Lifting a Convertible

[customsportsman]

Hi everyone,
New guy here. I just took possession of a 1969 convertible Fury III. I put a few pictures in the welcome wagon page last week. This beautiful piece of convertible boaty goodness arrived yesterday at my home. I am ready to dive in, but have never owned a convertible in my 37 years of playing with cars. I do not have a four post lift, and work on them the hard way; on my back. That being said, what is the best way to lift a convertible C body using a floor jack and jack stands. Can I put the stands in the traditional unibody frame rail points? I'm leary of lifting a convertible one corner at a time; especially one this large. Can I lift the front by the K member like an A body, and the back end from the differential housing?

Thanks,

Tim in the Detroit area

 

[70NEWYORKER]

Look in your service manual under Lubrication and Maintenance. The lift points are marked in black on the diagrams.

 

[rags]

I'm leary of lifting a convertible one corner at a time; especially one this large.

don't open the doors. my '69 newport conv. was rotten to the window sills when i first got it. never had a problem jacking it like i would any normal vehicle but i would never open the doors on it unless it was jacked evenly. jack stands under the rear axle tubes and the weight is supported as it would be if the tires were on the ground. come to think of it i never opened the doors on it with it on a two post lift until i added frame connectors. with it supported on the torque boxes there's a lot of weight overhanging at the rear.

 

[Big_John]

Can I put the stands in the traditional unibody frame rail points? I'm leary of lifting a convertible one corner at a time; especially one this large. Can I lift the front by the K member like an A body, and the back end from the differential housing?

Yes, you can lift under the stub frame and rear. (the C-body doesn't use a "K-Frame, it has a stub frame). Lifting one corner at a time can be done, I do it with my '70 300 vert, although you might want to leave the doors closed if you do that.

Basically, they do flex a bit more than a hardtop, but if you think about it, they give you a standard bumper jack to change a tire and that's really lifting one corner of the car.

If you don't have one, download a factory service manual here: Service Manuals – MyMopar They show the lift points for a frame lift, but don't specify anything for a floor jack. You'll notice they also don't change lift points or call out anything different for a convertible.

 

[Boydsdodge]

Lift from centre of K-frame and centre of rear axel at the pumpkin. On the C-bodies, I lift the front half way with jack stands placed under front. I then move to the rear and lift it half way to my height. Then repeat until safely at working height, with stands placed in the hoist lifting points in service manual. I will also support the rear axel from fully hanging if I see the cars gaps opening up. On this 73 GTX I am working on right now, I have had to place extra stands under the front end to stop the spreading of gaps.
The car is not rotten, but in it's past I think the Duke boys may have been driving it.

 

[CBODY67]

On most convertibles or t-top cars, there are also some little wedges on the door, which match their contact points on the B-pillar . . . to limit body flex on rough roads and such. But I also concur on the "no open doors" orientation, too.

I usually lift at the front crossmember, then place jack stands on the rocker panel locations. Then lift at the rear axle housing center, putting jack stands under each rear spring pad. On my '77 Camaro, I have used the front sway bar frame mount brackets for the jack stand locations with no issues, though, but not on a C-body.

 

[live4theking]

Just an observation from jacking my 68 NYer. You may want to jack the rear end up first to the amount of overhang in the back.

 

[Camshaft]

I am with Live4theking on this. For my 67 drop top, I start at the rear, go up halfway, put my jack stands in, do the front halfway, jack stands in, then finish the back and the front last. I was told by my long time Mopar fanatic mechanics and restorers to always unclip the convertible top latches before jacking up, or putting the car on a hoist or a flat deck tow truck. Apparently the frame flex can put too much horizontal pressure on the top? Not sure if true, but I do it anyway. C Shaft

 

[CBODY67]

Do you then relatch them once the car is on the flat bed of the hauler to keep the top from flying open once the truck is moving, then unclip prior to unloading?

 

[Big_John]

A lot of overthinking going on here.

 

[Triple Pickle]

A lot of overthinking going on here.

All inquiries should be automatically directed to the FSM on this site. That’s the general response here. Come on guys, he’s asking us/you for actual real life experience on a 50+ year old car from people who are in the know. Seems like anything beyond the scope of the FSM is labeled “overthinking “ here. It’s ok to talk about things. It’s not all chiseled in stone.

 

[1970FuryConv]

To jack the front of the car I put the hydraulic floor jack under the engine cradle portion of the front subframe. Jackstands, I put them under the front subframe to the rear of the front wheels. I usually use 2 by 4s on top of the jackstands because otherwise the ends of the saddle on each stand will leave small dents in the bottom of the front subframe.

 

[Big_John]

All inquiries should be automatically directed to the FSM on this site. That’s the general response here. Come on guys, he’s asking us/you for actual real life experience on a 50+ year old car from people who are in the know. Seems like anything beyond the scope of the FSM is labeled “overthinking “ here. It’s ok to talk about things. It’s not all chiseled in stone.

I try to help just about everyone here. Sometimes I refer them to the FSM, but that's only when they can get more info. I don't say "look it up" or "search". I've had that done to me and I think it's rude.

There are a few people I don't help.... Simply said... Jerks.... You probably have a list too. LOL

In this case, the FSM was referenced by someone else, and I thought it would be nice if I showed him where to find it. The OP may have already known or had one... I don't know. I also said the FSM doesn't really show anything for a floor jack.... The first response here didn't address that and said to "look it up" which is kind of asinine when the FSM doesn't address it.

I gave what I thought was a decent response. Basically told him it's not that much different from a hardtop... and there were a couple more directed at that and subsequent responses went into some depth about jacking cars in general... Giving hardtops/sedans for example. That means very little when the OP already seems to know how to use a jack... Just wants to know what to look for in a convertible... and he got some decent answers, mostly about not opening the doors.

Maybe I should have put "IMHO" before I posted about overthinking... Maybe I should have contacted you first .... Maybe I should have started another thread about if this is overthinking or not.

All I know is it was a simple question that was answered and not looking for a "how to" on jacking cars.... and not convertibles at that.

So... I just overthought this... I honestly see your point though... I don't see the "do a search" responses on this site, but I do see the "read the FSM" often, and often I know the FSM doesn't address the problem anyway... That annoys me. The FSM is an excellent source, but not everything is covered.

 

[CBODY67]

I tend to "over-shop" things before I purchase them, car parts or not. Want to make sure I get what I need at a good price point. FWIW

Y'all enjoy!
CBODY67

 

[Camshaft]

Ahh John, you're never overthinking! As a relative newcomer to this site, I can honestly say that I have received a ton of advice from you and others, some unsolicited, that made me think differently on how to approach something that I have never done, and believe me, it is all appreciated. One of the only things that truly gives me the hee bee gee bees is working underneath a two ton car that is on jack stands. I will admit that right off the get go!
If I jack up the front of my convertible to the full extent of my jack stands and put them in place, the frame of the car seems to be only putting downward pressure on about 1/4 of the stand. It seems to be leaning heavily towards the rear and my knowledge of weight distribution, and kinetic energy would tell me that once I raise the rear tires off the ground by an inch, all the pressure will be forcing the car backwards, towards a floor jack that is on wheels. Wheels roll and if that big F#4@ falls backwards off the stands, I am dead meat. That is why I do it 1/2 at a time, to reduce the angle, and the possibility that the car will slip off the stands. I personally would never put anything like a piece of wood on TOP of the jack stands, you are adding something between the top of the stand and the frame rail that has very little friction to keep it in place.
If I want the car higher than my stands will go, I put layered pieces of 12 x 12 inch plywood that is one inch thick under the jack stands. Call me overcautious, but I am usually working alone in my garage, if I get stuck under there, my wife would only notice when I stopped swearing and come out to investigate my silence! From some of the risky, wobbly crap I have seen in other's shops, a thread on jacking instructions might not be out of place on this, or any other forum. JMHO.

Cam shaft

 

[customsportsman]

Thank you for the responses. Like I said in the original question, I have been jacking up sedans and hardtops since I was sixteen. Lifted a lot of Mopars in that time. Like someone else said, the factory shop manual helps....to a point. The shop manual does not take into account that the average guy (like a lot of us) does not have a four post lift, or a drive-on lift. Nevertheless, thank you for the information, and keep it coming. Being an A-body guy and Dodge A100 guy for most of my hobby cars, a C-body (and a convertible at that) is new to me. A lot of it looks the same...just bigger.
Thanks again for the help.

BTW Triple Pickle....Great job thus far on the Fury. My son and I really enjoy your videos too...

 

[CBODY67]

^^^^^ One thing about the FSM which must be understood is that those instructions are aimed at dealership employees which have the needed drive-on or body contact lifts available to them. Whereas the Haynes manuals are aimed at the normal DIY people in their driveways or enclosed structures, with a variable amount of "tools" to deal with.

The local Chrysler dealer had a Weaver Twin Post hydraulic lift as their main vehicle lift. Each end operated separately, which was kind of neat, but you had to modulate the lowering and raising as the front ends would move faster due to the greater weight on the front end of the vehicle. Most dealers did not want the expense of such a twin post lift, opting for the body contact lifts, by observation. The front post contacted the lower control arm ends and the rear post contact the rear axle housing tubes (which was the main locating location, with the front end being moveable for different wheelbase vehicles).

Sharing knowledge is something online forums are good at, especially getting a larger audience than our local friends and other operatives. Expanding horizons in the process.

Enjoy!
CBODY67

 

[Triple Pickle]

I try to help just about everyone here. Sometimes I refer them to the FSM, but that's only when they can get more info. I don't say "look it up" or "search". I've had that done to me and I think it's rude.

There are a few people I don't help.... Simply said... Jerks.... You probably have a list too. LOL

In this case, the FSM was referenced by someone else, and I thought it would be nice if I showed him where to find it. The OP may have already known or had one... I don't know. I also said the FSM doesn't really show anything for a floor jack.... The first response here didn't address that and said to "look it up" which is kind of asinine when the FSM doesn't address it.

I gave what I thought was a decent response. Basically told him it's not that much different from a hardtop... and there were a couple more directed at that and subsequent responses went into some depth about jacking cars in general... Giving hardtops/sedans for example. That means very little when the OP already seems to know how to use a jack... Just wants to know what to look for in a convertible... and he got some decent answers, mostly about not opening the doors.

Maybe I should have put "IMHO" before I posted about overthinking... Maybe I should have contacted you first .... Maybe I should have started another thread about if this is overthinking or not.

All I know is it was a simple question that was answered and not looking for a "how to" on jacking cars.... and not convertibles at that.

So... I just overthought this... I honestly see your point though... I don't see the "do a search" responses on this site, but I do see the "read the FSM" often, and often I know the FSM doesn't address the problem anyway... That annoys me. The FSM is an excellent source, but not everything is covered.

I wasn’t meaning to single you out as one who gives those type of responses . I think you got the jist of what I was trying to say. It’s a discussion forum. If we discuss and sometimes debate things, we come up with ideas that the FSM didn’t cover or take into consideration for cars that are old or have sat for many years.
Just once I wish we could be like the Cartwrights! Lol

 

[rags]

this is how i lift it now.

cut to the chase and get yourself a lift while you're still young. note: the lift that Big John bought for his garage is a no brainer for anyone that has reservations about buying a lift. i'll let him tell you about it if he so chooses.

 

[Triple Pickle]

this is how i lift it now. View attachment 583378 cut to the chase and get yourself a lift while you're still young. note: the lift that Big John bought for his garage is a no brainer for anyone that has reservations about buying a lift. i'll let him tell you about it if he so chooses.

You get a commission each time you talk someone into buying one of these don’t you? :poke: