Crunch goes the side sill....

[Viperguynick]

So, after picking up a handy-dandy new low profile, rapid pump jack, I just had to try it out to see how much more quickly it would lift the viper off the ground... I got down and situated the jack pad under the drivers-side rear jacking point. Then brought the pad up to the loop. Stood up, pumped barley once and felt the whole car slide off the jack and heard CRUNCH! I literally didn't want to look at it at all. I am not sure what happened, if the jack something blocking the wheels from rolling while the car was going up, or if it just was poorly situated on the loop (looked fine from underneath). rear of the sill is quite bent, although not noticeable from the side. I will be pulling the sill off tomorrow to assess the damage. I have jacked this thing up at least 20 times before with no issues, until now. Just a reminder to always triple, hell, quadruple-Check your jack under the car...

Nick

 

[plumcrazy]

sorry to hear this but good reminder. hope it works out

 

[KNG SNKE]

So, after picking up a handy-dandy new low profile, rapid pump jack, I just had to try it out to see how much more quickly it would lift the viper off the ground... I got down and situated the jack pad under the drivers-side rear jacking point. Then brought the pad up to the loop. Stood up, pumped barley once and felt the whole car slide off the jack and heard CRUNCH! I literally didn't want to look at it at all. I am not sure what happened, if the jack something blocking the wheels from rolling while the car was going up, or if it just was poorly situated on the loop (looked fine from underneath). rear of the sill is quite bent, although not noticeable from the side. I will be pulling the sill off tomorrow to assess the damage. I have jacked this thing up at least 20 times before with no issues, until now. Just a reminder to always triple, hell, quadruple-Check your jack under the car...

Nick

Geez man you gotta be careful. Those side sills are expensive. On a side note your car left some oil behind on the dyno so you might want to check it out.

 

[Viperguynick]

yeah, that was part of the reason for jacking it up. I replaced the oilpan gasket a little while ago and I don't think I put a good enough bead of RTV along the timing cover up front. I need to drop that back down. I plan on taking the sill off and just using a body-hammer and anvil to straighten it back out. They are messed up on the bottom from the previous owner anyway (paint-wise). so I plan on having them, and the fascia resprayed this winter. So as long as I can get it straightened out a bit for now, I will just have the bodyshop re-form it when they paint.

Nick

 

[eucharistos]

awe man i felt your pain as i read your post

hope it buffs out

 

[ViperTony]

Sorry to hear this. Been there myself fortunately not with the Viper.

 

[Viperguynick]

I just can't figure out how it happened... the only thing I can think of is if one of the four metal pieces that comes up surrounding the rubber pad, must have been on the perpendicular edge of the jack-point and it just slipped... oh well, guess that means it's just time to get a lift! jack it up on all four points at once = no slipping!

Nick

 

[KNG SNKE]

Be careful straightening it out, these side sills don't really go back into place. You will likely make it worse.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

I did the same thing. It was underneath so I didn't worry about it.

 

[DrumrBoy]

I take the rubber thing off (it usually breaks anyway); it seems like it can mask the effect of a not-so-flat/stable interface between the jack and the loop. If its not visible from the side, don't worry about it for now....fix it when you have time or when you change the exhaust and have it off anyway.

 

[WOT!]

Bummer Nick!

Like they said, not so easy a fix. You could end up just making things worse. Let me know if I can help. In the meantime I will keep an eye out for a replacement for you.

 

[Viperguynick]

Thanks everyone. Luckily it really only bent up on the flat bottom surface at the very rear of the sill. Got it flattened back out enough that it is barely noticeable. The only reason I can still tell is because there is a small scrape where the metal of the jack hit the paint. Had it been in one of the more complex curves of the sill, I could definitely see it being difficult or impossible to get back into shape, luckily it wasn't.

Nick

 

[AFL in NJ]

Like the rest of us, the next time you get the front fascia painted, get the side sills done as well and its gone at that point.

Regards,
Aaron

 

[1buddyc]

Tough to read but sounds like you got out of the problem with as little damage as was possible..