How the heck do you jack one of these things up?

[williaty]

To my disbelief, both the owner's manual and the service manual basically say that you can only work on one of these vans on a lift because the only approved jacking locations are the 4 corners of the side sills straddling the pinch weld. Every other car I've ever worked on has specified those locations for the use of the roadside emergency jack but also listed locations for lifting it in the shop with a floor jack. They're usually on a crossmember, rear diff, etc, something that's well supported to the unibody.

 

Since Ford left us twisting in the wind on this one, has anyone found a place both front and rear where there's enough body strength to use it as a jacking point for a floor jack?

 

If I get the OEM trailer hitch, is it sturdy enough to serve as a rear jacking point?

[BSUPC]

Not sure what year you are inquiring about. I never used a floor jack with my 2012 TC but I did use ramps and had no problems. I have seen others mention that they have used floor jacks by taking a piece of wood and cutting a slot into it. Then placing the pinch weld into the slot, and placing the wood block onto the floor jack. 

 

 

[DonShockley]

Adapter pads are only $10 for 2.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06WRMSHP2?psc=1

[Boomerweps]

Next Amazon order, I'm getting me some

[Don Ridley]

The black pads on Amazon I bought were made from Chinese rubber and the nasty smell filled the garage (even in a sealed plastic bag). I threw them  away and bought a urethane pad:

https://m.ebay.com/itm/1-ea-Universal-Orange-Floor-Jack-Pad-Adapter-for-Pinch-Weld-Side-JACKPAD-disk-/332299053307?hash=item4d5e9128fb%3Ag%3A8XYAAOSwmrlUrvgD&_trkparms=pageci%3Aeaf38ca3-adcd-11e7-a8b9-74dbd180225d%7Cparentrq%3A06db537f15f0a990a8237afcfffcd06a%7Ciid%3A19

The urethane was much better.The black rubber would crease and disform if not perfectly aligned.

[Beta Don]

Yes, you can jack almost any unibody car using the pinch weld under the door sills, but only if you put the jack in the correct location  -  Every vehicle I've seen has some sort of built in indication for the proper location for the jack.  The sill pinch weld is internally reinforced to withstand the load, but only in the correct jacking locations.  (There is an internal vertical piece of steel inside the sill at the correct locations  -  If you don't use the proper spot, you can crush the sill)  On most Japanese cars, there's a little notch in the pinch weld the length of the saddle in the OEM jack, but my 2014 TC does it differently

 

We have a notch (half oval) cut out of the plastic sill trim where the jack is supposed to go  -  If you look underneath the van, you cannot miss the jacking locations.  I'm not aware of any other location . . . .  cross members or anything centrally located, which should be used.  The trailer hitch is rated for a tongue load of only a few hundred pounds, so definitely not there!  The 4 factory designed jack points are the only ones you should use . . . . they were designed just for the purpose

 

For years, I used an old hockey puck in the center of my hydraulic jack pad and sat the pinch weld in the center of it, but after I lost track of the puck, I made me a small block of oak with a kerf cut across it for the pinch weld to fit in  -  Works even better than the hockey puck and didn't have me sending $10 to China  

 

Don

[AVguy2]

So if you jack the TC at those points where do you put a jack stand if the jack is in the way?

[zalienz]

Use these jack stands.

 

http://www.jackpointjackstands.com/

[Beta Don]

$300 a pair??

 

You are way, way richer than I am!

 

I guess if I ran an auto service shop where they would get used everyday, they might make sense, even at that price, but for the average guy who *might* use them once a year . . . . . ??

 

I suppose someone, somewhere is making a $500 paperclip too . . . . but why?

 

Don

[Don Ridley]

Avguy2,

I jacked the TC just ahead of the spot marked by an arrow on the pinch weld. Then I put a jack stand next to the jack. Both used the urethane hockey puck type pads. 

Edited October 12, 2017 by Don Ridley

[BSUPC]

I like my jack personally. It has the stands built in. 

 

[G B L]

That is an old picture, how full is the shop now!

[BSUPC]

Not much more. Still working on it and a few other projects at the same time. Slow going right now. 

 

[zalienz]

On 10/12/2017 at 8:44 AM, Beta Don said:

$300 a pair??

 

You are way, way richer than I am!

 

I guess if I ran an auto service shop where they would get used everyday, they might make sense, even at that price, but for the average guy who *might* use them once a year . . . . . ??

 

I suppose someone, somewhere is making a $500 paperclip too . . . . but why?

 

Don

I believe the question was " where do you put a jack stand if the jack is in the way?"

 

And I responded with a solution that answered the question. There was no question about how much the cost was.

 

Sincerely, the price is high, but the solution is excellent, and the excellent often has a high cost.

 

I'm a middle class dude, so I'm pretty sure  I'm not richer than you. But if you want the best, that answers the question, Jackpoint does it right.

 

Peace!

 

[AVguy2]

@zalienz, that is an elegant solution and I have seen those mentioned before on another auto forum. I just forgot they existed. They are certainly a bit pricey though. 

 

@BSUPC, Someday I would like a setup like yours. Hell, I'd be happy with a portable lift like this:

 

 

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200386167_200386167?cm_mmc=Google-pla&utm_source=Google_PLA&utm_medium=Automotive > Automotive Lifts > Two-Post Lifts&utm_campaign=Dannmar&utm_content=790007&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0oWOxIHz1gIVQR6GCh3lsAuXEAQYAyABEgKRaPD_BwE

[williaty]

AVGuy, it's not entirely clear that the MaxJacks will work with the Connect. The Connect's jacking points are a whopping 75.2" apart. With the arms on the MJ only extending to 40", you may have to spread the arms so far away from each other that they don't angle towards the center enough to actually get safely under the van. I've got an email in to the people who make the MJ about this issue right now.

 

The QuickJack BL-6000XLT will just barely get long enough to do it. Later today, I'm going to measure to confirm that the collapsed jack will actually fit under the van.

 

I owned a race shop (that also started doing repairs after the recession) for years and I have never before seen a single car where there wasn't an easy answer for how to jack it up. The Connect is the first car I've ever seen where it really looks like Ford designed it to only be able to be lifted by a full-sized 2-post lift.

[G B L]

The Floor Jack under the Lower control arm placed carefully will work the same as it always has leaving the Pinch weld area for the Jack stand.  The rear lower spring mount will provide an easy point to raise the TC . This leave the Rear jacking point free for the Jack stand.

The Max Jack is a shorter version of a two post lift.  The shop floor is drilled for Expansion bolt sockets that allow the lift to be easily removed to be rolled into the corner for storage.

[williaty]

The MJ is a smaller in every dimension version of a normal 2-post lift. That's a critical detail because the arm spread isn't as large as on a normal 2-post. That definitely becomes and issue with the Connect. Like I said, I've got an email in to the company to find out if they think it's safe or not.

 

Generally speaking, trying to jack from any part of the moving suspension is a bad idea. It's unstable at best and easily causes damage at worst. Functionally, there's also the point that having to jack the car one corner at a time to get all 4 corners in the air is a real pain in the butt and somewhat dangerous as it's VERY easy to get the car teetering on 2 stands without warning. It also means that you REALLY should have jackstands each rated to support the entire weight of the car since you can transfer extreme loads to one stand given the weird angles the car will transit through.

[G B L]

I will Agree with you that getting all 4 corners one at a time is a pain.  The Standard way of checking Ball Joints is a Jack under the control arm , If the lower joint is the loaded joint.

The distance between the columns for the Max Jack is adjustable so you should be able to make the span between  the Jack points.

             Here's a link        http://www.maxjaxusa.com/#

[williaty]

The distance between columns only adjusts for the width of the van, which is no problem at all. The spread of the arms adjusts for the distance between the front and rear jacking points on each side and that IS a potential problem. With the arms parallel, you'd get 80" of spread. Obviously, with the arms parallel, they won't actually get under the van. The van needs 75.2" of spread, which might mean the arms have to be close enough to parallel that they won't reach under the van or would require the posts to be so close together that you could barely drive the van between them.

[Fifty150]

The lift is not that expensive.  Think of the use you'll get out of it within your lifetime of vehicle ownership.

 

What is really expensive is the real estate and building that you will need to set up the lift in.  I don't know about you guys.  But I find it very difficult to have any sort of workshop when you live in a walk-up apartment.  Hard to get anything done on the 3rd floor of a brownstone.  Your landlord and neighbors just don't get it when one room of your rental unit has a work bench, power tools, and lots of noise.

[G B L]

Acording to the engineering drawing of the lift the arms are 40" long plus the 10" or 12" column spread between the arms it should be enough  distance for the lift to work on the TC.

[BSUPC]

I can say this. I am very lucky to have what I do and how I came to have it. But I will say this. The lift was the least expensive part of the process. The building and the concrete floor were the most expensive. The lift itself was only around $3k for a 10,000 lb. Me and Dad waited a long time to be able to have that thing. Spent many years crawling under our cars with Dad in the wet mud and snow to fix a problem. (it sucks) 

 

But no matter what equipment or how much it costs, if you do not use it properly and continually, then what is the point in having it. 

 

Be safe my friends, and stay greasy. 

[chong]

On 10/15/2017 at 2:18 PM, G B L said:

The Floor Jack under the Lower control arm placed carefully will work the same as it always has leaving the Pinch weld area for the Jack stand.  The rear lower spring mount will provide an easy point to raise the TC . This leave the Rear jacking point free for the Jack stand.

This is exactly how I do it.

[Fifty150]

Do not buy those jack pads in pairs, or sets of 4.  You will only be using 1 jack.  Your jackstands cannot ust pads.  There are pads for jack stands.  

 

I picked up my floor jack pad from Amazon for about a Lincoln.  

 

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GXPIHY6/ref=od_aui_detailpages01?ie=UTF8&psc=1