MOT stuff
- nigecapri
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MOT stuff
Beware when you take your car for a test, modern cars are designed to be jacked up under the sills, my regular place has a couple of younger guys on testing & a few weeks back one of them was about to jack my fully loaded fish van using the sills - two tons on a skinny bit of twenty year old bodywork steel would have probably made a mess. Same yesterday on my black 2.0 S - Chap slides the jack ends out under the sill either side. I always go in and watch them so I had the chance to offer advice on the suitable jacking points.
For the front end; jacking is fine under the engine cross-member, the chassis box-sections (rails,) or with a cupped-jack pad you can lift under the arb/radius arm bulge.
For the rear end; under the leaf spring clamp plates or under the axle tubes is good. Middle of the differential is easier but watch for the thin steel cover plate.
I'll tax it for May & promise to use it this year.
For the front end; jacking is fine under the engine cross-member, the chassis box-sections (rails,) or with a cupped-jack pad you can lift under the arb/radius arm bulge.
For the rear end; under the leaf spring clamp plates or under the axle tubes is good. Middle of the differential is easier but watch for the thin steel cover plate.
I'll tax it for May & promise to use it this year.
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Re: MOT stuff
It's amazing (horrifying) the number of younger generation MOT testers that don't have a clue with older cars. I bet this jacking issue is why so many Capris have the floor strengtheners mangled too.
Quite a few older cars need to actually be jacked on the front suspension for wear in balljoints to show up and a prize example was the Morris 1000/marina/Ital. If you didn't jack the front by the lower arms, wear in the bottom trunnions just wouldn't show up no matter how bad it was which was why you so often saw them by the roadside with a front wheel totally collapsed as the trunnion had jumped off its threads.
Quite a few older cars need to actually be jacked on the front suspension for wear in balljoints to show up and a prize example was the Morris 1000/marina/Ital. If you didn't jack the front by the lower arms, wear in the bottom trunnions just wouldn't show up no matter how bad it was which was why you so often saw them by the roadside with a front wheel totally collapsed as the trunnion had jumped off its threads.
- Andrew 2.8i
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Re: MOT stuff
Hi,
I find the best solution is to have my car tested by an old-school tester.
Andrew.
I find the best solution is to have my car tested by an old-school tester.
Andrew.
- D366Y
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Re: MOT stuff
Ditto, the garage I use just drive the car onto a ramp and lift the whole thing up rather than jacking it..Andrew 2.8i wrote:Hi,
I find the best solution is to have my car tested by an old-school tester.
Andrew.
Maybe it's because they know the jack will just go straight through the floor with all the rust??
Danny
A wise man once said... "you can never have too many capris - buy another"
It's me, I'm the wise man.
It's me, I'm the wise man.
- Peter-S
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Re: MOT stuff
It will still need jacking so they can check the wheel bearings etcD366Y wrote:Ditto, the garage I use just drive the car onto a ramp and lift the whole thing up rather than jacking it..Andrew 2.8i wrote:Hi,
I find the best solution is to have my car tested by an old-school tester.
Andrew.
Maybe it's because they know the jack will just go straight through the floor with all the rust??
Danny
- D366Y
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- Car(s): 1986 Laser 1.6, daily runaround project
1981 GL Auto 2.0, Barn-Find-Resto, now also a runaround project
1980 3.0S, crash damage resto
1993 Fiesta 1.1
Currently full up and no more space but I still want a 2.8... - Location: Buckinghamshire
Re: MOT stuff
Fair point, I guess I'm too pre-occupied covering my eyes with my hands cowering in fearPeter-S wrote:It will still need jacking so they can check the wheel bearings etcD366Y wrote:Ditto, the garage I use just drive the car onto a ramp and lift the whole thing up rather than jacking it..Andrew 2.8i wrote:Hi,
I find the best solution is to have my car tested by an old-school tester.
Andrew.
Maybe it's because they know the jack will just go straight through the floor with all the rust??
Danny
A wise man once said... "you can never have too many capris - buy another"
It's me, I'm the wise man.
It's me, I'm the wise man.
- Andrew 2.8i
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Re: MOT stuff
Do what I do. Distract the tester by asking him questions when he gets to the bits you know are a bit dodgy!D366Y wrote:Fair point, I guess I'm too pre-occupied covering my eyes with my hands cowering in fear
Andrew.
- pbar
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Re: MOT stuff
To do that, mine lifts it further, whilst it's on the lift. Hope that makes sense!Peter-S wrote:It will still need jacking so they can check the wheel bearings etcD366Y wrote:Ditto, the garage I use just drive the car onto a ramp and lift the whole thing up rather than jacking it..Andrew 2.8i wrote:Hi,
I find the best solution is to have my car tested by an old-school tester.
Andrew.
Maybe it's because they know the jack will just go straight through the floor with all the rust??
Danny
- Peter-S
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Re: MOT stuff
So does mine, has some sort of sliding contraption that is part of the ramp but it still needs to be lifted from a strong point. The garage seem pretty careful about it but then I'm always watching!pbar wrote:To do that, mine lifts it further, whilst it's on the lift. Hope that makes sense!
- pbar
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Re: MOT stuff
Yes, sounds the same as my garage that, he usually lifts both sides together, i.e. so the rear of the car rises parallel.Peter-S wrote:So does mine, has some sort of sliding contraption that is part of the ramp but it still needs to be lifted from a strong point. The garage seem pretty careful about it but then I'm always watching!pbar wrote:To do that, mine lifts it further, whilst it's on the lift. Hope that makes sense!
Re: MOT stuff
The garage i use for m.o.ts is great, they are banger racers and sympathetic to older cars, not once have any of my cars been jacked up in the wrong place
Re: MOT stuff
Mine are grass track enthusiasts (racing, not actual grass path enthusiasts) and love their old Fords too.fordperv wrote:The garage i use for m.o.ts is great, they are banger racers and sympathetic to older cars, not once have any of my cars been jacked up in the wrong place
I'm the one who leaves all those shoes in the carriageway.