Quote:
Originally Posted by Knuppel
Having the car on 4 jack stands makes me uneasy. Is it possible to do this job by jacking up the front and placing 2 jack stands only?
And do the wheels have to be aligned afterwards?
Will be working on a 320i manual.
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This is my pet peeve. The safest way to work on a car IS on four jack stands with one under each lifting block on the rocker panels. Use 4 flat-top jack stands. Having the car on just two stands leaves the car (a) tilted on the front stands, which places a force sideways (i.e. forward) on the stand and makes it more prone to being kicked out from under the car; (b) keeps a set of wheel on the ground, which can let the car roll if the parking brake releases and the wheels are not chocked.
I have a 2-post automotive lift. The car sits on all four of the lift blocks, 6 feet off the ground. You need to understand, with the car on the 4 lift points it will not move nor fall. You are not strong enough to push a 3,500-pound car off 4 properly placed jack stands. If your concern is the plastic lifting blocks will fail under the pressure of the car being supported on them, they won't fail. The plastic lifting blocks
are designed to support the weight of the car while it is sitting on 4 jack stands (or on a lift like in my garage). They key is to use the correct type of jack stand, which is a flat top stand. If you don't have a flat-top stand, then put something in between the head of the jack stand and the lifting block so the pressure is evenly distributed over the walls of the lifting block.