MG-Cars.info

Welcome to our Site for MG, Triumph and Austin-Healey Car Information.

Parts

MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG MG Y Type - Front Jackall rams

Can the front rams of the Jackall system be removed for "service", without taking off the front mud guards?
From remembrance it seems to be a tricky job, if possible at ll....

Thank you
Anton Piller, YT 4220
Switzerland
Anton Piller

I'm also interested in the answer to this.
R Ades

Hi there,
Gosh, you should not scare me like that.
The front jacks for my YT are happily sitting in a box on the shelf, hoping one day to be re-united with the rest of the vehicle. (The body work is all finished, and the seats are away at the upholsterers. Still need to wire the dash.)
hence my concern.
So I rolled under the car, itself a significant effort for me, with one jack. And yes it can be inserted from below, That was the nearside jack , with a single pipe connection. Fits OK.
So to the other jack, which has a branched pipe connection. After a minor bit of wriggling, (the jack not me) it too fits.

I didn't try to fit the saddles and their bolts but I don't anticipate any problem, apart from my own physical limitations.
So the short answer is, at least mine can be fitted from within the mudguard space.

If you want, I'll try for pics. (maņana)

cheers KGM
K G Mills

KGM

Thank you for checking the set-up. Good idea to fit the jacks from below.

If you care to roll under the car again, please take some pictures. If possible to show the area of the inner wing :o)

thanks
Anton
Anton Piller

Hi Anton,
the first image is taken of the nearside mount. Camera is just behind the front wheel. You can see the small "tunnel" appendage in the guard that shrouds the jack. The saddle on the chassis has captive nuts. The retaining strap is not shown. The arrow is where the jack sits.
The second image shows, not very clearly, the upper ends of the two jacks. If you are a sympathetic viewer, you can make out he hydraulic pipe connectors, a steel one for a single connection , and a brass one for the pipe from the pump, that continues across the engine bay to the off side jack. Both connectors are taped off.
Hope it makes sense.
cheers KGM





K G Mills

KGM

Thank you for the photos. I wonder, if the front L/H Jack with its double hydraulic pipe connector will fit through the tunnel. Can you please verify this on your car, for me?
Probably tomorrow, I will start a new thread regarding the positions of the front and rear jacks. Hopefuly, someone with a complete system on his car can/will shed some light on the question, how far, off the ground, the jacks feet are fastened to the chassis.
Unfortunately my trolley jack packed up and I am waiting for delivery of a new one - thus I am a bit handicapped.

cheers
Anton
Anton Piller

Hi again Anton,
In an earlier post I wrote,
"So to the other jack, which has a branched pipe connection. After a minor bit of wriggling, (the jack not me) it too fits."

So yes, at least my jack fits.

And I too would be interested in the proper height to fix the jacks .


cheers KGM
K G Mills

From Archive thread of July 2012.

Front varies from 130 to 145mm from ground to retracted foot base, rear are 100 to 115mm. So there is a bit of play room.

I set my YT front ones so they did not protrude below lower suspension arm when car is stopped on level ground.

cheers Stuart
Stuart Duncan

Thank you KGM and Stuart, for your replies.

Regarding the different mounting positions of the front and rear Jacks, I will start a new thread - in the hope that the new title will attract additional interest and feedbacks.

greetings
Anton
Anton Piller

A good way to set the height (front and rear) is to have the car raised on a ramp, extend the ram fully then lower the car down and have the wheels about an inch (2.5cm) or so off the ground. It may take a couple of goes to get this right but it is not that hard.

Yes both front rams can fit (with wiggling) through the inner wing panel without removal.

Never work under the car without axle stands - do not rely on the Jackall to hold. It can fail.

Also ensure all rams are fully retracted before driving after using the Jackall.
Paul Barrow

Paul

I do not have acces to a ramp anymore. This is why I am still hoping to get "measurements". I will start a new thread called Mounting positions of Jackall Jacks"

Regards
Anton
Anton Piller

Hi

Can anyone tell me the mounting position of the front- and rear jackall jacks? What would make life a bit easier would be to know the distances between the Jack clamps and the feet of the lacks. please refer to the attached photo and the two different measurements:

A = the front jack
B = the rear jack

The rams shown in the picture are old, tatty spare ones - so do not worry about them.
My trolley jack broke down and I am waiting for delivery of a new one (ordered on the internet)....

Thank you
Anton


Anton Piller

Hi Anton, here are some pics of the front and rear jackall positions measured from the bottom of the mounting bracket on an undisturbed YT chassis.




E.J. Ward

Thank you E.J. Ward, for the photos
Much appreciated :o)
Anton
Anton Piller

...a little bit later...

I've just removed all 4 Jackalls from my YT for a future refirb (all 4 were leaking, just carried for looks). All came out easily, including the front left with its two pipe fittings. No interference problems.

As for height to reinstall, a secondary consideration for the front jacks may be accessibility for the pipe fittings. It strikes me that setting lift height is one parameter, but also the tops of the front jacks need to be accessible to get a spanner onto the brass pipe nuts. I had to fuss around for a while to find a short series OE spanner that could undo these fitting in a small crowded space.

It seems that 1940's engineers had smaller hands than me. Or a different selection of tools.
R Ades

This thread was discussed between 06/12/2023 and 06/01/2024

MG MG Y Type index

This thread is from the archives. Join the live MG MG Y Type BBS now