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Lifting SGT - even Race Jack won't reach. Suggestions?


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Here is my situation. I was going to pull the wheels to change out the brakes & rotors tonight, but the race jack will hit the lower trim pannel under the door about 2 inches before the lift pad reaches the frame rail.

 

Any thoughts on how to get this to work?

 

All I can think of would be to drive up on a 2 X 12 board, break free the lugnuts, then lift from off the board. Obviously, I would then have to lower back down on the board when done.

 

Am I missing anything here?

 

Andy.

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Stngfever - Good...thats what I thought would work.

 

I think I remember an old post from Grabber (Rob) doing this same thing, but I thougth a quick post would potentially save me some wasted time if I was missing something obvious.

 

Andy.

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My floor jack fits under fine. Got it from harbor freight.

 

http://www.harborfre...-html-7814.html

 

 

 

Dan - that is the one I have except its the 2 ton version. Same color and manufacturer from Harbor Freight, too.

 

Where do you place yours to lift the front wheels off the ground?

I was trying to reach the frame rail, not the scissor Jack point near the edge.

Is the 1.5 ton that much smaller of a profile than the 2 ton? I didn't recall that much difference in the units.

 

Andy.

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I think I got my floor jack from Sears. It gets under everything I've had - Shelby GT (lowered) , Cobra (way low) and my Ford GT. I do have to remove the "cup" and just use the flat but it fit under all of them. I did go down to the local sporting goods store and bought a $3.50 hockey puck to put between the lift and the contact on the car to keep from leaving a scuff, and even with that 1.25" it still fit.

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As mentioned by others, a low profile floor jack or some 2x6 pieces of wood.

 

When the SGT's were being built here at SAI the techs had to use pieces of wood so that the arms from the lift posts could swing underneath the car, so this wouldn't be the first use of wooden boards with your car :)

 

Steve

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I bought a low profile jack at Wally World Mart. It is low enough that it can be used with the cup. I even place a soft pine 2x4, about 6" long and wrapped in a towel, on the cup before lifting. I would prefer a ramp for ease of use.

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Dan - that is the one I have except its the 2 ton version. Same color and manufacturer from Harbor Freight, too.

 

Where do you place yours to lift the front wheels off the ground?

I was trying to reach the frame rail, not the scissor Jack point near the edge.

Is the 1.5 ton that much smaller of a profile than the 2 ton? I didn't recall that much difference in the units.

 

Andy.

 

 

Andy,

I lift it at the frame rail and it slides under there with no problem at all. The 2 ton should do the same according to the spec min height.

 

Dan

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I have the same Harbor Freight 1.5 ton jack, there is no way it's getting under my SGT behind the front wheels. In front of the rear wheels is no problem. I can only assume you are lifting from much further behind the front wheel.

 

This why I want a set of the Kenny Brown jacking rails, I just haven't pulled the trigger.

 

I have considered picking up a set of the Go-Jak wheel dollies to lift the front end enough to place a jack under the front end.

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I have considered picking up a set of the Go-Jak wheel dollies to lift the front end enough to place a jack under the front end.

 

 

Great idea!!!

 

I picked up a set of the Harbor Freight knock off Go-Jak dolly's and so far am satisfied with them. I couldn't justify the price of the real Go-Jaks.

 

Steve

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I also bought the harbor freight wheel dollies and was very disappointed. I bought a total of four dollies so as to move the vehicle in the garage and have more room. The vehicle was almost impossible to move and I returned the dollies.

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I also bought the harbor freight wheel dollies and was very disappointed. I bought a total of four dollies so as to move the vehicle in the garage and have more room. The vehicle was almost impossible to move and I returned the dollies.

 

These are the ones I'm talking about. Is this what you purchased?

image_11459.jpg

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I back the car up onto Race Ramps placed under the front tires (or vice-versa for the rear) then use a regular floor jack.

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No. That was not the dollies I purchased. These look promising. How much and do they allow the vehicle to be moved very freely?

 

 

H/F rates them at 1250 pounds each for a total of 5000 lbs. So far I've had no problems with rolling a car around with them. Are they as good as the Go-Jaks? Probably not but they also are less than 1/2 price of Go-Jaks.

 

http://www.harborfreight.com/1250-lb-capacity-mechanical-wheel-dolly-67287.html

 

Steve

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Can someone show me how they set up the floor jack at the pinch point to lift?...I don't want to mess up the edge of the vehicle doing this.

 

Thanks,

Andy.

 

 

Hey Andy!

 

I've lifted mine at the pinch-weld multiple times with a floor jack by just making sure it's perfectly centered on the joint where the factory scissor jack would normally go. That being said, somewhere on the forum I saw an adaptor "puck" that sat inside the floor jack's cup and provided a better surface. I believe a hockey puck would serve the same purpose by providing some cushion as you lift - perhaps it could be modified slightly by cutting a slot for the pinch weld to fit into?

 

I had a factory scissor lift that I used so much I stripped the worm drive!

 

Sam

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Hey Sam!

 

Great idea.....I will see if I can find a sporting goods Store in Atlanta that sells hockey pucks in the Summer. That may be my challenge!

I will see if I can cut a minor grove in it just deep enough to line up without risking it cracking into two pieces.

 

I'll post up my results.

 

Andy

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UPDATE -- Sam is a genius...The $9.95 hockey puck (street hockey version as that is all they sell at Sports Authority in GA) worked like a charm! It fits perfectly on the pinch rail just under the Shelby GT lettering near the front tire, and sits perfectly on the floor jack pad.

 

I'm going to jack it up very low to see if it will hold the weight without splitting for a good bit of time before I chance getting it up high enough to use a jack stand on the frame rail.

 

I'll update again with test results....looking good so far!!

 

Andy.

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Initial results are great. I jacked up the passengers side of the car on the pinch rail using the plastic hockey puck and floor jack (nothing else). I lifted the car up just behind the front tire at the exactly at the scissor jack location, and the hocky puck compressed down on the pinch rail about a quarter inch but held firm. I left it up for about an hour and 15 minutes with the side lifted up about 3 inches above normal ride height. No problems.

 

I lifted the front tire up off the ground fully as if I was going to remove the tire after the 1 hr 15 min, and no problems. I then lowered back down to ground, let it sit at the earlier position for about 5 minutes, then lowered all the way down. No visible stress fractures on the hockey puck, but it did leave a deep impression in the plastic. I think that means that it is firm enough to lift, but soft enough to give a little so as to not damage the car. I would not trust it for a long project, but would use it just long enough to get the jack stand fully in place and then remain as a secondary back up while the work is being done.

 

This makes it so much easier than having to drive up on boards and then having boards in the way potentially as part of the safety net if something ever failed.

 

Let the work begin!!!....I think I see a Shelby Transmission cooler scoop in my future now that I can get to it easily!!

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UPDATE -- Sam is a genius...The $9.95 hockey puck (street hockey version as that is all they sell at Sports Authority in GA) worked like a charm! It fits perfectly on the pinch rail just under the Shelby GT lettering near the front tire, and sits perfectly on the floor jack pad.

 

I'm going to jack it up very low to see if it will hold the weight without splitting for a good bit of time before I chance getting it up high enough to use a jack stand on the frame rail.

 

I'll update again with test results....looking good so far!!

 

Andy.

 

 

 

Well thanks Andy, but I can't take credit - somebody else on the forum had the idea before I did!

 

Glad it works!

 

Sam

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1.5 ton Pittsburgh FTW! If it doesn't fit under your side skirts something isn't right. At least lifting from the pinch seam that is. I just turn the lifting plate so the indents line up with the seam (just past the side skirt) and you're good to go.

 

 

You must have one of those 4 x 4 suspension SGT vehicles...I heard those were rare!! Actually, I was trying to lift from the frame rail, not the pinch rail. The frame rail is about 12 inches+ from the edge of the car, and the floor jack wont reach it. It has tons of room to spare to lift from the pinch rail, I was just trying to avoid messing up the lower trim piece or the pinch rail by centering that metal lift pod on it from the floor jack.

 

I may try to off set it directly, but this hockey puck idea seems to work and it is soft enough to give slightly to grab the pinch rail along the whole side where it makes contact. As long as it goes up easy and safely, then I should be in business!

 

Andy.

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I agree 100%!! I was only testing the hockey puck with that test. I want to get the front up to where I can use the 3 ton jack stand on the frame rails before I even think about crawling underneath the car. I will lower it down on the jack stand but still keep the floor jack engaged enough to be a secondary support if the stand lets go for some reason.

 

Andy

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