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Jacking up the Roadster, revisited

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I know there are some old threads on this, but here's a couple of different takes:


Also, as we all know, you can only jack up one side of the car at a time (in the rear anyway). The Lotus Elise on which Roadster is based, however, has additional jack points located in back of the rear axle. There's even a thing called a "Jack Helper" that lets you jack up the whole rear end of an Elise with one jack without removing the rear pan:

338041d1389970404-jcr-jack-helper-shift-balls-more-3_med.jpeg


I looked around, and sure enough, it does look like one could jack up Roadster at those same two jack points (corresponding to two of the bottom pan screws). Here's a pix from my car, with my middle finger touching the screw head that I believe could be a good jack point:

FingerOnjackPoint.jpg


To me, it looks like there's attachment to the frame right there, and so that should work. I'm scared to try this, of course. And due to the way the pan slopes, it might be hard to locate things just right, and even then it'd only be good if you had a Jack Helper that was the right dimensions and could sit over the screws and stay located while you jack up, etc., etc. But, I do believe that if you remove the rear pan you could pretty easily jack the car up there - or at least put jack stands there so your jack isn't the only thing holding the car up.


Something I may try is to build one of these:
BrakeDiscSupport.jpeg


Essentially, you jack the car up, remove the wheel, put this in place and lower the brake disc on it. Then you can go jack up the other side.
 
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Well, that got no responses. Here's another option, which may be the best: http://www.jackpointjackstands.com/


Basically, it's a jack stand that's open on one side so you can slip it over your jack and then lower the pad onto it. This is a clever way to be able to use lifting point as your jack stand point. Since there are only 4 such points on Roadster (Lotus Elise has 8!), this would seem to be the only way to have a jack stand supporting at the rear lifting point.

At $300/pair, it's not cheap. Since I don't think it's feasible to support Roadster by both its rear jacking points (is it?), I'm wondering if anyone is willing to split the cost of a pair. One should be enough for most DIY things on Roadster. PM me if you're interested (it'd be better if you're in NorCal so we wouldn't have a second shipping charge).
 
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I've made custom lift adapter for the Dannmar MaxJax to lift the Roadsters. When I have time I will post the 3D data file freely so others can make their own, also I got measurements to modify the design to make it fit other standard car lifts.
 
I've made custom lift adapter for the Dannmar MaxJax to lift the Roadsters. When I have time I will post the 3D data file freely so others can make their own, also I got measurements to modify the design to make it fit other standard car lifts.

I assume you are talking about the lift adapters that can be used on the Roadster just in front of the rear wheels so you can put the car on a lift? Like the adapters Tesla used to sell? That would be very helpful. I've been meaning to do this myself but never had time... but with the 3D image it would be easy to make.
 
Something I may try is to build one of these:
View attachment 45665

Essentially, you jack the car up, remove the wheel, put this in place and lower the brake disc on it. Then you can go jack up the other side.


I use just a regular old 4x4 block of wood that's 10" long. I then lay it lengthwise, front to back direction of car and its stable. Drop the car with the rotor laying on the wood. No cutout, the wood is soft as is and the disc rotor very hard, you won't hurt anything. There's no oversized dust shield on the bottom of the rotor, that's usually the problem with most cars and vulnerable to damage.

I have a low profile jack so I'm able to remove it with the 4" clearance given with the block of wood. If you need more height, go 6x6 or put a larger wood base under the 4x4 to raise the car so your jack can clear.
 
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http://www.jackpointjackstands.com/ - see post from smorgasbord

Did you get these, and if so, are you happy with them? I am looking to store my roadster long term, so I was thinking of jacking up all four wheels, maybe even removing the wheels and let them rest on these stands for many months at a time?

A bit off topic, but my motivation is I thought it might be helpful for long term storage, but I am a bit concerned it could be counter productive in "helping" with:
--Avoiding flat spots on the tires. With the tires removed, I can store them in my house (rather than gararge) where I'd hope I'd have less issues with tire rot and any thing happening to the rims.
--Having the weight of the Roadster supported by the jack stands, rather than its suspenstion 99% of the time (1% of the time will be when I am actually driving the Roadster.)
 
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When I put my car up for 4 wheel off clean,
1. used a workshop trolley jack the central side (chassis) jacking point to get both wheels of one side up,
then
2. used:
Axle stand with 1" plywood blocks (or equivalent stiff rubber, etc.) under the same side front (chassis) jacking point
Front.jpg

PLUS
Axle stand with with 1" soft plywood blocks under the rear lower suspension knuckle (which carries the full rear wheel load from Wheel>hub>knuckle>spring>chassis)
as below (but at REAR) same Knuckle
rear jacking.jpg



then remove workshop trolley jack the central side (chassis) jacking point, and repeat above steps on opposite side...
(I wish I'd taken a better pic than this of my car) ..
rear jacj.jpg


Here the rear suspension is at road position (whereas the front is on full droop)

For storage I'd probably use the 'plywood block under knuckle' (as 2nd picture) on all 4 corners so all at road position.
 
I don't want to steal this thread but what is that largish red/orange tube going from break disc cover into the body in the second picture above?
Don't tell me Tesla used hot air from breakes for heating the cabin or something?

Edit: judging from that orange blinker it is reverse thing happening: that hose brings fresh air directly to disc for better cooling. Right?
 
So, I'm getting old, and dragging out my 75 lbs low-profile jack is less and less fun.
I did buy one of these for a travel jack: https://www.calcarcover.com/product/low-profile-billet-aluminum-jack/705
One.png

But somehow that didn't feel right as an at-home jack.

Thought I'd try this: Amazon.com
Two.png

It has a minimum height of 4.3", which is less than my Roadster's 4.75" clearance.

Thoughts? I obviously won't go under the car when it's supported only by this.
 
Thanks for that link. Interesting that they felt the need to tout their upgraded internals, as that implies the previous version was prone to failure. I do wonder about many of these Chinese made jacks since safety would be very damaging. Which is probably why I overdid the jack I bought in 2013 (it's 3 ton rated): Amazon.com: BIG RED T84030 Torin 3 Ton Low Profile Aluminum Racing Jack : Automotive

I've no complaints about the jack except the weight since I don't store it near the cars and don't use it often enough to make that a priority. The inflatable jack arrives tomorrow, I'll report back with pics.
 
So the Vevor air jack arrived. Had sort-of instructions for use, none for assembly, but it was straightforward.

Fits under the Roadster pretty easily and has its own rubber pad:
UnderCar.jpg


Raises smoothly:

(lowers smoothly and very controllably, too)

Note that it is tilted when raised (this isn't fully raised, btw):
Jacked.jpg


Another view:
Jacked2.jpg



One thing that's very different is that this jack provides no side to side stability, unlike the typical hydraulic jacks. But, if you're jacking the car up to place a jack stand under (hard to to with Roadster), or are just changing tires and not banging on suspension parts or anything, it seems to be OK.

Would I prefer this over da2ny's racing jack? They're within a couple pounds of each other according to the specs. I worry about all of these Chinese made jacks. So, I don't know. It's nice not having to pump (air compressor does the work for you) and its compact. Will the rubber boots hold up over time? Maybe not.
 
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