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Lotus in the Peak
28th - 30th June 2024

Getting an Elise onto chassis stands


Chris Richards

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Hi,  I want to put my Elise on to chassis stands to work on the suspension.  Whats the best way to to this without damaging the tub?  Do the stands at the rear need to be  under the jacking points?  Also, if you are going to use pieces of wood to spread the load at the top of the stands, any advice as to how big they should be?  Tools available = trolley jack, stands and lots of bits of wood.

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I'll assume you're familiar with all the lift points.  Those are the best places to support the chassis, although really anywhere along the main frame of the chassis can be used in a pinch, and even certain parts of the suspension.

The front lift points are at the corners of the main frame.  You can support on wood, bricks, breeze blocks, anything you have to hand really.  Something with a little "give" is good, and not too slippy.  A box of paper is ideal, or a book on top of your stack of wood, or a mouse mat.  It only has to be 2-3" square, but you can go bigger if you want.  Just be careful to support on the aluminium and not the fibreglass, so square is actually better than round

The centre lift points with the stickers are mainly for jacking since they more or less balance the whole car.  Putting a stand under there risks having the car tip off.

The rear of the chassis frame goes under the shear panel so you have to be a little careful where you support it there.  The panel lies against the chassis at its rear edge and that's where you have to support the car.  The outer corners are recommended for stability.  Examine the area carefully so you're sure where the chassis frame is, and don't support on the bolts.  These aren't actually very far behind the centre of gravity of the car so be careful if you intend removing any weight from the front or pushing down on the back.

Even further back, you can support on the steel subframe.  These lift points are closer together than the shear panel points, but further back  The points aren't marked but they are where the two big diffuser bolts go, so very easy to spot.  Use anything you want under here, nothing to damage, although it isn't completely flat.  A regular old axle stand can even be used..  Some people have made supports that can be used with the diffuser on, since there is an area that rests flat against the subframe.  Just have to avoid the bolt since the threads aren't strong enough to hold up the car.

The lift points on the Elise mean that you have to go pretty high to get an axle stand under even at its lowest height.  If you want to go really high, do it in stages so you don't tip the chassis at too much of an angle which might cause it to slip off your supports or even off the jack.  Lastly, make very very sure that your trolley jack can roll freely.  There is no room for the jack to slip on the jacking point, it will go straight through your sill.

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On 17/05/2020 at 09:14, Chris Richards said:

Hi,  I want to put my Elise on to chassis stands to work on the suspension.  Whats the best way to to this without damaging the tub?  Do the stands at the rear need to be  under the jacking points?  Also, if you are going to use pieces of wood to spread the load at the top of the stands, any advice as to how big they should be?  Tools available = trolley jack, stands and lots of bits of wood.

Hi Chris

 I have  made 8 square blocks  by nailing two bits of work surface together.  I lift the car on the rear jack point on one side which lifts both wheels on that side  onto two squares then repeat and repeat until I'm two 'sqaures' high on each wheel. I've bought some customised hockey pucks off ebay which fit onto the Jack's to create an elise friendly jack.  One small lift and you can then slide them under the jacking points on the front and the subframe and... repeat. Slipping off the jacking point is one key danger closely followed by extreme boredom. But many small lifts make it easy and safe. 😜

 

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