Lazy-Ferret
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2012
- Messages
- 5,217
So today I set to work upgrading the suspension...
New "Trail Master" +2" springs, and +2" ES9000 shocks on the rear, plus standard ES9000 shocks on the front.
Rear was a dream to do, the front was a real pig...
Anyway, while doing the rear, I struggled to get the car up high enough off the ground, as my axle stands, while nice and big, are still not tall enough to drop the rear axle down enough to fit the springs. I have some nice blocks of wood we use under the steadies of the caravan, each block is 1.5" thick, and 8" x 6" in size, with a layer of 3/8" aluminium checker plate screwed to one side. I stacked 2 of these on top of each other, and put another 2 beside them so effectively making a block 3.75" high, and 12" x 8" area, and stood the axle stands on top of these.
We have an impressed concrete drive way, and sometimes the trolley jack wedges into the grooves, and instead of moving as it lifts the car, it sticks into place, and shifts the car instead not normally a problem, as I always chock the wheels, so it tends to settle back into the same place.
Today, I had the car nicely on the stands, but needed to lift the axle up to line up the shocks, so lifted it using the trolley jack sideways under the car, at the end of the axle I was working on. The Shocks came supplied in the closed position, with a length of packing band round them, so in order to get the axle up high enough, I was having to jack the axle right up, putting the full weight of the car onto it. What I did not think about though, was the fact that because the Jack was getting stuck in the grooves, it shifted the car sideways each time I used it, and as I let it down off the jack for the final time, I had not realised that the stands had walked to the the edge of the wood blocks.
So, instead of the car stopping as I expected, when it rested again on the stands, the stands tipped over sideways, and the car shifted to the OffSide about 18", and the Nearside rear tyre landed on my upper arm... Luckily not right on it, so no real damage, other than a big bruise.
I am going to have to try and find some 2foot tall axle stands now....
New "Trail Master" +2" springs, and +2" ES9000 shocks on the rear, plus standard ES9000 shocks on the front.
Rear was a dream to do, the front was a real pig...
Anyway, while doing the rear, I struggled to get the car up high enough off the ground, as my axle stands, while nice and big, are still not tall enough to drop the rear axle down enough to fit the springs. I have some nice blocks of wood we use under the steadies of the caravan, each block is 1.5" thick, and 8" x 6" in size, with a layer of 3/8" aluminium checker plate screwed to one side. I stacked 2 of these on top of each other, and put another 2 beside them so effectively making a block 3.75" high, and 12" x 8" area, and stood the axle stands on top of these.
We have an impressed concrete drive way, and sometimes the trolley jack wedges into the grooves, and instead of moving as it lifts the car, it sticks into place, and shifts the car instead not normally a problem, as I always chock the wheels, so it tends to settle back into the same place.
Today, I had the car nicely on the stands, but needed to lift the axle up to line up the shocks, so lifted it using the trolley jack sideways under the car, at the end of the axle I was working on. The Shocks came supplied in the closed position, with a length of packing band round them, so in order to get the axle up high enough, I was having to jack the axle right up, putting the full weight of the car onto it. What I did not think about though, was the fact that because the Jack was getting stuck in the grooves, it shifted the car sideways each time I used it, and as I let it down off the jack for the final time, I had not realised that the stands had walked to the the edge of the wood blocks.
So, instead of the car stopping as I expected, when it rested again on the stands, the stands tipped over sideways, and the car shifted to the OffSide about 18", and the Nearside rear tyre landed on my upper arm... Luckily not right on it, so no real damage, other than a big bruise.
I am going to have to try and find some 2foot tall axle stands now....
