Jacking

In the Q&A section of the October issue of the Bulletin there was a question about jacking up a TA. The answer given was to use a bottle jack under the chassis; at the front just before the upward sweep and at the rear just forward of the spring mounting.

During my ownership of TC4985 I've always taken the view that I should avoid causing the chassis to twist. So unless I am just lifting a wheel enough to remove it I always raise the whole front or rear in one go, usually so as to put the car on axle stands. To do this I use a trolley jack under the front axle, with a length of 4"x2" wood to spread the load. In the photo you can see that I've fixed strips to the top so that it locates around the axle. At the rear I use another wooden block that locates over the drain plug on the rear axle. This block can be seen on the jack and is shaped underneath to fit into the cup.

Axle stands are then positioned under the spring fixings to axle or under the chassis if I need to work on the springs, suspension or steering. I use wooden blocks between the axle stand and the car. I have two pairs of axle stands, one of fixed height and the other adjustable. So I usually set them to the same height so that the whole car is about six inches higher than normal and allows me to slide underneath to reach items such as the U/J at the front of the prop shaft.

(Written 16th November 2018; sent to MGOCC Bulletin, but unpublished.)