Removing wheels and axle stands

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tentacle

Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2017
Messages
38
Location
Leeds
Car
2013 C63 PP
I've read a lot of conflicting information about this over the last week or so - I was hoping to get some input just so I don't make a stupid mistake.

I want to take the wheels off my W204 C63 for detailing them and the arches. I have one of these trolley jacks which I purchased mainly because of the low-entry point and reviews at the time. However, I've been made paranoid about just supporting the car using it - it's not going to be a danger to myself, but I really don't want to drop the corner of my new car onto the floor. So I thought about picking up a pair of axle stands like these.

Here's the thing; I'm not sure how I feel about trying to get a trolley jack under the centre of the front/back and lifting one entire end at once. That and also, because the axle stands are not designed to fit into the jacking points on the Mercedes I'm concerned they may damage the sill. So would it be possible for me to jack the car using the trolley jack from the lifting points on the sills (there's a rubber puck on the jack so I'm happy it'll be okay) and then putting an axle stand under the...axle? This would mean I'd be doing one corner at a time but I'm alright with that.

Or am I making this way more difficult than it needs to be?
 
I've not done this before, but if it were me I'd just use the trolley jack you have got to lift the wheel a few mm clear of the ground, no more. Remove the wheel and then stick some breeze blocks under the car at a suitably solid point (axle is as good as anywhere, no?) and pack up tight with some timber) so that if the jack does fail it won't go anywhere. I don't think you need to do anymore than that, unless you are going under the car in which case it's a whole different ball game and you need to be a lot more careful for your own safety.

Someone will probably be along shortly to flame me, but I can't see you would need to do much more than that. Just do one wheel at a time.
 
I think there should be a jacking point at the front that you can safely use to l;ift the front end then iuse the stands on each side. The diff can be used for the same at the rear.
 
I've not done this before, but if it were me I'd just use the trolley jack you have got to lift the wheel a few mm clear of the ground, no more. Remove the wheel and then stick some breeze blocks under the car at a suitably solid point (axle is as good as anywhere, no?) and pack up tight with some timber) so that if the jack does fail it won't go anywhere. I don't think you need to do anymore than that, unless you are going under the car in which case it's a whole different ball game and you need to be a lot more careful for your own safety.

Someone will probably be along shortly to flame me, but I can't see you would need to do much more than that. Just do one wheel at a time.
Breeze blocks?

Just buy axle stands, use items for the job they were designed for.
 
I think there should be a jacking point at the front that you can safely use to l;ift the front end then iuse the stands on each side. The diff can be used for the same at the rear.

There is supposed to be a jacking point at the front of the car, yes - but the whole point of this post is that I'm not sure the jack I've got will go under the car as it's quite low and I'm not 100% I want to then put axel stands under the jacking points if they aren't the correct Mercedes type with the square rubber bung on the top... Have you done it this way before?
 
Wow! Make a job difficult for yourself..

First familiarize yourself with the underneath of your car.. your looking for something substantial and heavy like a subframe mount usually behind the front wheels at the rear the same again, look for where the trailing arms connect to the floor of the car, usually a large bushing or knuckle, do not lift by the shaft of the axle you risk putting a slight bend on the shaft and create all sorts of mayhem ..

Here are some links to give you some pointers:

How To Lift Your Vehicle With A Trolley Jack & Axle Stands

How to Lift a Car Using a Trolley Jack

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There's pads for axle stands near the jacking points.
This.
Buy pads to go between axle stands and jacking points.
Put jack under car. - I'd do the front first, then the rear, because in my experience when you tip the car forward you lose more entry than if you tip it back (does that make sense?).
Lift it up, and put the axle stands under the jacking points (or any other appropriate support point).
Gently lower the jack.
Realise you mistake and put the car back on the ground so that you can crack the wheel bolts.
Put it back in the air so you can take the wheels off.
 

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