Anyone have pics of where to put jack stands?

[mvaldes]

Brabus, what an neat idea. I never lifted the rear high enough to see the front go airborne. I'll have to give that a go and see if it works for me. I don't see why it wouldn't work and it would solve my problem. BTW, way cool "garage!" Do you park the car, get out and lower it, or is there an underground entrance to the house?

Rigger, if I understand your suggestion correcly, I don't understand how I could use it on the Smart. The shock attachment point isn't accessible directly since it's above what I think someone called the the control arm. (I don't really know if that's the correct term.) Since that "arm" (or whatever it really is called, is hinged, I'm a bit afraid of using it. I guess I could raise the front way up and put the stand under there and lower it until there's no more travel in the shock. Is that something you've done? I'd hate to have the Smart take a dive and bang up itself, or worse, me and the Smart too.

[The Rigger]

Originally Posted by mvaldes

Rigger, if I understand your suggestion correcly, I don't understand how I could use it on the Smart. The shock attachment point isn't accessible directly since it's above what I think someone called the the control arm. (I don't really know if that's the correct term.) Since that "arm" (or whatever it really is called, is hinged, I'm a bit afraid of using it. I guess I could raise the front way up and put the stand under there and lower it until there's no more travel in the shock. Is that something you've done? I'd hate to have the Smart take a dive and bang up itself, or worse, me and the Smart too.

I haven't looked under my car for lift points yet, so I'm not sure about what's under there or whether the suspension attachment points are accessible or anything.

That being said, I have lifted the front of other cars by placing the jack under the outboard end of the swingarm (or "A-arm"), right under the steering knuckle. That may be the same as what you're calling the "control arm." In any case, it supports the whole front corner of the car while on the ground, it has to be strong enough to support the car in the air. Either that or have lifted from the jack point and put the jackstand under the steering knuckle.

Being hinged should not be a problem. The car's weight is supported by the springs in the suspension, just as if the car was still sitting on terra firma.

There are plenty of dealer-types reading the forums. Would one of you comment on whether the Smart swingarms are strong enough for this? Maybe we can revisit this when I get home again in a couple weeks, and can actually look under my car...

[mvaldes]

Rigger, it surely would be nice to hear from a dealer or a tech. While it sounds like it would work, I'd be pretty disappointed if I used the swingarm for support, painted my calipers and then found that the whole front end was "off." That'd be a real bummer.
I too am away, but just for the weekend, so I can't try Brabus's idea until sometime next week. It really sounds like his plan is a good one. I just have not tip the car onto its side getting the front raised from the rear...

[Smart Enuf]

Originally Posted by Brabus

I just assumed there weren't such points. If you lift up the rear a foot or so off the ground, the front lifts up about 2 or 3 inches less than the rear, so then you can put a floor stand on the front, then lower the rear and repeat on the other side.

But maybe there is an easier way.

My jack is a 3 ton jack, so it doesn't fit under the front jack points anyway unless I use a crank car jack to lift the rear a little so that it in turn lifts the front a little for me to slide the 3 ton jack under the front of the Smart's jack point. Lifting the rear automatically lifts the front, which I've never seen happen on any other car, which I think is really nice. I mean a lot of cars don't have good secondary places to lift the car with a floor jack to then in turn slide a stands under.

I tried this before with my 2 ton jack, but when I lifted the rear I couldn't get the front to go up high enough to clear the lowest setting on my jack stand. Maybe I need to get either shorter jack stands or a floor jack with a higher maximum lift height (like your 3 ton jack)...

Another method I thought I read somewhere was to lift the car just "south" of the front lift point, using a piece of 2x4 between the jack and the car to distribute the load. Then the jack stand could be placed at the lift point and the jack could be used elsewhere. But I'm not sure about this so YMMV.

[Brabus]

Originally Posted by Smart Enuf

I tried this before with my 2 ton jack, but when I lifted the rear I couldn't get the front to go up high enough to clear the lowest setting on my jack stand. Maybe I need to get either shorter jack stands or a floor jack with a higher maximum lift height (like your 3 ton jack)...

Yeh, 2 ton hydraulic jacks don't go high enough. I use to have 2 ton hydraulic jack (or was it 2 1/2 ton, forget but they don't go very high) but gave it to a friend and upgraded to a more versatile jack. I have a "SUV" 3 ton hydraulic jack. I also have 3 ton jack stands which say they are a minimum of 13 1/8" but you really have to get the front about 14" before they'll slide under the front joint. I'm sure they have lower jack stands, too. Just make sure the design is stable. There are a lot of jack stands that don't have much of a wide base.

Originally Posted by mvaldes

so I can't try Brabus's idea until sometime next week. It really sounds like his plan is a good one. I just have not tip the car onto its side getting the front raised from the rear...

Yeh, it works. I do it everytime I work on the Smart. I had a jack fail once when I was 15 and if were under that vehicle I would had died, so I only work on a vehicle with stands and even then I sometimes put in a backup. I wish I had a picture of my face or had a heart beat rate reading when my MR2 crashed to the ground in my garage. I had just gotten out from under it, too.

If you lift the rear about 17 inches, the front will be lifted about 14 inches, which is enough to put my 3 ton 13" jack stand under the front.

I'd be careful with experimenting with other places to lift the Smart. Not saying there aren't any other places, but I'd rather play it safe than be sorry.

Also make sure the 3 ton jack you buy is designed so that it will slide under the Smart. Mine only slides under the rear, which is fine for putting jack stands on the front.

If I want to put jack stands on the rear, then grab a my OEM car jack and lift up the rear about an inch, which then lifts up the front enough to slide the 3 ton jack under the front. It works because the cars wheel base or should I say lift points are so close together.

I like it alot better than my other vehicles, which on them I have to resort to using iffy alternative lift points in order to put the jack stands in the designated lift area.

The 2x4 idea would work, but there's a risk of the wood splitting or it shifting which could turn out to cost a lot more than a cheap $40-50 hydraulic jack.

[GarageWanted]

Hi Brabus,
We saw your post on 6/12/2009 with the picture of your underground garage.

Your garage looks very, very cool.

Who manufactured and installed your garage?
It'd be great if you could tell us more about your garage.
We'd like to investigate how much it'd cost and if it's possible to have one of those in where we live.

Thanks,

GarageWanted

[jwight]

Originally Posted by The Rigger

Any reason you couldn't put the jack under the shock mount instead of the jack point to lift the car? That's worked for me on other cars.

Lord knows it ought to be strong enough...

I think that's where this jack stand is but I'm not 100% sure; jacked it up on the jack point and then slid the jack stand in as shown: