my crossmember is dented from jacking up the car, and the 2 stand locations on the front of the car(next to the door) are... well flatened against the car .

sooo...... is this a large problem my frame's still straight but when i let the car down today after repairing an exhaust leak with the help of a friend with a welder, the camber was real f'd up( extreme positive camber and about 2" higher but it has since settled to it's original height)

any input is appreciated

 

How did you dent the cross member. That thing is tough.

 

Can you grab some pictures? I have never seen a cross member dent from a jack before.

 

i cant post pics now mabey tomorrow, but i assure you it's quite dented it has a crater in the middle

 

ayeee..
that sucks.

 

As to the camber issue; I've noticed that effect on a lot of stock older cars after jacking and then lowering. Bouncing the front a couple times usually normalizes it.

I always just figured it was a consequence of the long stock travel on the front arms -- the tires hit the ground well before taking up load, and are at the bottom of their arc, so they are closer together. Takes some force to get them to slip back out to normal stance. Our cars are pretty light.

 

I never use the stock jack locations under the front doors or under the rear from quarter. They can be too weak if the rockers have rusted at all.

I put the jack stands under the rear contol arm pivot and the front frame member joint just before its starts to curve up. These are pretty strong areas and not as likely to crush under the weight of the car.

I can't imagine how hard an impact is required to dent the crossmember like that. Definitely show us some pics.

 

I suspect the dented crossmember is from running over something as opposed to jacking there. I jack there all the time and have yet to dent it. As our cars get older and rustier the crossmember and differential are the safest places to jack from.

 

well it isnt denting anyworse and my steering is unaffected.. so whatever caused it atleast it isnt degrading further..... hey atleast im getting the re-speed rack and pinon kit so new cross member for me

 

It takes a lot to dent that crossmember but it happens. I came around a corner about 2 months ago and in the middle of the road was a large boulder. I did not have to time to move out of the way nor hit the brakes. I ran it over and it smashed the crossmember and the oil pan. Luckily the oil pan did not puncture and leak. :-)