Alternative rear lifting/jacking points on W124
 

I know this has been discussed, including in my last thread on my collapsed jackpoint, but I wanted to collect opinions on proper jacking of the 124's rear. In my case, at the moment, I cannot use the driver's side jackpoint because of rust damage. I have done a search, and have heard a lot of people suggest jacking it up by the car by the diff, then putting stands under the subframe mounts ... but I also saw a couple of caveats that lifting by the diff should not be done on a 124. I know what's OK on a 123 is not always OK on a 124, so I wanted to be clear.
Bottom line: I can easily and safely jack up the front of this car, but for some reason, that particular rear jackpoint is a disaster. I need to do the driveshaft flex discs and center bearing, and at some point soon I need to do the diff bushings. Is it OK to lift the butt of this car by the diff or is that a no-no? What else can I lift it by? And where should I put the supports?
Or do I have to learn how to weld really, really soon?
I know some of this is running over what people have already said or suggested, but I just wanted a 124-specific rundown of safe lifting points. Thanks.

I would not lift from the diff. if I did not have too. .

I think that you could do it once or twice, but not every day.

This past week for my rust repair I was able to jack the car from the rear lift pads, but I needed to place the jack-stands elswhere. So I put them on either side of the diff.

how bad are your rears?? (rust wise)
could you use a piece of wood to spread the load (like 18" 2x4). . just an idea

The pass side rear looks pretty darn good, I can use that one just fine. The drivers side, yuck. (You can tell they dump most of the salt in the middle of the road here). I could carefully lift with the bad jackpoint ... I just wouldn't trust it to support the weight of the car for an extended period of time with me under it. I just bought a nice floor jack and could lift it with that. So you put the stands on the subframe?

yes I did. on either side of the diff.

on the drivers side, it was a tight squeeze next to the exhaust pipe. but it all fit.

Why not lift from the differtial
 

I think and will continue to think that it is a perfectly fine place to lift the car. It is not very stable though, so before you do any work it has to be stabilized. My 124 has those hard rubber bumpers located near the jack points and I use those also for jacking and stabilization. That differential is hung in there pretty solid and I think it is in there as solid as on the W123.

If you don't need to remove the wheels - why not ramps? Do the wheels need to come off for working on the drive shaft?

Make sure you have a spotter, chock it, and you should be okay.

I prefer jackstands, but if you're jacking points are suspect, then you gotta do what you gotta do.

When I did the 240D's driveshaft, I recall needing to turn it to get at all the bolts. Maybe that won't be the case on this car, as the bolts aren't as rusty (most parts of this car are pretty clean, actually ... just not the rockers:( ). Ramps are probably worth considering though ... if nothing else I can at least change the ugly-looking exhaust hangers!

... so ... here's what I've done:
http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._5547902_n.jpg
I found the damaged jack point was fine to put a floor jack under ... just not with the crank. So I jacked it up with the floor jack and put these under the frame. I'll just lift a wheel with a floor jack if I need to turn the driveshaft. I also left a floor jack and a bottle jack under the jack points for backup support.
Thoughts? Should I dive under this? I gave it a shove and it didn't budge. Looks pretty secure and gives me plenty of room.

You wouldn't be I'm sure, but make sure nobody is under it when/if you jack up a trailing arm to lift the wheel/tire off ground. That can be enough to disturb your jack stands at a certain point.....

I tried jacking up the wheel (without being under the car) and it seemed to be fine. Rest of vehicle didn't budge.:) All I did today was drop the exhaust and remove the exhaust shield, then I had to go to work. Hopefully it won't be too wicked out to get the rest done tomorrow. Even in the garage, this upcoming nasty winter storm is gonna be a PITA.:(

That's looks good to me. Just how I had my car jacked for the rust repair at the Jack points.

Give the car a good shake (with nobody under it) if your worried.

Were you one of those thousands of crazy people at the grocery stores tonight? Holy crap, I've never seen such a madhouse (I was in North Carolina, I just needed a quart of oil). You'd think a meteor was about to hit the earth.

I think you'll be fine with the way you have it pictured.

Nah. I went out for a coffee before work but avoided the grocery store. I don't really understand the rush-the-grocery-store mentality ... I mean, don't people regularly keep food in their house? I honestly think some people just enjoy the "sport" of a pre-storm store stampede.:P

Hopefully I can brave the cold/wind to work on the car in the garage, but if not, I have a couple indoor projects to keep myself busy with.:D

Perfectly safe
 

Perfectly safe to jack from under the dif, then place jack stands either under hydraulic lift points, cross member, and/or solid structure where control arms pivot.

I've owned numerous European cars, domestics, Japanese, and Korean imports. Done everything from changing clutches, removing drive lines, transfer cases, differentials, control arms, wheel assemblies, and replacing bushings, mounts, bearings, flex discs, ball joints, etc, etc....
And always have jacked it up from under the dif with no issues.

Different car, but this shows typical jacking points

http://members.roadfly.com/captain_w...ack_points.jpg

first off, this is an OLD thread, and the situation is controlled with the OP, she's even rebuilt entirely the rear subframe...

secondly, you are WRONG!
the 124's differential has two very fragile mounts that will fail immediately if you jack with the diff...
however, there is a substantial steel crossmember behind the diff, that is safe to jack on.