Is anyone utilizing a saddle to jack their 61 or 62? I was looking for dimensions for building one. Cutting out for the third arm is not the problem. I was more concerned about how long the saddle should be. After measuring the area, I determined that the 4x4 would only be 8 to 9 inches long to fit between the license bumperette brackets. Is this long enough? It also looks as if you'll need a low profile jack. Anyone with experience out there? I surely don't want to do any thing thats not safe or do damage to the car. Thanks in advance, Jon
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Re: C1 building a saddle for jacking
I made a "saddle" for my 1989 Z-24 years ago. I used the 4x4 exterior grade salt treated
material. Two 6" sections one on each end of the longer piece. It went between the lower A-arms. I used the regular 2 1/2 ton floor jack to elevate the car. I think that the common idea here is that the weight should be carried by the suspension rather than the front cross member. -
Re: C1 building a saddle for jacking
Check the archives. I think John Hinkley or John McGraw posted a picture of the thing he made.Comment
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Re: C1 building a saddle for jacking
Jon, I've been jacking my 62 with a floor jack for 8 years by centering the pad under the A-arm with no problem. You have to make sure the tabs are correctly placed. I've also placed the jack on the frame rails to lift the entire side of the car in the front or rear. I've read that the A- Arm jacking is not advised, but I have not had a problem. Frankly, I would prefer to drive the car up on a 9" set of ramps from Sears for $45 bucks to give more clearance and not have to worry about the jack failing or have to use jack stands for safety. Just my 2 cents. Chuck LymanChuck Lyman
Kansas City ChapterComment
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Re: C1 building a saddle for jacking
Chuck,
Thanks for responding to my post. I have also previously jacked my 62 at the A-arm location without any problems. I was just looking for a way to do it with one floor jack instead of two. I've also read that this is not a preferable way to raise the front end. However the owners manual suggest jacking on the lower A-arm towards the very end. Must be safe, huh? I think I might try building Jacks suggestion this weekend. It appealed to me as a possible way to continue jacking in the same area with only one jack.I do have an additional question for you. When you say the tabs need to be correctly placed, I assume your talking about the tabs on the floor jack pan. Thanks everyone for you input!
Regards, JonComment
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Re: C1 building a saddle for jacking
Check the archives. John Hinckley once published plans to a saddle he made for this. It was a "U" shapped jobby that spanned the third arm. You're correct in that you don't want to jack on that. But the front suspension crossmember will take the weight nicely. Are you just trying to get the front of the car in the air? You could jack on the frame rails, one side at a time, near the front. Then put a jack stand on the front suspension cross member, one side at a time, in the space between the lower "A" arm and the crossmember. You could also put jack stands on the frontmost horizontal portion frame, if you jacked a few inches back to leave room for the jackstands. But be careful there. The car will balance with jack stands just a few inches back from the frontmost horizontal portion of the frame rail. Scared the hell out of me the first time I found that out.Comment
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Re: C1 building a saddle for jacking
There's nothing exotic about the saddle for jacking up at the front crossmember; just a hunk of 4x4 that will fit between the bumperette brackets, with a notch in it to clear the front of the third arm. The one Chris referred to that I posted earlier was for jacking up the engine by the pan rails for trans and clutch removal without damaging the oil pan.Comment
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Re: C1 building a saddle for jacking
John,
Would I be correct in assuming that this chunk of 4x4 would only be 8 to 9 inches long? Guess I was thinking it should be the intire length of the cross member to be safe. Thanks for spelling it out for me.
Regards, JonComment
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Re: C1 building a saddle for jacking
Jon -
I made mine from a U- shape steel bracket (from Home Depot, was actually a Stanley gate support I believe) to which I screwed wood blocks and rubber pads.
The U straddles the 3rd arm so the only contact is on the x member, just inside the bumperette supports. The contact area itself is small, just a few square inches at each of the two pads. The bottom of the U fits in the saddle of the floor jack. Works fine, is simple to use, and doesn't scratch anything.Comment
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Very clever Cal-Thanks! *NM*
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