914 on Quickjack 7000TLX--Fail! Options

[DaveB]

I use two of the pads interlocked. That allows the quick jack to contact the body before it contacts the tires.







DaveB

[PanelBilly]

I use a 2x6 on each side to make it longer.

[vitamin914]

Well smack me in the head with a salmon. I have been lifting 2 different cars with the "donuts" for years. Now I have to learn a new trick.

If you live on the east coast, they are usually rusted out anyway.

Good point. Mine are not now but could be some day.

Pass me that salmon...
Bought a QJ5000 and have been using it on the donuts with the jack's hoses going towards the front of the car. Thankfully nothing bad has happened on either car. One car spent last year's entire winter up on the donuts.

I will now have to make sure if it ever goes somewhere for service (that I can't do), that they don't use the donuts. Those donuts look so intuitive as lift points.

[drem914]

Well smack me in the head with a salmon. I have been lifting 2 different cars with the "donuts" for years. Now I have to learn a new trick.

Where exactly should we be engaging the pinch welds if not the donuts? I thought the donuts were the preferred load points.

[FlacaProductions]

I'm using an EZCarLift on the donuts without issue (as far as I can tell...) can someone share a pic of the pinch welds in use for lifting points? Seems to me that the rockers would suffer...

[wonkipop]

i must admit i use the longs when i have the car on a hoist or jack stands.
to me the corner brace plates in the engine bay always seemed a bit "suss" to load up.
could bend up?

however..... got curious with question of the "donuts" reading this.
checking out these old manufacturing photos, seems to me porsche at least were using the donuts to sit the 6 body shells on cradle carts at stuttgart.
or am i not seeing this right ?????




looked at some karmann factory photos of 914 production line.
karmann did not seem to do this. overhead cradles and sled carts seemed to be a different set up for supporting the bodies during manufacture.

donuts were some kind of porsche thing for the 6s?
if they were they must have been able to support weight of car but maybe load is spread correctly by engagement with a designed fitting and the donut merely alligns it. but its not such a concentrated point load? dunno?

[NARP74]

The donuts were younger back then!

[SirAndy]

... dunno?

The factory always used all 4 donuts to either hang the chassis from the overhead conveyor belt or when on dollies.
They also didn't have the full weight of the fully assembled car until the very end of the production line.

Again, if you actually look at the location of the 4 donuts and you look at what's on the other side of them, you can see why jacking from them is a bad idea.

In the front, it's just the sheet metal of the front floor pan. It will buckle. Seen it many times.
In the rear, it's just the sheet metal of the small triangle. Seen those buckled many times as well.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)

[wonkipop]

... dunno?

The factory always used all 4 donuts to either hang the chassis from the overhead conveyor belt or when on dollies.
They also didn't have the full weight of the fully assembled car until the very end of the production line.

Again, if you actually look at the location of the 4 donuts and you look at what's on the other side of them, you can see why jacking from them is a bad idea.

In the front, it's just the sheet metal of the front floor pan. It will buckle. Seen it many times.
In the rear, it's just the sheet metal of the small triangle. Seen those buckled many times as well.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)

i agree

i have always look at that donut brace in the engine bay and go - no way.
never jacked the car up using them.
and the front ones just seemed improbably to me.
always used the longs.

----
as to assembly line.
the 6s would have had the full weight while on dollies.
they jacked the engine up into the car off the floor while it was on the dolly.
and put in the front suspension. so she was pretty much at full weight on the dolly.
porsche assembly line back then was more like a neighbourhood garage than a factory.
the donuts must be just locators and the car is actually supported either on spreader plates you can't see in the photos or rails. the donuts would there to lock the car in to stop it laterally shifting on the dolly? thats my thought.

the sleds in the karmann factory were like long rail frames that ran the length of the car while it was being assembled. i reckon it sat on the longs during that stage.
when it went on to the conveyor cradle the donuts probably just we locators but did not take any direct weight load. they would have had to have a way to lock it on to the cradle so it didn't move or shift around. especially where the conveyor turned corners or climbed up hill which it definitely did in the karmann factory.

[RKramden]

Cut a slot in a short piece of 4x4 it straddle the pinch weld and get good bearing on the long from which to jack from. The extra 3.5 inches doesn’t hurt either.

[The Double S]

I have the 7000SLX which I had to use sideways for my wife's Honda Civic because I was having issues placing the blocks. Still very tight sideways but worked as needed. That and the pinch weld idea seems like the safest solution.

Below is a picture of my car on the 7000SLX. I bought a set of 5000TLX frames, that I haven't setup yet, which is supposed to have a 3 inch taller lifting capability. I would imagine the frames are longer for that reason and is why they are making contact with your tires.

[mepstein]

Cut a slot in a short piece of 4x4 it straddle the pinch weld and get good bearing on the long from which to jack from. The extra 3.5 inches doesn’t hurt either.

I guess it's ok if you cut it across the grain but a lengthwise slot in a 2x4 is an invitation for it to crack in half. You can find pucks with a grove for the pinch welds but hockey pucks are about $10/4 and wont split. I used a vise to hold them and made the grove with a sawzall.

[bkrantz]

Thanks, everyone.

I agree about the risks of using the donuts as jack points. To give me more confidence on my car, I doubled the sheet metal inside the floor pan when I was repairing rust. And I have used notched pads to lift below the longs, but I recommend a long rigid pad to spread out the load.

I will eventually goof around more with my Quickjack. I will guess that the regular (not X) models could fit better, but they do not reach the jack points on some of my other vehicles.

[PatMc]

I have a portable mid rise scissor lift, and find that if it doesn’t fit right in the manner you’d normally position it under the car, I go in from the side and that usually works great. You might try that

[Front yard mechanic]

I have made up my mind not to buy a quick lift with all the issues I’m seeing. It doesn’t appear to lift the the car up high enough to be useful for anything other than washing tires (IMG:style_emoticons/default/barf.gif)

[Olympic 914]

I have made up my mind not to buy a quick lift with all the issues I’m seeing. It doesn’t appear to lift the the car up high enough to be useful for anything other than washing tires (IMG:style_emoticons/default/barf.gif)

I have pulled the engine out of mine 3 times using the Quickjack 5000

Also have been using the donuts as lift points, but do not use the rubber pads supplied.

I cut pieces of wood to fit in the trays. I had an issue with the rubber blocks shifting.

Maybe others have not had that problem, thats ok.

[VaccaRabite]

I have made up my mind not to buy a quick lift with all the issues I’m seeing. It doesn’t appear to lift the the car up high enough to be useful for anything other than washing tires (IMG:style_emoticons/default/barf.gif)

I have both a quickjack and the MaxJack mid rise 2 post.

If I could only have one, I'd have the MaxJack.

That said, I'll be using the quickjack for my engine swap coming up this winter, since the Bus is sitting between the MaxJack posts.

Zach

[Jim C]

I have made up my mind not to buy a quick lift with all the issues I’m seeing. It doesn’t appear to lift the the car up high enough to be useful for anything other than washing tires (IMG:style_emoticons/default/barf.gif)

Look into an EZLift.

[dax1969]

Have the new 5000 TL wiht increased lift height. Pretty happy.
Goes more than high enough for me. Used it on the 914 and 911

krgds
DAx

[The Double S]

I have made up my mind not to buy a quick lift with all the issues I’m seeing. It doesn’t appear to lift the the car up high enough to be useful for anything other than washing tires (IMG:style_emoticons/default/barf.gif)

I have pulled the engine out of mine 3 times using the Quickjack 5000

Also have been using the donuts as lift points, but do not use the rubber pads supplied.

I cut pieces of wood to fit in the trays. I had an issue with the rubber blocks shifting.

Maybe others have not had that problem, thats ok.

Good to know. Planning on pulling my engine soon.

I saw people on YouTube talk about the rubber blocks but never experienced that myself. The 7000SLX I got came with the SUV adapters so I normally use those for the extra few inches of lift. I have 4 pinch weld pucks also that come in handy for my vehicles that have pinch welds. The adapters are a solid flat surface so it has worked well for me.