Re: Wheel Refurbishment

[Shawn Meze <Trnsfrma@ix.netcom.com>]

At 01:19 PM 10/4/96 -0500, you wrote:
>        I must disagree here.  The control arms are not a point where you
>can safely jack up a car.  Although they do support the weight of the car,
>they are designed to do so only through the rest of the suspension.  The
>only parts of the car that are designed to support weight through jacking
>are the round jack supports that every (German?) car has, one at each
>corner.  As to the best way to do this particular work, I would recommend a
>lift, but not everyone has one of these in their garage, I understand.  As
>to the method that you use to do this, I would be interested.  Please send
>it to me when you have a chance.
>
>Not wishing to start a flame war, 
>
>David

*Disclaimer*
First of all David, we are all friends here, I will never flame anyone here
for having a difference of opinion, ever! On the contrary, different
opinions are what is needed to have inteligent conversation. If I say
anything that sounds screwy, go for it, ponder me, quiz me, ask me. I try
and make it a point to only respond to topics or info that I really do know
about. If I dont have all the info on a particular topic, I will try and
make it clear that I dont, but might have some info to get you guys in the
right direction. I always try and respond to and fix, bad or poor advice
that is given that might damage your car or creat another problem. Nobody
likes to have a 3 month, $2,000 problem. If I know of a easy way to do
something, I will always speak up. For example, not that it applies here
but, I found out that on Subaru Wagens, the manual sez you gotta drain the
A/C system, and remove the engine to change the clutch!! I found out, on my
own, that the tranny on these cars comes out as easy as bug engines do! 4
bolts and 2 wires! So, you see my point.
If I ever flame anyone, I am usually joking and for the record, thats all I
usually do. I think I have a great sence of humor and dish it out as good as
I can take it. If I ever get pissed off and flame someone, everyone will
know since I do have a way with flaming with furry. In fact, I was asked by
a friend to write a flame for someone else..... different story! ....I wont
go there!

Ok, now to the fun stuff!
I agree with you, the control arms shouldnt be used for jacking. PERIOD.
They are designed for holding out the lower bottom part of the strut and
controlling the movement in certain directions. I think we both agree
really. BUT!! One can use the mounting points of the front swaybar. (Not on
the control arm but where it meets behind the rear mount of the control
arm.) I use it to change my tires when I race. The guys I race with showed
me that trick and they have been doing it for years and have never done any
damage to their cars. After a few times of doing this, I checked and found
no damage. (I had to be sure.) My suspension is stiff enough that I can
remove both wheels from one jacking point without putting the car 10 feet in
the air. Works for me!

Back to the special tool I saw used for running the car in gear while jacked
up on a jig. What it did was it used 2 jacks. Above the jacks was 3 welded
tubular piece of 1" stock with all their little cross supports. (Kinda
looked like a top fuel dragster chassis, go for it, get a visual, we will
wait.....) These ran from the left wheel under the strut to the right wheel,
under the strut. What made it special was it would hold the chassis up in
the air from the bottom of the struts and the 3rd mounting point was the
bottom of the tranny. (So it was triangulated, sorta) It just picked up the
whole front end up and was set down on the jacks, with the jacks spaced
between the wheels and the engine on both sides. It was sturdy, I was all
over the car, checking it out. Really trick setup to keep the suspension
unsprung and still get to run the car at speeds in gear AND it also had a
super duper air flow fan thingie that sat on the front grill that blew 80
mph airflow through the radiator to keep it cool while running for long bouts. 
Dont ask me for more detail or id hafta kill all ya's!! Im promised to keep
mums about the car ect....  

I wish I had a lift! im sure most guys do. I also wish I had a shop with
power tools and space to tear thing apart and then id have my thumb removed
so I could get a job at the local High School as the auto shop teacher!!
Uh.... maybe not, this job with Boeing is cool for now..... I get carried
away sometimes, sorry!!

Anyways, the moral of the story is, the manual sez not to do things for a
reason, if we do the things thay say not to, then we find ourselves saying,
how come my car drives funny, what a peice of shit this car is. I dont know
why its soooo screwed up, I am always working on it.......
See?

Shawn

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