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jacking up a 62 buick/impala. ??

3K views 12 replies 4 participants last post by  bullheimer 
#1 · (Edited)
ok so i dont have the original bumper jack for this pig, or else i guess that i wouldnt be posting. but is it normal for a car to be jacked up with a floor jack, and then have NO CLEARANCE to get the tire out of the wheel well? well that is the case with this car: i need the floor jack as well as my Handyman jack to just lift the body up enough when the tire is off the ground to get the wheel off. stock jacks for these are really way too much money. i guess unless you get a flat tire in a bad hood or the middle of nowhere.

it takes the kind with just a little tab fits into a small slot in the bumper. anybody know of any other kinds of cars whose stock jacks will fit? i have a neighbor with an impala, i'll go take a look and see. lesabres are about the same body as an Imp so if it fits the price of a jack will prolly be less.

news flash, impala not the same. at least l looked at a 63 SS i believe. not sure on my 62 vs 63's. but it didnt have a slot in the back bumper like my lesab... maybe airshocks. my shocks are shot anyway so i need new ones.
 
#2 ·
I assume you're talking about jacking up under the rear axle or front A-arm... and, yes, that often makes it hard to get the tire out...

I just jacked up a Jeep Cherokee today under the jack notch of the body using the jack from my '78 F150 (because he didn't have a jack) and even with a 2 x 6 under the jack, it wasn't quite high enough to get the repaired wheel/tire back on... I then tried the jack from my Crown Vic to lift the lower A-arm slightly also, but the vehicle was against a curb in front and the jack handle was to long to work it from the rear, it hit the body... but finally got it with a shorter handle...

You might carry some kind of small jack/scissors jack to use under the frame... I'd be concerned a bumper jack on an old car would get the bumper started rusting from that slot... the auto manufacturers were perfectly happy with the bumper rusting and you trading in for a new car...
 
#3 ·
just spotted one on the bay for $76 so that's cheap enough. the others i saw before were towards 2 bills. guess i shoulda went shopping before i posted. one guy on ebay does say his jack will fit chevys too but i dont know what.
 
#6 ·
Those '62 cars are full frame so you can put a floor jack under the frame rail at any point and will give you plenty of clearance to get the tire off.
I would only jack at a point of the frame where there is some reinforcement... and near the wheel... not in the middle of the vehicle where the frame is just a [ shape... the bottom lip of the frame may bend there... don't ask how I know that...
 
#7 ·
My 62 Olds has the same problem - if you jack under the rear axle, there is not enough clearance to remove the wheel and tire. Simply jack under the reinforced area where the lower control arms of the rear suspension attach to the frame. This is reinforced and allows the axle to droop for tire clearance.
 
#9 ·
I'M having trouble getting the stupid body high enough over the wheel to have the room to pull the tire out of it. thats why jacking the frame doesnt do any good. like i said maybe my clapped out shocks are the problem too. but i did order the damned jack from ebay for $70 something plus shipping so i think my troubles are going to be overwith as soon as it gets here, providing it goes up high enough off the ground!!
 
#13 ·
i'll figure it out but first want that junk factory jack to get here.

when i had my bronco with a 3inch body lift wheelin i cut a tire on the downhill side of the hill and had my handyman all the way up on it's last notch when the wheel came off the ground finally. you talk about crappin hickory nuts! made it out of there alive somehow!
 
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