Putting a W116 on stands

[Oversize]

Put the trolley jack under the front main crossmember first, using a piece of timber between the jack and the chassis. Jack the vehicle up and place on the stands, which should be positioned under the rear lower control arm support, where it is bolted to the chassis.

Place the trolley jack under the differential centre (using the timber again), with the jack handle off to the left (exhaust) side of the vehicle. Under the spare wheel well and it'll be very hard to move the jack handle and pump up the jack. Under the right (fuel pump) side and you risk damage to the pump & filter. The rear stands should be positioned under the subframe front (centre) mounting bolts. Don't just put them under the plates, as they're easily bent. The area around the front two bolts (where they bolt to the chassis) isn't that strong either.

In order to get the trolley jack under a 6.9, put the suspension in the high position, or drive it onto some small ramps (placed front & rear), around 80mm in height.

Placement of stands on any MB is fraught with danger and you risk significant vehicle damage, personal injury (or death) if it's not done properly. On a W116, here's where I'd suggest placement:

Front:





Rear:



Note that I use small pieces of timber to avoid damage and the potential for the stand to slip out of position. I'd highly recommend painting these points in bright orange, before you have anyone else use stands, or even a vehicle hoist. Otherwise your floor and sills could look like this (and this isn't too bad):

 

[Oversize]

And getting a 6.9 off the stands can be fun when the suspension's completely depressurized....

Rear first. Note that if the timber under rear wheels isn't at least 80mm high, your trolley jack will become trapped underneath the car and you'll need the standard sill jack to rescue it!





And then the front:



Proper timber ramps (with a flat section on top) would be better than just blocks 80mm high, as there's a bit of a jolt when the front and rear wheels drop off the blocks all at once....

 

[Tony66_au]

They are a tad tricky to raise up.

I saw somewhere some stands that use the jack tubes to hold the vehicle up in the air and ive been looking for these or the designs to the stands so i could replicate them for personal use.

Has anyone seen the close up or know where i could get some?

They also have a nice big footprint and look very stable under the cars.

 

[Lukas]

Thanks for posting - I have mulled over this issue somewhat myself, and come to the same conclusions as you. At the front, my stands have round supports which nicely match the control arm itself (not their housing).

I'd add not to use any other point of the control arm, as the whole arm can move (not bend) upwards due to flexible mounts.

Agree re the wooden blocks too - am making some up next weekend out of verandah post offcuts (90mm^2 timber).

At my pace of work, the suspension setting is irrelevant, as it will have lowered by the time the work is done.

 

[Styria]

Hi Mark, I have been wanting to reply to this post ever since whence you first posted. Then things got in the way, other matters came up and all the while the thread went further, and further down the gurgler. I can't believe it all goes back to January.

Yes, 6.9s can be tricky, and they require one to put a fair bit of thought into the possible repercussions and situations that you are likely to strike, as you are going along, especially if carrying out major work. I replaced the complete rear suspension round about the time of your thread and there was one major difficulty that I struck. Before I elaborate, the brief was to replace all trailing arm and rear subframe bushings, replace the drive shafts, fit replacement upper and lower mounts for the rear struts, and "service" the centre differential. I figured it was best to remove the whole lot as one unit (if feasable), clean and service all components, and paint prior to re-installation and, whereever possible, re-assemble components away from the car and then push the whole lot under, and attach to the car body itself. I have already covered some of this in another thread that I establishes some while ago, so I'll just talk about jacking the car properly (as you have done) without the jolly thing collapsing on top of you and turning your brains and bones into mincemeat.

There were two problems I encountered when jacking and working, and removing the rear suspension components. Naturally I locked the suspension by means of the disc on the distribution valve, and I also 'chocked' the front wheels on smooth concrete. I then proceeded to jack uip the rear under the differential (it has got that flat surface on the bottom of the diff housing), but then I needed to find an area where I could support the car body under..and that proved difficult because I needed to remove the rear cross member, so therefore I could not support the car body under those mounts. That proved troublesome because, due to the constant jacking and lifting, the front suspension started to gradually drop lower and lower, and the whole back went up higher and higher - not a good feeling. Initially, and almost as long as possible, I kept the trolley jack under the diff., and as a measure of some safety, I placed the road wheels under the sides of the car (roughly about the middle), with timber planks wedged beween wheels and body. Very, very tricky, and you keep on looking around to see to what extent the car is moving, and it is also surprising how heavy the body of the car is (even in the back), and how soft the chassis panels are. Maybe I can drag up some pics. Regards Styria

N.B. Unfortunately right now, I can't locate a photo to illustrate the height to which the rear of the car went up to - just a pic. of the components that were replaced.

 

[Styria]

They are a tad tricky to raise up.

I saw somewhere some stands that use the jack tubes to hold the vehicle up in the air and ive been looking for these or the designs to the stands so i could replicate them for personal use.

Has anyone seen the close up or know where i could get some?

They also have a nice big footprint and look very stable under the cars.

Hi Tony, regarding the round steel billets you are talking about. I had quite a number of those cut to length to fit into the jacking point tubes on the P^ Rover Sedans. A great idea, because you just jack up the car, and place stands under the steel tubes that obviously stick out the side. I suspect that you can't do this with the 116s because the jacking tubes go in at an angle and this could render the whole set-up as possibly quite unstable. Regards Styria

 

[Tony66_au]

This was why I wanted them fixed (The tubes or Rod) to a stand with a 2 foot footprint at a minimum, I would never use the tubes by themselves with axle stands.