61 rear jacking point(s) for changing a tire / pulling onto a trailer

[twdeckard]

Greetings,

I have reviewed the historical posts and I am still not clear on the preferring back lifting point(s) for a '61 if you to had to change a rear tire on level ground.
I have a harbor freight hydraulic floor jack and a pair of jack stands,

Also, if you were having the car pulled up onto a flatbed is there a preferred place to pull from? What would you advise the tow operator?

Starting to stretch my legs a bit with the new car and need to consider some of the roadside practicalities.

Best
Todd

[Alan H. Tast]

Do you have an Owner's Manual or factory shop manual? If not, get these NOW! Between the two, they'll show or provide instructions as to where jacking "hard points" are located, and should also include information on where it was recommended for old-style 'sling'-type wreckers to attach to the front structure. Otherwise, common sense should be enlisted to have an idea where to place a floor jack and lift.

For the rears, jacking from the underside of the differential/rear axle and supporting the car on jack stands should be doable, but if you've got bad springs and the body sags, you may also have to block up and support off the bottom of the rear bumper to get enough clearance to pull off a wheel/tire combination. Remember, bumper jacks that were provided with the cars lifted from the outside corners, and the ratchet assembly typically had to go nearly the whole way up the jack shaft to fully lift a wheel off the ground. On the fronts, placing the jack on the body supports where the lower suspension arms are bolted to the body should offer a sturdy point to work from, with jack stands placed to contact the front underbody structure as far outboard as you can to support the car's weight. Others can offer their anecdoes of where they prefer to place jacks and jack stands.

Long story short is you don't want to chain up to the front bumper, suspension arms, stabilizer bar or struts from the frame to the lower control arms - pulling on those can distort the components and mean you'll be doing more repair work than you bargained for. Attaching to the body structure, such as the tubular crossmember under the engine or the front crossmember under the radiator, would depend on how much clearance you have to get under the car and sling the cables and hooks.