elans up by the crossmember (vacuum tank) at the front, and just inboard of the disc on the wishbone at the rear. I always use a short plank of wood to spread the load across the wishbone at the rear, and no problems in 35 years!!

Mark

[1964 S1]

Hi Paul, welcome aboard and as you can already see your basic question has two conflicting answers from experienced Elan owners ! And I agree with both responses !
If you search the archives you'll find a ton of information on this subject.
Personally I never jack my Elans using the fiberglass unless it's an emergency.
45+ year old fiberglass can be a bit brittle. I don't know where you're located but annual freezing and thawing cycles may also contribute to cracketivity.
I also use the front vacuum chassis member, and rear wishbones, ( just inside the brake rotor,) always carefully, and always with wood inbetween jack and Elan. If there's not enough clearance for the jack to fit under the car, (I have a very small roll under hydralic unit) you can drive the car up on some 2"x 6" planks to increase ground clearance.
On occasion I've used a custom cut wood block placed beneath the tail end of the chassis but beware of excessive rotoflex droop stress if you try that method.
In the end, I prefer driving it up on short ramps, front or rear and climbing safely beneath. It beats putting it on a four prong electric rack and lifting the body off the chassis by mistake.
Congratulations, when it comes to jacking an Elan up, you've bought an exotic.
Eric

[ppnelan]

When changing wheels, I use a low (Japanese!) scissor jack under the damper stud at the front. A recess in a large rivet on top of the jack engages with the stud end. At the back, I use the same jack with a short narrow piece of wood to spread the load, placed longitudinally under the wishbone tube between disc & tyre. This way, minimal jacking is required to raise a wheel off the ground, and the donuts don't self-destruct like they do on full droop...

If I need to raise the whole front or rear, I use wood to spread the load and jack under the chassis front box section or the rear centre channel near the wishbone mounts. A couple of extra wooden blocks are required at the rear to support the channel either side of the exhaust pipe.

I avoid jacking under fibreglass, except when using large wooden pads or long beams e.g. along the sills. This is only necessary for 'serious jobs' when the car needs to be supported 'up in the air' for a longer period of time.

Matthew

[ppnelan]

P.S. An inspection pit is also extremely useful

Matthew

[Paul Chapman]

Thanks to everyone for all the useful info. I should now at least be able to change a wheel and have a look round underneath safely and without damaging anything.

The S3 has been fitted with solid drive shafts so no problems with hanging Rotoflex couplings and the original Lotus chassis was changed out some time ago and replaced with a Tony Thompson 26R type chassis. Does anyone know if these are constructed differently in any way that would prevent jacking up from the front chassis cross member ???

I guess my next task is to measure the ground clearance and have a look round for suitable jacks.

Paul

[Allison]

Sorry guys but I guess I might be disagreeing with some of you! Where possible I jack under the fibreglass corner immediately behind the front wheels and immediately in front of the rears. One Elan has a Spyder chassis and I am prepared to use the front cross member. In all cases a wooden block spreads the load. If jacking the rear you need to lift the suspension (under the shockabsorber housing) to take the load off the donuts - doesn't apply to CV rears.
Happy lifting!
Peter

[1964 S1]

Hi Peter,
I've got a stock chassis S1 and + 2, you've piqued my curiousity, is a body mounted to a Spyder Chassis in the same manner as a stock chassis?
I just can't bring myself to jack up the old fiberglass no matter which corner it is, or how much wood. A beam underneath and across with center jacking, ok, but sill corners are problematic. I think the stress on the body mounting bolts and bobbins while twisting the whole vehicle to get it in the air will lead to cracks and mounting vibrations between body and chassis in the future.
Has anyone out there "floated" their body on the chassis with rubber spacers?

In the end I'm an old don't jack on fiberglass die hard unless you Have to.

Eric

[bcmc33]

I've got a stock chassis S1 and + 2, you've piqued my curiousity, is a body mounted to a Spyder Chassis in the same manner as a stock chassis?

The mounting body points on a Spyder chassis are exactly the same as the Lotus stock chassis.

FWIW, in the garage I always jack the front of my Spyder chassis car from the centre of the vacuum tank crossmember as it is substantially stronger than the the Lotus chassis in that area. I have no knowledge of it, but would imagine the TTR chassis would have a stronger/stiffer crossmember. To lift one wheel only, jack at the end of the vacuum tank.

As others have said, to individually lift the the rear wheels use a block of wood under the rear wishbone as close to the disc/rotor as possible. When lifting both rear wheels together, I use a trolley jack under a block of at the rear end of the chassis

[alexblack13]

Hi Guys,

I also don't like the idea of lifting the car via the bodywork! I am with Mark on jacking the front and use a wood block (Oak!) to spread load and prevent damage placed below the x member and lift via a small screw or hyd' jack. I also always slacken off the wishbone holding nuts to allow the bushes to rotate on the mountings. This should save the bushes from damage and allows one to work away and leave the car jacked up again without worrying about the bushes. Being an 'aviator', I also place a warning notice on the dash reminding myself to tighten the nuts when finished and prior to driving off. Old habits die hard.

The rear of the car was taken care off with a x beam made to fit the width of the car and lifting directly below the body's corners as described in a post above, raising the entire rear of the car. But.. I decided against this method to prevent damage to the drive shafts (spyder) & I now use a custom built wooden 'block' under the wishbone /A frame just outboard of the disc. I shaped the (very simple) block to suit this and it works fine. As soon as the wheel is 'airborne' I remove it and lower the corner onto an axle stand placed under the hub threaded area (protected!) and refit the three eared spinner a few threads to help keep the axle stand in place. Good and solid and no loads anywhere you don't want them.

Both the wooden blocks live in the boot space once occupied by the spare wheel which I no longer carry in the car. I now use an 'repair in a can' instead. (same on my Z4 which used to have run flats fitted and shook the fillings from ones teeth!!) I also carry the small scissor jack and wheel remover device and torque wrench. Just in case! You never know!

These I would consider essential (along with the normal) tools to carry.

If anyone would like to see some pic's let me know and I will take a few and post them.

I asked advice from the company who did the paint & bodywork on my car and they said It should be fine to jack using the cars designated jacking points but they were always marginal strength wise, and recommend that the car was, where possible jacked via the methods described in the various posts above.

It appears the moral of the story is not to use the bodywork. But as I always say... To each their own.


Have fun!! & welcome to the forum!

Alex B....

[garyeanderson]

There was a discussion that talked about this a while ago and some other info posted.

elan-archive-f16/elan-tire-jack-t10175.html

I spoke of a ramp that I use and it makes changing a tire on the road possible with the low profile tires (175/50 x 13) that have been on the Elan since I rebuilt it.

Road ramp and Fuel tank dip stick, soft wood so it shows the fuel level.


The other stick in the boot is the fuel gauge. I haven't run out yet but I did have to coast into a couple of stations over the years.

As far as where to jack, UNLESS you know that the lattice is in good shape and the fiberglass that encapsulates it too, don't go anywhere near it with a jack.
elan-f14/elan-door-surround-latice-yours-rotten-too-t15161.html

Your 68 Elan is probably OK as they were galvanized but earlier Elan's, especially the roadsters were just mild steel and many have rotted to the point where they are unsafe to jack from, some are unsafe to sit in.


I always use the front vacuum tank to jack from with a piece of wood to spread the load. On the Spyder chassis I have jacked on the tow hook but its unstable so I don't recommend having any portion of your body under the car until you have a pair of jack stands under the vacuum tank cross-member. In the rear I either try to get under the backbone spine if possible (no exhaust) or when its a complete driving Elan I will try to put the jack under the furthest outboard portion possible of the A arm to place the jack. If the Elan is a runner than I will first drive it unto a ramp/ramps and then lift the Elan with plywood to spread the load. You have to think about what your doing at all time when climbing under any vehicle. Jack stands large block of wood, E-brake on, in gear if possible 1500 lbs will kill you just as easy as 5000 lbs, it just take longer. Yes I have dropped a few in my time and will again. Before getting under any car that is lifted on jack stands or blocks, I give the car a mighty positive shaking. If I can pull it down, I guess its not safe to be under. I don't want to be under the Elan pulling on a wrench and have it come down so THINK FIRST, BEFORE you are under a car.

[oldelanman]

Has anyone out there "floated" their body on the chassis with rubber spacers?

In my opinion this is not something you should consider doing.

The body is a structural part of the car and only when it is securely bolted to the chassis is the necessary overall rigidity and torsional stiffness achieved. Flexible mounting would allow excessive twisting of the chassis compromising handling characteristics of the car and probably increasing the loading on individual body mountings with greater likelyhood of bobbin failure.

[persiflage]

I have always been wary of jacking on the body, even when using a good length of 4x2 as a spreader ... that's 100x50 for the youngsters looking in .
(Does anybody else out there have the same problem as me when it comes to metric nuts/bolts/sockets/spanners? I always have to look at the size!)
... but I was wondering if anybody has had any experience of this bit of kit.

http://www.cjautos.site90.net/mini.html

http://www.cjautos.site90.net/3in1.html

[gjz30075]

I like that bottom one. A bit pricey for hand operation or electric drill; anxious to hear responses.

Greg Z