Jackstand safety question

Is it safe to put one corner on a jackstand? I have to change out a cv joint and I'm just wondering if this is safe. I have plastic wheel chocks to block the opposite corner.

I would lift the entire side and use 2 jackstands. It will be more stable and give you more room to work.

I'm going to go with 'no'.

Or at least I wouldn't. It just seems much less stable since two corners are going to extended, super-soft, and not doing much to prevent motion.

Sure I can imagine a contrived situation where it's incredibly difficult to get a second stand in there and/or where the car has nowhere to go and the point resting on the stand is a pocket so motion can't possibly cause it to fall off, but...

Unless it's an emergency and you can't get a second stand in there, I wouldn't get under a car on one stand.

If you are doing it to an old Renault, the doors won't close afterwards.

one stand allows the car to teeter back and forth. This allows the direction of forces the car makes on the stand to change. It also allows movement at the stand to car interface. This increases the odds of the car slipping off the stand. That is bad.

I would use two just for stability.

Streetwiseguy wrote: If you are doing it to an old Renault, the doors won't close afterwards.

This made me laugh a lot more than it should have, lol.

Alright, good to know. I ended up using two because I knew it to be safe.

e_pie wrote:

Streetwiseguy wrote: If you are doing it to an old Renault, the doors won't close afterwards.

This made me laugh a lot more than it should have, lol.

was it a nervous "I did this" laugh?

I think I know what you are saying about using a single jackstand. You want to jack up one corner of the car to do a cv joint. I think if the car is not elevated much above what it would be at rest, you would be ok.. but why not jack up the whole end of the car and use two jackstands so you can get some more room by getting the car further up into the air

The subframe is way forward and my diff bushings are not great. I wanted to avoid tearing them and I didnt want to spend 10 minutes jacking it up by the subframe.

I use one jack stand all the time. Of course my driveway is so un-flat that I put my cars on ramps for oil changes and the pan is level and drains completely.

Streetwiseguy wrote: If you are doing it to an old Renault, the doors won't close afterwards.

Or a Fox Mustang, or a third-gen F-body, or a lot of other cars. I'd avoid it just to avoid the possibility of tweaking the unibody. Probably not likely, but still.....

years ago when I had my first fiat spider.. I worked at full service gas station. Myself and one mechanic replaced the transmission in it over the course of a few hours one night using a lift.

he left a ratchet on the floor of the car that needed.. so I climbed up to get it and he was quite shocked that I could open and close the door easily

I don't know about stability, but I left my old Poncho overnight with only the right front hoof in the air, and when I went to the garage the next morning, the windshield was cracked.

Old timer's rule...

Throw the spare under the car before you crawl under. If it falls, it will break your nose but it won't kill you.

Better plan... spend 10 minutes and use the jackstands properly.

Taiden wrote: The subframe is way forward and my diff bushings are not great. I wanted to avoid tearing them and I didnt want to spend 10 minutes jacking it up by the subframe.

IDK how low-profile your jack is, but I asssume you're talking about the e30. I put my floor jack infront of the rear wheel and push it through to the subframe and jack that direction, then put the stands in. Should allow you to at least get half-pumps in, if you're using a large floor jack/race jack.

also, e30 unibody isn't THAT stiff....when I have the front end up the doors definitely stick a good bit.

Tom_Spangler wrote:

Streetwiseguy wrote: If you are doing it to an old Renault, the doors won't close afterwards.

Or a Fox Mustang, or a third-gen F-body, or a lot of other cars. I'd avoid it just to avoid the possibility of tweaking the unibody. Probably not likely, but still.....

If you were going to tweak the unibody with a single jackstand, you'd do it with the jack first.

I've done it when I was doing something quick, like changing front brake pads at the track, seemed to work OK.

i'll use a single jackstand if i'm doing something that doesn't require the car to be off the ground too far- wheel bearings, brake pads, etc..

I think when ever there is a question of safety it's always better to have too much than not enough.