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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Jacking rear end?

Hi All,

r is for richard, sorry.

Been lurking here for a while and found so much usful info, thanks to you all!

Now I have a question I hope someone can help me with. What is the best/most successful/safest way to jack the rear end of a 1500? I have a trolly jack and 2 axle stands but have never really managed to feel safe about the location of the the stands or the jack.

I'm wary of lifing the car with the trolly jack under the diff housing, its a lot of weight on a +30 year old casting. Will it be OK?

Next is where is best to put the stands? Front spring mounts? If i get them under the axle they are quite close to the middle and thats where I want to be! Is there anywhere else?

Thanks.....
r parker

I've never had a problem lifting the rear of a car using the axle center section. Unless you have a lot of corrosion on the housing it should be fine. If you want to lift both sides at once it's the best balanced location you'll find. Locating the stands is mostly determined on what you need access to. If I'm working on the rear suspension I usually place the stands just outboard of the front spring hangers and use a small bit of plywood to help spread the load from the uneven top of the stands, or some have non slip rubber covers for this purpose. Where ever you mount the stands, make sure that the car is quite stable before getting under it. I usually give the car a bit of a nudge to see if there is any movement. If you don't need access to the rear springs then I usualy place the stands directly under the axle brackets. Make sure that the front is chocked to prevent the car from rolling forwards or backwards and you should be fine.
Bill Young

The axle housing itself is not cast. The insert is, but you are not jacking on that. Besides, even the 1500 is not THAT heavy ;-)

As far as the jackstands, I put mine under the point at which the springs attach to the axle housing unless I will be removing the axle (in which case I use those front spring mounts you mentioned).
David "not gonna say it" Lieb
David Lieb

always have lifted mine using a trolley jack under the diff. Don't know about the 1500 system but on my 1275 it is prudent to jack up the front too. . the oil dribbles out of the front of the ribcase gearbox when it's stationary
David Cox

I do as above but for no inexplicable reason like to have a bit of cloth between the jack and the bottom of the casing. I don't like the idea of jacking metal against metal.
Gary Lazarus

guys, guys, you are over thinking this!

1) as David pointed out, the housing is a stamping. Not cast.

2) the best jacking point for any solid rear axle car is right under the pumpkin (this point is balanced, right to left).

3) oh, since the drain plug IS a casting, and jacking under the differential here means lifting the car by pushing up at the drain plug, then, OK, we are jacking it up on a "casting". :D

4) the 1500 and 1275 use the same rear axle housing (from the A30, actually).

By the way, in the 20 years I've owned and worked on this midget, plus all the years before that with Amurican RWD cars, jacking up there (under the drain plug) has always worked fine and never caused a problem for me yet! (admittedly, some of them had the drain plug over on one side)


Norm "drain plug" Kerr

Norm Kerr

I all ways use a block of wood...2x6 about 6 inches long between the jack and what ever im jacking up.

one thing i found is 2 2x4 screwed togather about a foot longer on each side of the car....place it in front of the rear wheels jack it up, and place jack stands on each side and it make a really stable car to crawl under...something I truly hate doing.

Prop
Prop

as usual prop is over doing it ;P
Onno Könemann

I like most of the above have always used the axle on most rear wheel drive cars and put the stands on the axle also if not removing it. However one word of warning if you have wire wheels and square arches, once you jack up on the axle there is insufficient clearance to remove the wheels although they will come off if you let the tyres down.

Trev
T Mason

Im over doing it?

Its not that much work to do what I outlined above...Now getting the rearend of the car off my chest after it falls off the jack staands IMHO is Over doing it...LOL

But thats just me

Prop...Im sure im not alone in saying that crawling under the midget is the hardest job we alll face.
Prop

it had to happen

I agree with the Propster

jack at the back axle with a bloc of compatible wood

and stop it from dropping on your boko with axle stands
bill sdgpm

Thanks All

Now to go and find what is going 'clonk' occasionally as I set off from standstill.

I'm thinking it might be spring bushes or linkages that need some form of lube

Any other suggestions to check while I'm there?
r parker

Another vote for jacking on the centre of the axle (mines a 1500, not that it makes any difference). I didn't like the idea of jacking it on the drain plug so I got a ice hockey puck & drilled a hole half way through it with a ~20mm? spade bit. the puck it good at holding the load and sparing your axle paint and the hole means you actually are lifting the axle, not the drain plug. I only drilled half way cos I then flip it over if I've jacking something flat, like the modern car sill. I popped into the local ice hockey shop & told the guy what it was for & he gave me a 'display' one used to hold up a skate in the window - result! Gotta be one of the best value tools I've got!

As has been mentioned, chock your front wheels or it'll go walkies! I usually put the axle stands where people mentioned above, on the axle itself if poss, under the body if not. When I re-built the rear spring box I put a piece of 18mm ply across the underside of the tunnel and put a stand there, useful extra location, I found. Obviously don't just use one axle stand...!
-Craig
C Robertson

jacking on the diff drain plug has always slightly worried me but I can't get a decent block of wood in the gap between jack and diff. I had a bit of a nightmare the other day with front and rear both up on stands. I let the back down first and thoroughly wedged the trolley jack under the petrol tank. There wasn't enough room to be able to pump it back up again. My better half was out in car with scissor jack so that was no good. Thank goodness for those long bits of 2x4 that I've been hoarding much to my wife's chagrin. They make great levers in an emrgency!
Matt 1275 Bucks

Richard. Clonking could be prop shaft UJs or if you have wire wheels worn splines, axle U bolts. Sometimes these things take a while to find.

Bernie.
b higginson

Richard

(ITS LOOKING LIKE BEING ONE OF THESE THREADS*)

If the clonk sounds as if it is coming from just behind your right (or passenger's left) shoulder blade, check (with big spanners) the tightness of the lever arm shockers where they bolt to the metal web frame inside the wheel arch

I had just that after my rebuild, turned out the shocks had been stopped from tightening up to plain metal by some of the factory underseal getting between the shock and the metal triangle, hence a very loud clonky clatter at times

Extra heaving up with two big spanners and suddenly it was "Silent running" on power take up and ripply roads


* THESE THREADS

these are the ones where all the basic knowlege we have between us gets lifted to the surface

somebody should put 'em in Wiki
bill sdgpm

Bill, you're right, it's going to be one of those threads!

I also had a mysterious clonk...seemed like it was right under my butt (LHD 1500), sometimes on take off, sometimes when I hit a bump.

It ended up being the left hand leaf spring front mounting bracket had worked itself loose over the years...tightened it up & the clonk the was gone.

I've since put the car up on jack stands & replaced ALL suspension bushings front & rear, serviced the shocks & tightened EVERY nut & bolt I could find...all the tightening really transformed the little beast...it's no a pleasure to drive!
Dave Rhine ('78 1500)

Right, thanks, its spanners out this weekend then, I'll give everything a tightening up!

Once again, thanks for the advice, basic or advanced this forum is great for all the help and humour on offer.
r parker

This thread was discussed between 17/03/2010 and 19/03/2010

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