[Guest]

Dear SSers:

Here's a copy of a note a recently wrote to Scott who recently completed
his Body Bushing Mod. I'm planning to do the same mod next week and would
like to get some more opinions/advice on appropriate hardware to use to
get the car up in the air safely for this job.

"Scott:
Congrats on your body bushings r/r! I may try it next week. I'll post my
results at SSforum or email you. Say, do you think 2 ton jack stands are
adequate for the job, or should I use 4 ton? What size floor jack and jack
stands did you use? I have a 5,000lb floor jack which seems a bit chincy
to me (made in taiwan), and I'm thinking I should probably go ahead and
buy a "REAL" floor jack - the 4 ton floor jack. Impalas are beefy cars
(4100lbs)!!! I used my 5,000lb floor jack to lift the car for an oil
change the other day. It didn't seem to sturdy to me, but I went ahead and
used it since I was only lifting the front end about 12 inches in order to
get to the oil filter and pan bolt. The 2 ton jack stands under both sides
of the front end didn't seem much sturdier. I'm not sure I'd want to use
these under all four corners for the Body bushings mod. Did you use
jackstands under all 4 corners when you did yours? Look forward to your
reply as it will help me to decide what to get and how to go about the job
next week. Thanks again.

John"

[ 12 April 2001: Message edited by: sonuvah ]

 

[Guest]

I got 2 1/2 ton jackstands and they worked fine for the spring swap. They are more than enough, really. They are rated to be used as a pair, so of the 2 1/2 ton rating, there's only a load of about a ton. I wouldn't be afraid of it.

 

[Guest]

Sonuvah,
I actually did mine Body bushing upgrade without even raising the car, that is if you don't mind getting on the ground for a while

 

[Guest]

sonuvah:

I'm with doub6. I just did mine about 2 weeks ago and did not raise the car at all. One thing the mod spec fails to mention is that the number 1 bushing has a nut on it. It can be reached directly behind the headlights. This is the only problem you will have, if doing the mod by yourself. I highly recommend getting someone to help you with the first ones. The rest are a cinch. Also, I did not need to use the shorter bolt on the number 3 bushing. In fact, I did not replace any of my old bolts, except the rear #7's, so I have a few unopened sets of new bolts - even the short ones. HTH.

Gary

 

[Guest]

[ 15 April 2001: Message edited by: Way2SSlow ]

 

[Guest]

Is the bushing mod only good for impala's or
do the 9C1's also benifit?

 

[Guest]

If the 9C1 has a lot of miles on it, and if you get the higher durameter (harder) bushings from Dal, then you will probably feel a positive bennefit.

 

[Guest]

IMO, don't skimp on jackstands. It's your body, your wife's husband's body, and your children's father's body under there.

Our cars carry 55-60% of their weight on the front tires. If you put your jackstands under the frame at the front of the front door, you probably have 65-70% of the vehicle weight on the jackstands. The reason for 65-70% is that if you put your jackstands under the center of the frame and balance the car on them, they would have 100% of the car weight on them, so putting the stands closer to the center of the car than under the tires puts more of the car weight on them.

I use 3 ton per pair rated jackstands; that means I am using at most about 50% of their load rating when I have them under the front of the car. For safety purposes, the 3 Ton load rating is probably conservative, also. I use a Sears 6 ton bottle jack for lifting the car; but I don't get under the car until I have the jackstands in place.

I don't trust my life to my bottle jack and wouldn't trust it to floorjack(s).

When I get under the front end I have my jackstands in place under the front of the front doors and the bottle jack under the front crossmember.

I use the bottle jack because it is what I have and have room to store. Driving the front (or rear, whichever you want to lift) of the car up on 2x8x15 inch blocks of wood makes it easier to get the jack under that end of the car. A floorjack or floorjacks would be much easier to use than the bottle jack. I put a 2x2x6 inch block of wood between the bottle jack and the frame to make it less likely that the bottle jack top will slip and to spread out the lifting force some on the frame. I do the same with the jackstands. I would probably do the same with a floorjack.

If you are putting just one end of the car up on jackstands, block the wheels of the axle which remains on the floor.

HTH, and again, IMO

 

[Guest]

Roland has a very good point with driving up on some small blocks of wood to raise the car some to get the jack under it, that's exactly what I do with my SS. I also have a very good set of ramps I use most of the time to do oil changes and the bushing mod on on my B-cars. Good quality stands are a must with these cars, get the heaviest rating you can afford.

 

[Guest]

Thanksguys:
I just got back from Sears with a set of 3 ton jackstands and a 3 ton floorjack.I think I got a pretty good deal: 2 stands and the jack for $99.00. Now I feel more confident about getting under there for the spring/shocks/control arms/swaybar mod. Again, lots of thanks for the (life-saving)tips!

john