Where to put the axle stands 328

basically, look for the frame tubing. i use a small floor jack and lift the frame near the attachment point of the a arms then slip the jack stand under, kind of centered on the frame between the a arm. i go front side to side then rear side to side. go slowly. sounds simple but every time i do it i find it a harrowing experience.

 

Andrew -

Here's a diagram I've found helpful when lifting my 328.....
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On the 328 the best place to jack is via the factory jacking points at the side - be careful not to crush the jack point. So you lift the car one side at a time. You may need to go up in several steps i.e. side A then side B then Side A again to get it up to the height you want. Naturally you'll need to reverse the process to get it back down again. Keep an eye on the stands on the other side of the car as you are jack to make sure they arn't being pulled over. When I've got the thing up to the height I want I then go back & lift each side again by 1/2 an inch just to make sure the stands are sitting squarely & reposition them slightly if needed.

If you can't get your jack under there then find some bits of wood that you can drive the car up onto first - only needs to be a inch or so.

You can also jack at the rear using the rear X-Member - the antirollbar just "goes with the flow". I've seen folks here condemn that as dangerous in case you bend the X-member & pull the rear of the car out of alignment but I've spoke to two independent specialists who say its fine & they do it all the time. Personally I stick with the factory jack points.

With regard to where to put the stands, the diagram in the previous post is good but for the front ones there is room to get my stands on the main frame rails (near the Front suspension pickup point) just behind where the undershield finishes - there is a couple of inches there & if you have flat topped stands then it works well. I take the view that the best place to put the stands is a close to the suspension pickup points as possible - that part of the frame is obviously used to taking the weight of the car.

Watch out for brake lines, electrical cables & any other pipes or wires as you go. Above all, go slow & be careful.

rgds

Iain

 

Indeed so - what I do is take the saddle off the trolley jack & then put a small piece of wood in the channel of the jacking point that's a bit deeper than the channel & then jack it with that just using the flat part of the jack where the saddle locates . One of the sides of one of my jacking points was squashed flat by some previous owner/muppet & the one on the other side of the car isn't too clever either.

The other thing I have that works quite well is a polypropylene jack pad that will sit in the saddle of the jack.

I.

 

My solution to the problem was to get about four paint stirring sticks from the paint store and glue them together and then put them where the scissor jack would go. Then put the jack pad on the wooden sticks. Works just fine.