This seems to come up from time to time, so I made a video of the way I do it. This may not be the "official" way to do it, but this is what I do. The one thing I'm not too sure about is using the front jacking point underneath the radiator. The first time I jacked it there I could hear the plastic piece cracking. It doesn't do it anymore, but the first time was a little scary. I read the JTIS and that bar underneath the radiator was the only thing I could see which sounded like what the JTIS described.

By the way, that plastic piece under the radiator is supposed to have a rubber strip across the bottom. Mine was falling off in a couple of places, so I just took a razor knife to it and sliced off the entire rubber strip. Even with the rubber strip in place the strip just compresses under the jack and goes right back to normal afterwards.

YouTube - Jacking Procedure

 

Excellent stuff , it will be useful for anyone

 

Sam,
I struggled with this as well, here is the point I used for the front, the only "crossmember" I was able to find:

 

That plastic piece has a rubber insert when it is new. I'm not sure I'd want to jack from that point. I've used the same spot reko pointed out.

 

Sam has the correct front reinforced cross member for jack placement. Placing the jack under the aluminum cross member can lead to a shear/punching failure the will cost many $$$$$ to fix. The aluminum cross member system is really not designed to be jacked at any point. Even if the aluminum cross member does not fail completely it can develop a stress fracture that might lead to failure later.

 

I've always used reco19's point. That crossmember looks very substantial. Seems to be some differing opinions here. I hope we can come to a definative answer!

 

Very exciting stuff, I watched it twice, just to make sure I grasp the entire plot!

 

Thank You Rev Sam. Those black X cross member bars looked hollow and easily damaged to me so i have never put any weight on those. I used the spare jack to get a good look around but that's about it. What is the BIG heavy forged aluminum looking piece above the X crossbars? That looks substantial enough for jacking up on.

 

As regards jacking points the JTIS contains the following caution in more then one place: Do not use the crossbeam as a jacking point, as damage can occur to the crossbeam, steering rack and brake pipes. This is found in the section discussing the front suspension.

 

Yup, From JTIS:


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Did you sneak into my garage to take that pic when I wasn't looking? The manly junk in the background looks strangely familiar.

After reading your post I was thinking I've been doing it wrong all this time. I'm glad some others have backed me up. I was always afraid to put the pump under those black braces because they just looked too fragile.

 

How come damn near every auto manual uses diagrams that look like they were drawn by a 3rd grader? I can't believe they actually pay someone to sketch pictures when they could just take a photograph, which would be 10 times as helpful as the silly sketches.

 

Sam
I thought the same thing about the drawings.It has to cost more to pay someone to illustrate than photograph. That is where I jack mine also with no ill effects.

 

Sam,
the pic is from your garage, actually from your video to be exact

looks like you are right, hopefully i did not do any harm using aluminum crossbeam, only did it once

regards

 

Just a few common sense points from some experience.

1. I would use the jack points for the stands as recommended by Jag. these points are no doubt directly below the frame.
2. Always chock the wheels opposite the side of your you first lift, i.e. if you are going to lift the front first, chock both rear wheels
3. Make sure all jack stands have good even contact at all four corners with the garage floor and are sitting perpendicular with the floor.
4. Once you have the car up on all four stands stand next to the car and give it a good shake. You want to know that the car is 100% stable BEFORE you crawl under
5. Whenever possible I leave the floor jack under the car in the raised position as a supplement to the jack stands. In fact I have two floor jacks and when possible I leave one in front and one in back as back ups
6. Please be safe and check and recheck everything before you crawl under the car.

 

I try to jack mine as often as I can.

 

I taught my wife to do it. She can actually do it faster than me and I have to tell her to slow down. I don't want her to get hurt.

 

Good advice lorwood.

 

You guys better watch it of your get spankled.
Maybe not the best choice of words

 

Curiosity Question? Is the crossbrace as depicted in the Reco19 picture unique to convertible vs. a coupe to counter body twist of a convertible vs. a coupe? When looking at the parts listing in FAQ section, it refers to the crossbrace as a "convertible" crossbrace. I know manufacturers will reinforce the undercarriage of a convertible vs. a hardtop.
Also, I have read that to lift the total front end of the vehicle, one should lift under the crossmember (crossbeam - Jaguar nomenclature?) between the A-arms. I have been lifting at the Reco19 location and putting a block of wood between the crossbrace and crossbeam to avoid distorting the crossbrace.