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I cannot bring myself to lift the front or the rear of a 240 as Autozone recommends. I know that it is done this way all day long by every pimple-faced tire-changer who can get his hands on a floor jack, but they do it out of convenience not workmanship.
I have had a 240 front "crossmember", really engine support/suspension locating bracket, in my hands more than once and judging by the gage of the material and the structural design, I fail to see how it was ever intended to bear from below at least half of the total weight of a 240. I can see how it is meant to take the minor weight of the engine and how it serves as an element in tension to keep the control arms in place, but nothing more.
The overhung load which is applied to the rear axle whenever the car is lifted by a floor jack under the pumpkin also gives me pause. I think that if anyone would bother to measure the deflection of the rear axle under this manner of loading, they might be really surprised.
Until someone can quote chapter and verse from a Volvo factory service document which recommends lifting a 240 in such a manner, I will continue to lift a 240 from the jacking pads or as closely as possible to where the sprung weight of the car is applied to the suspension components.
Rich
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