Consensus for jacking up all four wheels?

SameGuy

SameGuy

Well-Known Member
Going to paint my calipers this week using G2 (curing, two-part paint) and need to know if there is yet a consensus on the best/safest way to jack one side or axle pair at a time in order to get stands under the car’s jack points.

I do have a Powerflex polyurethane BMW “puck” for when jacking one corner at a time, but I’d like to put the stands under the rockers for this. I have four nice Esco knock-off stands with flat, circular pads so I’m not worried about needing three more pucks.

I’ve read varying opinions about this, saying the wood block method between the jack points works fine on the SE, while other places say it’s not the same as the ICE R/F56.

Does anybody have a definitive answer? And for extra credit, will a regular pine or spruce 2x3 or 2x4 be ok, or should I rip a length of hardwood (I have a scrap or two)?
 
SameGuy said:
Going to paint my calipers this week using G2 (curing, two-part paint) and need to know if there is yet a consensus on the best/safest way to jack one side or axle pair at a time in order to get stands under the car’s jack points.

I do have a Powerflex polyurethane BMW “puck” for when jacking one corner at a time, but I’d like to put the stands under the rockers for this. I have four nice Esco knock-off stands with flat, circular pads so I’m not worried about needing three more pucks.

I’ve read varying opinions about this, saying the wood block method between the jack points works fine on the SE, while other places say it’s not the same as the ICE R/F56.

Does anybody have a definitive answer? And for extra credit, will a regular pine or spruce 2x3 or 2x4 be ok, or should I rip a length of hardwood (I have a scrap or two)?
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4 hockey puck router out and permanently install to factory plastic crab bc I own 2 jacks I start jacking front one side and put stand on rear bc car is balanced well with one jack I raise whole car on one side . My both jacks stay on front on each side a back of a car 2 stands .2x4 will be better but careful when you put stand do not split a wood , 4x4 “ 3/4” Playwood is better choice.only those 4 points are design to raise a car the rest services are HV battery don’t put any jacks there
 
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SameGuy said:
I’ve read varying opinions about this, saying the wood block method between the jack points works fine on the SE, while other places say it’s not the same as the ICE R/F56.
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I doubled up hard cardboard instead of a block of wood and jack between the two jack points. I then put the car on jack stands using the jack points. I've done this many, many times when adjusted the ride height of the coilovers.
 
Thank you. I don’t know what hard cardboard is, but I’m assuming it’s not the honeycomb core of IKEA furniture… :cool: I will rip a piece of hardwood to fit under the rocker.
 
I used the front jack point to lift the car high enough to place one jack stand under the rear jack point and another one somewhere sturdy under the front of the car like the subframe.C11B09DF-C90E-4106-89CF-24F230B91AC6.webp
 
There are two central jacking points between the axles, but I’m not sure if they are exposed on the SE.
 
I have jack pad adaptors, not worried about them. Just looking to raise two wheels at a time without the jack points so I can place the stands at the points, as @JonR describes above. Maybe I’ll spring for a QuickJack at some point, but I’ve slowed way down with working on other people’s cars, and won’t be turning wrenches under my SE.
 
I was not thrilled with the board under the door sill solution so was planning on making something similar to the "Rennstand" or purchase a combo jack/stand if I could find one that didn't look sketchy.

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While @JonR seems to be fine with the hardboard so far, I personally wouldn't trust that. If you accidentally choose a weak spot in the sill it'll likely dent or worse.

The point of the board is to distribute the load over as large of an area as possible so you want a longer stiff board like a 4x4 (or ideally a rubber padded steel beam)
 
I’ll have a look at the available room for a board of some kind. I didn’t think the “flat” area is 4” deep. Meanwhile, surfing over to QuickJack dot com… :cool:
 
I too will be painting my calipers and will be in the same situation as you @SameGuy in terms of needing to get all 4 wheels off the ground. So far I've used the wood block method to install wheel spacers, but did one side at a time. I can say using the wood block (mine is like a 2x6" I think) slightly behind the side mirrors works well... again I've only lifted one side at a time but don't see lifting the other side once one side is up on 2 jacks an issue? Seems to be the only way to do it unless you have a quick jack / lift in your garage...
 
I just put the PowerFlex high durometer polyurethane jack pad adapter in the OE pad and it is way, way better than the four cheap “urethane rubber” (they feel like PVC) Amazon adapters I got. The PowerFlex units are spendy as heck, but dare I say, “Worth it.” Going to order three more and give the others to a neighbor with an old E36 cabrio.
 
I have some aluminum BMW/MINI Jack pads purchased from Amazon. Half the time tire shops look at them like they are from outer space and refuse to use them.

Meanwhile the jack points on the car get chewed up.
 
polyphonic said:
I have some aluminum BMW/MINI Jack pads purchased from Amazon. Half the time tire shops look at them like they are from outer space and refuse to use them.

Meanwhile the jack points on the car get chewed up.
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The urethane PowerFlex [BMW/MINI] jack pad adapters got waaay sketchy riding the Lego-like QuickJack urethane lifting blocks, so I lowered the car and just let it lift with the QJ blocks flat on the plastic lift points. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I’ll save the adapters for use with the floor jack, or with the Esco-knockoff Harbor Freight stands. After lifting the Crapolla with the QuickJack blocks on the pinch welds, I ordered a set of their pinch weld blocks (on sale from Home Depot)… and a set of larger rubber Rotary Lift blocks from carliftparts.com (for peace of mind). I’m not sure why the standard QJ blocks are so small.
 
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