Kudos to this thread

Thanks for the photos Minidrivr!

i have the griot's jack stands and it has a flat top where the jack point box thingie fits perfectly.
no need for any adapters.

I will be doing some work on the car over the summer that will need to have the car up on 4 stands a lot. I just looked under the car and felt around and i saw some things I needed to clear up. Part of the subframe feels as though it is Styrofoam, is that just the undercoating? I have some questions as to where the best place would be to use the 2X4 jack method

The red arrow shows the part of the subframe that really feels like its not a solid piece of frame like the rest of the car, yet that could just be because of the undercoat.

The blue arrow points to a place the 2X4 could sit...is this a good place or will it damage the undercoat?

The green is the sill...it is plastic, but it sits right against the subframe...is this a better spot, or does it risk cracking? Would it be better to use the subframe part right in front of it?



By the way this is an R56, i don't know if the sills are different or not

If you are going to jack under the sills you will always be risking them breaking. Some have gotton away with this method for quite some time. I prefer to jack off of the jacking points.
Steve

My problem is I want to get the car on 4 stands so I have to jack on a different spot so I can get the stands on the jack points. Do you know if as long as I use a couple foot 2X4 along the subframe I'll be ok? Does the subframe feel like Styrofoam because of the undercoating?
The blue arrow is where I'm really hoping to be able to use to get the car up and then get the stands under the jack points

checkercoop
See post #10. Using this method the car is sitting on four jackstands and you have only used the jacking points for lifting and supporting.
Steve

[quote=checkercoop;2120654]My problem is I want to get the car on 4 stands

Life is full of risks.

I've used the 2x4 under the sill literally DOZENS of times, with no problems... yet... I would NOT do this with aero sills. But with the stock R50/52/53 sills and a sufficiently long 2x4, I don't see any danger...

[QUOTE=THE ITCH;2120802]checkercoop
See post #10. Using this method the car is sitting on four jackstands and you have only used the jacking points for lifting and supporting.
Steve

Oh ok I see...Is the 4X4 strong enough not to snap in the middle while you lift it? Would it be a good idea to get a smaller black to place in between the gap that is left by the 4X4 and sill to unsure the 4X4 doesn't break?

If you do that, it will be WORSE than just using the 2x4 on the sill... most of the weight will be transferred to the smallest contact spot in the middle...

checkercoop
The 4x4 is plenty strong enough for our cars. The span is only a little over 4'.
I see no signs of the 4x4 bowing while jacking and once you get to the height you want the jack stands go right under the jacking points.
Steve

[quote=checkercoop;2121741]

I will try this method next time. The sill method 2 x 4 lift worked just fine but I think this idea sounds better.

Ok so you can just jack it up right in the center to left the whole side of the car or should it be tried closer to the front or rear jack to do one section at a time? Does the 4X4 bend a lot when you lift it? Sorry I'm just paranoid about it snapping haha


Yeah same here

There is just something sexy about that wheel-less MINI hangin' in the air.

Just used the 2X4 method (again) to get my R52 ('05 cabrio) up on 4 jack stands. No worries. I've jacked the car this way several times, placing the wood just aft of the front jacking point and centering the jack itself in the middle of the sill, and it seems fine. NOTE: not sure if it;s this way with every model, but the cabrio has diagonal stiffener bars a few inches in front of the aft jack pod, so my board is cut slightly shorter than the distance between the jack points - it fits between the front jack pod and the big bolt holding that stiffener rod. The plastic trim flexes a small amount (1/4" maybe?) but not nearly enough to crack it.

i have a R53 and lift the car behind the front factory jack point where
you see a verticle rail that goes down the side of the car. it's partically
covered with side molding plastic. ive been using that location number
of times. best to have a hydraulic with a larger flat platform to spread
the weight.

then i just place the car on the griot's jack stands at the factory jack
points. no issues for me.

randywebb during one of the pulley installs used my car as a demo
and he too used the same area to lift the car.

fyi, griot's is having a sale on their jack stands. only $39.99 for the pair.

looks like they're out of the pads, but don't need them for the R53's.

Thanks again for this page of pics on getting the MINI on 4 jackstands

My son&wife came to town with their '07. He wanted to rotate the tires. I'm fine with the stock jack for that, so we went through the replace-front-tire-with-spare/move from front to back/swap there/return-to-front routine. very educational for a young chap as I sat sipping coffee and giving directions. Finished one side (carefully torqued to 100lb-ft) and were half done with the other when we discovered that a jacking-point was missing. Just an empty square where it should have been. Consternation!
BUT a quick trip to the internet led me to this thread. I scrounged up a foot-long 2x4 and dragged an antique floor jack off the shelf. I checked the plastic molding and sure 'nuf it's tight to whatever's under it, so we held our breath and finished the job. We checked the molding when we were done and couldn't see any sign that it had supported the car. One of the molding attachment screws made an impression on the 2x4.
My son&wife took the chunk of 2x4 with them for their trip home, just in case. I'm sure their MINI dealer will be quick to install the jacking point that's missing.
So, to BlimeyCabrio et al.: Thanks. I just might go buy myself a 2x4. And maybe some oil for that leaky old jack.

How about on an R50? Suggestions?

Same approach as the R52. Except easier because you don't have the extra cabrio under-braces in the way.

+1 Thanks for the pics Blimey I will be using this method next time. Just bent the crud out of my stock jack trying to get jack stands out from under my car . P.S. does anybody use low profile ramps?

rhino rqamps work great.

Given the flex in a 2x4, it doesn't matter whether it is a 1' or 4' long as the wood is so much more flexible than the sill. The long piece of wood may give you the appearance it is distributing the load across its length, but it's not because the wood is so weak compared to the sill. You'd need something at least as stiff as the sill to do any significant load distribution.

I'll stick to the jacking points.

- Mark

The frame of the R53 is plenty stiff to use the 2x4 method. No, its not 100% load distribution, but it spreads it out plenty. There is a ledge you can slide the 2X4 up to on the R53; this insures you're on the rail (the same rail the jack point is on). I actually think it makes more sense, if you're lifting the whole car, to jack here rather than the front jack point anyway. I've lifted both front and rear from the front jackpoint, and the car creaks and groans-I really don't like having the car up that far forward; IMHO that puts more stress on the side rails than lifting from the middle. It makes far less noise, and seems much more stable.

When I put the 2x4 under, I cheat a little more toward the front of the car--there is more weight up there, and the car comes up more symmetric if I go this way (Much more symmetric than using the jackpoint).

I think the jackpoint is fine, if you're only getting one wheel off the ground, but if you want to get both off the ground, I'm much more comfortable with the 2x4 than the jack points. Try getting both wheels off with the front jack point, then try the 2x4 method--you'll see what I mean; you really have to get the car up on that front point to do it; that jackpoint is now a fulcrum with a hell of a lot of weight on it. Now try the 2x4; you won't have to jack up as nearly as high, putting less stress on the frame. It makes more sense to lift both sides from the middle, rather than from either end, if your goal is to get both wheels off the ground.