Jacking up the car

[joejag308]

Some x308 members probably don't know there are certain procedures to take doing the most simple jobs yourself.
One job we all have had to do is the jacking up of the car itself,either by the jack provided with the vehicle or with a hydraulic type jack most of us seem to prefer these days.
The small hydraulic jacks are now cheap enough and small enough to have one in the boot.
However with an X308 there is a certain procedure to take just jacking the car up enough to change a wheel.
First get the car on as level a surface as possible.
Then unfasten the wheel nuts by hand (not using a windy tool in a garage) this also applies to any tyre companies you use.
Then the actual jacking up of the car itself
With a 308 there are critical suspension / torsion bushes either side of the "chassis" and if the jack goes anywhere near these it can throw the whole geometry out. An expensive job to have corrected.
So don't attempt to jack the car up under the box sections.
The jacking points must be used even with a hydraulic jack.
If these for some reason are not accessible then jack the car up under the coil springs
At all times whenever possible use an axle stand to make extra sure of stability when working with the wheels off.
Finally when replacing the wheel don't forget the stud holes will seem out of line and it will be difficult to line the studs up because of the locking wheel nut which is offset. Check where this nut position is, then line up your wheel from there. They can seem rather heavy if you miss first time.
The tightening up of the wheel use a torque wrench wherever possible or use a hand wrench to tighten on the nuts.....not a windy tool.
It all sounds complicated just to change a wheel but the cracking of an alloy wheel or the geometry having to be reset is quite an expensive job .........Joe

[TROY]

hi joejag
could i not jack the car up using the centre of the crossmember when jacking up the front lifting both front wheels up at once.then placing an axle stand under each of the front jacking points?
could i use this same method at the rear if i was to place the trolley jack under the bell housing of the rear axle?
regards troy.