Just finished putting this together and thought others might be interested. It might be the easiest and quickest way yet?
It's more stable and much quicker than using jack stands. I do put 100lbs of sand on the front before working on it as it makes it that much more solid. Fairly inexpensive to do and I can use the quick jacks on my Model S when needed.
That is fantastic. I had considered using these in combination with air jacks, but I like your approach better because everything is in place before the car comes into the garage.
Great job!
It's more stable and much quicker than using jack stands. I do put 100lbs of sand on the front before working on it as it makes it that much more solid.
where abouts do you lay the sand bags - on top of the front crash structure?
i really love this solution - i've been scratching my head for the last few days about how best to go about lifting the radical, and with this i can use it on my road car for servicing too, rather than nervously lowering it onto 4 jack stands.
So it looks like you've measured it up so that the back of the wood board is in line with the rear rollover bar, just before where the diffuser starts - and the front of the board is in line with the front rollover member?
any chance you could share the measurements of the wood ramps?
I put the sand bags on top of the car just behind the crash structure. Between the front tires.
No problem on the measurements. Let me take some new ones, I think I threw my original drawing out. The trick is to locate the ramps to the quickjacks so that when you lift the lifting panel comes to the exact right spot on your car. You're right, you want to lift on top of the rivits where the difuser plugs in. About 90% of the weight of the car is on this spot. I didn't carry the wood panel further forward as it just didn't do much. Originally I had with the same though you had but there isn't any weight from the car up there so it doesn't make sense. I locate the wood panel with a couple of blocks under it so that it sits in the same spot on the quick jacks.
Sounds a little complicated but it makes the whole setup really easy to use and guarantees it'll lift reliably every time.
How quickly do you need measurements?
I don't use sandbags to balance the weight while my SR8 is on a lift. I use the rear wheels as "balancing ballast".
I put the rear lift point at the rivets on the bar where the diffuser slides in and the front lift point on the rivets of the bar behind the front air jacks. Then I remove body panels and wheels from the rear of the car first, then the front clam. Then I put the rear wheels on the front splitter, before removing the front wheels.
This is a clever approach also. I saw this in Team Stradale's shop.
I put the sand bags on top of the car just behind the crash structure. Between the front tires.
No problem on the measurements. Let me take some new ones, I think I threw my original drawing out. The trick is to locate the ramps to the quickjacks so that when you lift the lifting panel comes to the exact right spot on your car. You're right, you want to lift on top of the rivits where the difuser plugs in. About 90% of the weight of the car is on this spot. I didn't carry the wood panel further forward as it just didn't do much. Originally I had with the same though you had but there isn't any weight from the car up there so it doesn't make sense. I locate the wood panel with a couple of blocks under it so that it sits in the same spot on the quick jacks.
Sounds a little complicated but it makes the whole setup really easy to use and guarantees it'll lift reliably every time.
How quickly do you need measurements?
oh any time at your convenience, i wouldn't put a deadline on it!
Delivery is in early Jan after the hols, and it won't hit the track till April, so plenty of time.
thanks
so you're saying most of the weight is really centred around the rear of the quickjack ramps?;
i guess my only concern (though clearly it shouldn't be as you've demonstrated) - if most of the weight is at that point, where the rear rollhoop is, isn't that putting some additional stress to that particular area of the chassis?
Or as it's part of that roll structure, i guess its pretty strong and can hold considerably more than the weight of the car?
m roj, common practice (from Radical) is to use a 4"x6"x8' piece of lumber to support the car. People also use a jack stands to support the car in this same area, both of which have a much smaller area of support. The quickjacks do a much better job of distributing the weight so it shouldn't be an issue.
The A Frame and table that MK Technologies sells is also a really nice way to go, but you need the room to use it and like you said, you can use the quickjacks on other vehicles too.
@charleyhradicalsportscarregistry-com
Weights on the hubs seems a bit chicken and egg. Do you have to lift it just a bit to remove wheels then put weights on and reverse? Last there this was the technique they used.
Great idea. Im building a ramp and lifting panel like yours to use with the Quick Jack. It looks like you put some thought into The project with the blocks under the wood panel to lock it in place each time for precise positioning under the car. Would you mind sharing a drawing or some specs on the build?
Thanks!
Ron,
I'll try to put together a drawing sometime this week if that works.
Martin
@trakmnky Any chance you drew up this solution? I am interested in finding an easier way to lift the Radical.
Kevin,
I've been promising this for a while so I went out and took some measurements last night. I've attached those for now so everyone at least has a starting point. I'll repost a better drawing once I have a chance to put that together. I don't have access to CAD software so need to figure that out. I realize this is really rough but all the information should be there.
Pictured in the upper right is the right side ramp. There is a mirrored left side of course. Both are made from a section of 2x6. The bottom has a 45" beveled edge so it's easier to push the car onto it. The small sections on top of this 2x6 are pieces of 1x2 and finally another piece of 2x6 to keep the car from being pushed off the opposite end. The pieces of 2x4 that attach to the left side of the ramp are to locate/space the ramp from the quick jack.
As you can see at the bottom the two ramps are spaced 66.25" apart measured from the outside. I've outlined them with a sharpie on my garage floor to make it easier to position them.
Upper left is a piece of 3/4" plywood that I use on top of the quick jacks to spread the weight out of the car. The 4 pieces of 1x2 are actually close to the outside edge and are used to position this piece in the pockets of the quick jacks. This basically keeps the correct position of the jacks and locks the whole thing together. The rear edge of the quick jacks is even with the rear edge of this 43x38 piece of plywood.
This should result in the rear of the quick jacks and the plywood board contacting the line of rivets under the engine bay firewall. This is the same spot many of us use to hold the car with a piece of 4x6 to change tires and do maintenance. 80% of the weight of the car is here. Also why I normally throw 100lbs of sand on the front before lifting if I have body panels off.
