I'm thinking of getting my alloys refurbished but don't have a spare set to use in the meantime. I have 4 axle stands and was thinking of propping the car up on these while the wheels are off being done.

Would this be ok? I tend to jack the rear off the diff. I was thinking of running wood under the car and resting the car on top of the wood so the stands dont mash up the underside of the car.

 

just make sure the working area is flat not on a sloap.

 

When the stands go through the floor with rust, that's too long!!

 

I was going to say you could pretty much leave it on stands for ever, but that's a far better answer!

 

You may laugh but when I was at college I had a friend with a beaten up old proton POS! He was trying to change a tyre and was jacking it up and up and up but the car wasnt moving! It turned out he missed the jacking point and was pushing the jack through the rust in the passenger foot well!!

Any way back on topic. As said above as long as the ground is flat and the stands are secure you should be fine for as long as you need to leave the car on them.

 

Edd axle stands will be fine if you are bothered about them marking the underside of the car just lay some old bits of carpet over the top of them.

 

One quick question guys. The OP said he was going to jack the car up by the diff, is this ok? I've always avoided it myself.

 

Yip, I always jack up the back with the rear diff.

 

I think that quite a few people jack up the rear using the diff. Whether or not it's a good idea is a different matter

Anybody got pictures of the points that they stick their axle stands? I always just use axle stands for safety whilst holding the car up using a jack, mainly because I'm not sure if my stands are in the right place to hold the full weight

 

Was old that the diff at the back was a good place to jack it up. I use a square piece of wood between the jack and the diff to spread the load a bit