learn a little about your car before lifting it

[JRas]

I've decided to make this thread to attempt to educate people on the design of their cars. It's come to my attention that people don't know, that their cars DO NOT have an frame-rails. The 240sx is a unibody meaning all the structural strength is from the external skin.

to read more about this structural design I recommend reading the link below:
Monocoque - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



these long beam type things that come down the middle of the car are called side members as you can see from the picture. This is not a frame-rail like most assume.. these are not designed to be lifted from under any circumstance.

you may ask where should I lift my car from than? from the front cross-member or rear differential. Anywhere else, and you are risking the chance of damaging the chassis.

where should I place my jack stands? again in the picture it is shown and labled "Safety stand points" but it's not as specific as I'd like it to be.



the factory service manual recommends you use a saftey stand adapter on top of your saftey stand. this is basically a rubber block with a slit/groove down the middle. This slit or groove is where the pinch weld that run down the the sides of your car lays into. I recommend you find this adapter or get jackstands that are notched to properly seat these pinch welds.

I'm hoping you guys learned something and that I see less threads about someone damaging their cross-members.

feel free to post questions and comments