Hi All,
I need to do front sill repairs and need to locate good jacking points at the front end of the car. I would normally use the sills but cannot in this instance. I will be using a hydraulic scissor lift and not jack stands - this lift has arms that can swivel about to meet a certain place as necessary. For those that want a reference I will be using the HAP10 scissor lift.
Can anybody suggest suitable places as I cannot really find one at the front of the XK8.
Thanks

 

Can you reach to the Jaguar recommended lift point, the front cross member. This is not the cross-member which is a U-section on its side but is the much bigger cross member which is hidden underneath the plastic valance piece which extends right across the front of the car and includes the two plastic air deflectors which hang down just in ahead of the front wheels. Remove the entire plastic valance or it will crack if you try to lift on it, from memory 3 screws and the dozen pushpins into the wheel arch liners and the bottom of the lower bumper.

Richard

 

Thanks for the reply RichardS,
No I cannot reach that cross member. I know the one you mean though,
What would a two post lift use other than the sill lifting points?

 

I understand. That crossmember is well forward. I have a two post lift but have always used the four sill jacking points as I've never had to work on the sills.

Could you just lift the front of the car by using your scissor lift under that front crossmember and chocking the rear wheels? You could even then raise the back with a trolley jack using the central lifting point close to the diff and put stands under the two rear sill jacking points. It depends upon how much height you need.

Richard

 

Maybe you can reach each end of that cross member? See within the red circles of image in post #7 of this thread: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...acking-240019/
This is perhaps the best place to jack the front if heavy corrosion is evident.

 

I have had success lifting the front of my 98 XK8 Convertible by using thick hard foam load spreaders on the floor pan just behind the front wheel arches. I have a four post lift and the roller jack arms dont reach the jacking points on the sills.
There are a couple of provisos though. My car is completely rust free and I know that when the rot sets in, that part of the floor can get quite rusty, so care must be taken to ensure the integrity of that part of the car.
It should give adequate space to work on the sills though.

 

Thanks fellah! However, the scissor lift does not reach that far plus I don't think any 2 post lift will either. There must be some frame related places closer that can be used. My floor panel is not suitable - part of the "restoration!"

 

Fellas - not fellah!

 

An alternative I'm thinking is that you use jacks in the front and rear central jacking points to lift the car as high as possible and set it on wooden cribbage, stacked as high as possible. With a combination of ramps, or low profile and truck jacks, you might just be able to lift the car high enough to put it on a foot or two of cribbage. This will be a slow process. This way the weight of the car will be on its four tires, instead of on any jacking points.

Something like this




If you can't safely lift the car, is it really repairable?

 

Ultimate JENGA.







On a more serious note, I've often used timber blocks to gain height for repairs. It's a low cost and safe approach.

Graham

 

^^ Yep....

 

It is frequently repeated advice to use the front cross member. Perhaps others have had success but my car now has a deformed front cross member. I now have ramps to get the car lifted high enough to get under the car. There are much more robust points further back to jack up the front of the car if I want it higher.
I've also built wooden Jenga towers and they are very stable.

 

Thanks - great idea with the blocks
However, I did not want to use the front left jacking point as the was one of the sills being rust repaired. It looks like I should be ok to use it as I have nearly completed the outer sill repair in question. I will be able to use both fronts as normal. I will jack the car up at the rears by the rounded area / beginning of the lower control arm? Looks pretty solid to me!

 

The advice is the Jaguar recommendation. However, I have seen internet posts where people are using the wrong crossmember. Some of the points further back appear to be robust but are actually aluminium and Jaguar insist that these must not be used for jacking.

Richard

 

The best way to jack the front of the car up using the front crossmember is to place a 24-inch or longer wooden 2x4 perfectly spanning it before you put your floor jack to work at the central point of the 2x4. The lumber spreads the load very nicely. Been doing it this way since we acquired the car in early February 2012 with absolutely no issues....

 

Thanks for the advice. Sounds as though I was lucky not to do more damage. I'll be using the front cross member with a big length
of 2x4 in future.