This is the method I use on all my vehicles (even the lowriding vette)..back the car up rhino ramps at the rear, put floor jack under the frame crossmember under the engine, with car raised, put jack stands under chassis beams at firewall. works like a charm, ....quick, too.

Southern_Son,

Can you, or do you, do the opposite of the procedure you've described? I.E., driving forward onto the Rhino Ramps and then jacking the rear of the car and supporting it with jack stands. Would there be an advantage to doing it either way? Just curious. The ramp/jack stand combo seems like a great idea. Very simple too.

Primo

A problem I've had with ramps is if they are not on a rough surface like a nice smooth concrete garage floor the car just pushes them. I usually have some lumber to put against a wall to hold them.

I used to work with this guy who EVERY time he put a car up on ramps he went over. Every one of his cars had the body crunched.

My rhino ramps (wal-mart) are too tall to fit under the rocker panels, therefore I use the method of backing up them. The rhino's have a lip on the edge to help prevent over-shooting the ramp. I have, at times, used a cheap mirror (also, wal-mart) to prop up at the side to see the vehicle progress up the ramp. Also, the ramps have a large rubber foot to help prevent sliding across the floor. Hope this helps.

What worked for me for the past 5 years is first place the jack under the center front of the car (under a solid portion of the frame) and jack up the front end. Place two jack stands on both sides of the car. Lower the jack onto the jack stands. Then place the jack under the rear differential and jack up the rear of the car. Place two more jack stands on both sides of the car. Lower the jack onto the jacks stands.
You now have all four tires off the floor which makes it easy to rotate the tires.
Some safety pointers: make sure that the jack is rated to lift the entire weight of the car. Make sure that the jack is centered on the car. Never place your limbs under the car until it is lowered on the jack stands. Always work on a solid flat surface. I made the mistake once by lowering a car on jack stands which were placed on a blacktop driveway in the summer. The jack stands sunk into the blacktop a good inch.

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Ray
1998 Mercedes E320, 200K Miles
2001 Acura 3.2TL, 178K Miles
1992 Chevy Astro, 205K Miles

thanks aaron, do you have picture of the undercarriage that you can point out the places you are talking about? what kind of jack do you have?

Is that ok to jack up a mercedes with the independent rear suspension by the differential? On a rigid axel the differential is below the suspension and supports the weight of the car, MB doesn't.

I too would wonder if this would put too much stress on the differential mounts. Obviously they're designed to take a lot of stress. However, could this possibly lead to premature wear of these mounts? Anyone?

Primo

I usually do mine by a left right instead of the differential, but thats just the way I do it. I am not sure if it is better to do it form the center or the sides.

If it was my jeep or my other cars I had that had tube differentials, I would do it form the center.

Alon

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'92 300CE - Sold
2004 C240 - 744 - C7 Wheels - Android Radio
2002 C320 - 816 - Sport Wagon