Torquing bushings while the car is on jackstands

[Gareth Randall]

It’s always specified that suspension parts containing bushings shouldn’t be torqued until they have the weight of the vehicle on them, but once you’ve got the wheels back on the ground, access to some of those fasteners can be a real problem, or even flat-out impossible, if you don’t have an inspection pit.

I read somewhere that as an alternative to having the wheels on the ground, you can jack up the axle (or each individual wheel if you have independent suspension) until it’s back into the correct ride height relationship with the body with the springs compressed, and that’ll apply the same loading to the suspension as if the wheels were on the ground. Is that correct?

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[Richard Kirshy]

The theory is correct ..
But a safer method would be to lower the wheels on a solid support ( 4×4 stacks or such )
Then there is no worry of wrenching the bolts while resting on a jack.

[Caleb Stovall]

Jack stands is how I do it.

[James P Grosso]

I used to use wheel ramps (Front) and jack stands (solid rear axle), but now I have a 4-post lift 🙂

[Gareth Randall]

[quote=”nightflyr” post=176706]The theory is correct ..
But a safer method would be to lower the wheels on a solid support ( 4×4 stacks or such )
Then there is no worry of wrenching the bolts while resting on a jack.[/quote]

Just to clear up any ambiguity, the vehicle is still being supported by the jackstands under the frame. All the jack is doing is raising the axle (and compressing the springs) to replicate the loading of the wheels being on the ground.

I guess an alternative approach for solid-axle vehicles would be to place the jackstands under the axle tube, which would achieve the same result.

[Author]

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