Getting a low car high in the air...without a lift

Once the weather starts improving I am going to need to get underneath the E28 to complete a number of fixes and modifications. My main concern is pulling the transmission and complete header-back exhaust system, along with having enough room to work to complete some minor rust repair. Since I will be doing all of this laying on my back it will be nice to not have my nose touching the underside of the car...

When I pulled the trans on my last E28 it totally sucked, but I was able to do it with a regular jack and stands. This car is on performance suspension so I have to start with a lower profile jack and will not easily be able to get it as high.

Is there some kind of trick or secret to getting a low car high enough to comfortably work under without a lift, and without going through the madness-inducing process of swapping out jacks and stands 3-4 times throughout the process of raising the car?

Drive it up on ramps or pieces of 2x10 to get it a bit higher to start

I have raised my celica and put it on jack stands so that I could then set it down on ramps that were oriented the opposite direction. That way I could slide under the middle of the car without having jack stands or ramp inclines to deal with. Basically the four ramps face away from front and back of the car. Works good, but you can’t lower it back to the ground very quickly. 

Got an engine hoist?

Lift the whole car up onto blocks one end at a time. 

They've got lots of travel, and if you use a strap to a tow hook, bumper, etc it makes no difference how low the car is when you start. 

For a lower option (like suspension work), I'd make a set of wooden blocks to drive onto. Maybe 3 layers of 2x8 nailed together in stair steps so you can drive up them before you start the work.  That would get you 4 1/2 inches higher for starters, then a floor jack can easily lift the car up while you slide jack stands in. 

Crib it.  That's what I did when I removed everything behind the tailshaft on my E46 for rear subframe reinforcement and bushings.  Everything is easier when the car is about 3 feet in the air.

In reply to Tyler H :

I agree about the cribbing once it is up. I was suggesting ways to get it there. 

The right answer for the job is probably what both of us said put together. 

SVreX said:

Got an engine hoist?

Lift the whole car up onto blocks one end at a time. 

They've got lots of travel, and if you use a strap to a tow hook, bumper, etc it makes no difference how low the car is when you start. 

For a lower option (like suspension work), I'd make a set of wooden blocks to drive onto. Maybe 3 layers of 2x8 nailed together in stair steps so you can drive up them before you start the work.  That would get you 4 1/2 inches higher for starters, then a floor jack can easily lift the car up while you slide jack stands in. 

That's a pretty ingenious idea, I am not sure how low "highlifter" jacks like 4x4s use go but they would definitely lift it high enough for you to then put something under it

I built a set of stands similar to these out of steel. You can choose how high to go. All I use is a simple floor jack to get the car up on the stands. Yes, it takes a few shots and a bit of time, but I think my stands are just a bit too high. An internet search for "car stands" or "car wheel stands" will show you lots of options.

The 6 ton pickup truck jackstands are pretty good, I could get my C5 up easily high enough to sit under and pull the trans out.  

This thread is timely.  I tried to get one of my cars high in the air with a cherrypicker and I couldn't find a good place to lift it.

How do you do it?  Bumpers are way too flimsy.  I can't see stretching a chain across the strut towers and still being able to get enough height.  I tried lifting by the strut brace and it mostly just started to bend.

Knurled. said:

This thread is timely.  I tried to get one of my cars high in the air with a cherrypicker and I couldn't find a good place to lift it.

 

How do you do it?  Bumpers are way too flimsy.  I can't see stretching a chain across the strut towers and still being able to get enough height.  I tried lifting by the strut brace and it mostly just started to bend.

Depends on the car.  On MR2s, I bolt a chain to the two recovery loops and use old flip-flops between the chain and the rear bumper to use an engine hoist on the chassis.  At that point there is usually an engine sitting on the floor, so you're not exceeding the hoist capacity.   My HF hoist at full extension isn't sufficiently rated to lift most other cars.

There's no good way to do that on an E46, so I drive the car onto one piece of 2x8 on the back right, so that corner is high enough to get the jack under the diff.   Lift it, crib it, add lumber under the jack and repeat.  There is a center lifting point under the front of the E46.  Once you get the rear in the air, you can get to that one from underneath.  It takes a 15-20 minutes of jockeying to get everything ship-shape, but it saves a lot more time than that for a major project.

The crib blocks are just 2x4s that are screwed together.  The base is solid and 2-3 runs high, all screwed together.  After that I add 1 run at a time to the stack.  Mind your center of gravity if you're removing major components of the car after it's blocked up.

Here are some gratuitous pics from my subframe reinforcement (+bushings and might-as-well-do-coliovers-while-you're-in-there) job.

In reply to Knurled. :

A long lift strap (and a cherry picker or engine hoist) can usually solve the problem. Even if it meant wrapping the whole car and running the strap through the wheels. 

I have a set of these and they work well.  http://myliftstand.com/  I did a transmission swap a few months ago.  

For my E28 I start by driving onto a set of blocks just to get the oil pan up out of the way of the jack, then up goes the front just enough to get my 6 ton stands underneath. Follow that up by lifting under the diff in the rear and bringing it up as high as possible and setting it onto stands (placement will depend on where your repairs are needed, I use modified hockey pucks as jack stand pads under the rear jacking points). After the rear is up I go back to front, usually with a block of wood between the jack and subframe and put it up as high as possible on the 6 ton stands. My garage has limited space around the car so I typically use the clip together foam flooring you can by at walmart rather than my creeper. That's always been enough height for me to remove the exhaust in one piece (pulled apart between the manifolds and downpipe) after the front anti roll bar and frame rail support are removed underneath.

Adam

My low profile jack will go 24". I use blocking on the jack pad to use all the lift. Set the car on stands. Add blocking under the jack and go as high as I need. Then a set of 12 ton jack stands will hold up the world without any fear of slipping. 

So who uses a gantry? Anyone? Or a I-beam with a trolley?

HF has tall jack stands. Like starting at 18" or taller before extension. Rated strength at big truck weight. Way overkill for what I used it for. I used these to lift my Opel GT up to drop the engine out the bottom. Took a couple steps. Jack it up and put regular jack stands under the car. Then crib the floor jack higher and continue jacking until you reach your desired height and put the tall jack stands under. When I did my Opel GT I only used these on one end (front) and tall ramps at the other end (rear). That way I could remove the front wheels to give more clearance. Plus allowed me to work on the front suspension and engine compartment while in the air. The back end on ramps made it more sturdy and made me feel more secure.

Felt safer to me to raise the jack rather than extend the height of the jack pad more than one block. Just use big enough blocks under the jack that the whole jack rests on it to distribute the weight.

I had 2x12's cut at various lengths, screw them together, voila, stepped to the car a bit  higher.

Jack and stands from there.

If you can somehow manage to buy yourself a hoist, you will kick yourself for not doing it sooner.