[ac-427]

I don't like lifting my car. In fact, I have nightmares about it lying flat on the garage floor with the wheels off and no way for me to raise it. Soooo.....I'm sharing the most conservative approach I could come up with short of buying ramps that slide too easily or a drive on lift that's too expensive for my budget.

1. Equipment: (4) Torin 6000 lb aluminum jack stands purchased at Pep Boys, (2) 4000 lb jacks, and ZL-1 Addons Permanent Lift Pads for Gen 6 convertibles.

2. Equipment Locations: I started with the front and used the Cross Brace attachment bolts shown in the photographs as the points to locate the floor jack saddles. For the front, I used the outer bolt (circled in red) and for the rear I used the inner bolt (circled in yellow). The Torin jack stands have a saddle that fits the ZL-1 Lift Pads perfectly and the base on them is small enough that interference between the floor jack and stand is eliminated. In my method, a wider based jack stand would not have worked due to interference problems.

3. Jacking Procedure: Since I wanted to avoid twisting the body, I centered the jacks on the cross brace bolt (circled in red) in the front and gradually raised the car by going from side to side in small increments until I got to the height I wanted. After making sure the front was secure, I used the inner cross brace bolt (circled in yellow) to raise the rear using the same side to side method.

Conclusion, I'm getting the car ready for the Dallas Autorama so thoroughly cleaning wheels, wheel wells and the bottom of the car is a necessity. Using my method, I heard no creaks in the body, or other evidence of twisting or misalignment. Also, the stands are extremely secure, take up the smallest amount of room possible, and don't scratch the floor.

[Gunkk]

Great post!

Here's my method for 2 jack stands, one jack.

• ZL1 addon lift points all 4 corners.
• Jack up one side at a time using the front ZL1 lift point
• Jack stands go on the front brace at the bolts and rear ZL1 lift point.
• Do work. Let car down. Repeat other side.

[somedude]

Great info and pictures

[01pewterz28]

Thanks for this worried about this as I get my vert ready for 1000pt judging in 3 weeks.

If I cannot get my hands on my friends lift I will need to go this route.

[wwiiavfan]

Holy cow, man be careful with those jack stands, they don’t look very stable to me.

[ac-427]

Originally Posted by wwiiavfan

Holy cow, man be careful with those jack stands, they don’t look very stable to me.

Thanks for your comment, but I've had absolutely no problems with the Torin aluminum stands. In fact, I've corrected my original post because they are rated at 6000 lbs rather than the 3000 that I originally posted. I believe that the flat base on these stands affords more stability than conventional stands with a small angle iron "foot" at each corner.

[1hprush]

Post a pic of the top portion of the Torin Stands when you get a chance, I'd like to see what shape it is and how the supports fit under the car. Thx.

[BrianL]

Nice garage also!

[ac-427]

Originally Posted by 1hprush

Post a pic of the top portion of the Torin Stands when you get a chance, I'd like to see what shape it is and how the supports fit under the car. Thx.

Here Ya go. The saddle fits my ZL1addons permanent lift pads perfectly.

[mekirk2]

The verts have very little flex compared to other verts ive seen. When I had a corner jacked up I could open and close the door without any issues. I was shocked at how little it flexed.

[JBones81]

Sorry to ask, but how does this differ from the Coupes?

[Gunkk]

The X bracing underneath bolts to the car at one of the two forward pinch weld jack points. So when you have a jack and jack stand, one of them has to go on the the brace where the bolts/bracket contact the pinch welds.

[ac-427]

Originally Posted by JBones81

Sorry to ask, but how does this differ from the Coupes?

The cross bracing makes it tougher to jack up the rear of a convertible, as opposed to a coupe, because of accessibility issues. I've seen videos by Lethal Camaro that are really instructive for coupes because they show how to lift the rear by accessing a support in the center rear. That more convenient location is obscured by cross bracing on convertibles.

Even though all that bracing makes things a little more tedious for raising the car, these convertibles are unbelievably stiff. I've had Mercedes, Corvette, Mustang and Lexus convertibles that squeaked or rattled because of cowl shake or other inherent convertible characteristics. GM, through the bracing underneath, and the strut brace in the engine compartment, has completely eliminated body flex in my Redline SS Vert.

[01pewterz28]

Originally Posted by ac-427

Here Ya go. The saddle fits my ZL1addons permanent lift pads perfectly.

Can you post a photo (front and rear) where your ZL1 addons pads are mounted so I can see. Just trying to get an idea when mine arrive.