2-post lift & 355. Where to put the arms?

Good question. ALso interested to know where to put the arms on a 348

 

Depends on whither or not I have to get underbody panels off. If I do, I use the lift points, but I take off the rear wheels when its only inches off the ground. Then once the panels are off I support the rear of the car and change the rear arms to the engine cradle. Front arms are OK on the factory lift points.

I’ve put mine on both ways, frontwards and backwards. Backwards requires inch perfect placement, (I use wheel dollies for that) but you can open the doors and there is more room to work around the rear of the car.

Mine is a Nussbaum, others may be different.

I made little lengths of wood about 1 1/2 X 2X 1/2 to fit in the factory lift points so as not to bend them.

Just using the factory lift points without taking the rear wheels off is scary, I don't know if taking the front wheels off with the rear wheels on is enough to make tip over backwards, but I'm not about to try it

 

I just use the factory lift points on my lift at work. I have a Challenger and the arms have plenty of adjustment range. I do use a mono-pod stand at the rear once I get it at the height I need. For engine-out work and such, I have a cradle assembly that works well.
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I forgot to say both arms face towards the front of the car when it's lifted backwards, that's the reason it requires inch perfect placemant. It's a PIA to do, but makes for more access.

 

When I use the factory lift points on my car, I can lift the front of car off of the front arms. I do not want to be under a car in that situation. I set the arms in the little corner rearward of the rear edge of the diffusers. If I can find a pic I will post it

 

The 355 will pivot on the rear factory jack points. It is the center balance point on the car. I never lift using those points and get under the car. Brian Crall advised the correct place to lift without the need to remove the rear diffusers. The area is directly behind the belly pan. Actual frame area near the cradle mounting points. Easy to see in a photo, hard to explain without. Owners that position the lift wrong end up trying to lift under the radiator. Very bad!

 

All this talk makes me nervous about ever getting tires changed on my 355. Do you think the average tire mechanic knows any of this?

John B

 

That is why you are maybe better to pay more at the dealer

 

just thought I would +1 this it is exactly where I lift mine. Do not use the jack points on the rear its not stable enough. Fronts points are ok

 

It's really not as big a deal as it seems. Lifting any exotic car takes special care but it is mostly common sense. It seems the factory must be conflicted about lifting as well, I've never seen a diagram of lifting recommendations in either the Owners or Workshop manual.

 

I use a twin post lift For a first timer the easiest thing to do is remove the belly pan so you can see the sub assembly. IMO the best place is on the subassemby right aft of the place where the subassembly bolts to the body and in the front on the boxed frame. Draw a line between back part of the front wheels left and right. where that intersects the frame is the right spot very close to the little lip that is the inner fenderwell. If you are doing a major I use the same points above and disconnect everything. When ready to drop the motor I put the rear arms just forward of the rear subasssembly mounting plates to the body so the subassemby will come out clean. Then I lift the car right up off the subassembly which is supported on wood blocks just for this purpose. When done I drop the car right down and everything lines up with no fuss. I like my front lift points far forward because the nose gets heavy when the engine is gone.

 

Hey FBB Vern here. The only problem with your idea on removing the belly pan(s) on the 355 is that you really need to get the car off the ground to get all the little nuts that hold the panels on. Its a little more involved than my 348 was. I have lifted the 355 on the points that John I and mentioned above, removed all the aero panels and lowered the car and moved the rear lift arms back to where you mentioned or even a little further back it is surprising how much rear weight is over the rear.

 

Exactly what I was thinking.

 

F355 on twin post lift. I jack the rear up about a foot, then I swing the front arms under to the factory jacking points, and then I swing the rear arms to the rear edge of the unibody. Make sure you put the arms on the unibody, not on the radiator shields.
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You jack up the rear using the differential as the jacking point?

 

Sure. Don't jack it up on the frame or crossmembers because they dent and bend easily

 

If you're jacking up the rear by actually putting the jack on the aluminum gearbox case, I would be very afraid of cracking the pan cover, whole pan or worse. Not meant as a regular jacking point. You might get away with it for a while, but I'd be afraid of using that method. For my 348, I would not be concerned with using wood (for spacing) on one of the steel bolted crossmembers. Not sure what the 355 has, though. Good luck

 

This is how I lift my 355. I don't jack up on the rear diff, though. I place four 1x4 boards to drive up on, then I can easily swing the arms under. Just for peace of mind I remove the rear wheels and brace the rear using a transmission jack

 

I know this is a biblically old thread/post, but just want to thank you for it.
I got my new 1 post lift this weekend and started out by lifting by the factory jack points. I got it 5cm off the ground and didn’t like the attitude of the car one bit.

Sure, I could have figured it out, but rather than experiment I did a quick 2 min search and up popped your photo.

I don’t know if you are still active on FChat, but thanks anyway!

I love this forum

 

I know this thread is a teenager now lol.

But since it's already been bumped, if anyone else is looking, here is how I've done mine.

I have a benpak low profile 2 post lift. Even with the lower 3.5"pad height, I still can't clear the bottom of my car.
I think jacking any aluminum part of the car is the worst idea, you're asking for trouble. Jacking the center of the crossmember is also a bad idea, it can bend.
I jack the rear of the car about 2in up, right where the crossmember bolts to the frame.
That allows the front arms to swing under the factor front lift points.
IMO, as well as most others, the rear points are way too far forward. I use a 1"block of wood and place the pass under the rear frame rails.
The car is much more stable on the lift.
Usually, I don't need the floor jack to get the car off the lift either.



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I have a two post Danmar portable lift and use the same locations as Kenneyd. These also are the locations recommended by "Banned Dave"
He put out a PDF on this subject. Car seems very stabile. You can find at the Rx Website.

 

Got the car on the lift now, I've put the evenings aside this week to drop the engine -- aiming to have the engine on the deck by Friday. I did the last major just under 10 years ago. It'll be very interesting to see the condition of everything in there...

 

Sounds like fun!
One thing to be aware of, once the engine is out, the car is quite nose heavy. It is completely possible for a person with just some moderate effort to lift the back of the car.
I almost found the hard way when trying to lift a radiator out of its detents when removing it.
That would have been tragic