Correct, NEVER too safe!

One thing I would NEVER use crawling under a car are those "lift bars". Have seen them in use and completely understand desired concept but no thanks. If one corner fails or pin slips out, the entire side has more likelihood of coming down. Better hope a jack stand catches somewhere on body and holds until whoever is under scoots out but :eek: if not. Separate and secure contact points are much safer in my opinion. /soapbox

Saw same Garage Squad episode as Stone and caught mention of accident w lifted car but missed detail specifying jack stands. Stands or not, that guy is darn lucky to be alive. Similarly, a year or so ago Velocity aired an episode of Fantomworks I decided to watch... IMNSHO Mark from GYC is marginally (ok, a bit more than marginally) less appealing to watch than Drama Dan.

Anyhow, Drama Dan & co prepped a car (Mustang resto-mod of some sort as I recall) for SEMA. Upon show floor arrival something happened to one of the coilovers. Their panties were all bunched trying to find someone w a jack (really at a car show? :rolleyes:) so they could fix issue. Next scene shows Dan clearly crawling under car only jack supported. Couldn't believe my eyes. Thought he was redeeming himself when he started saying how dangerous it was to work on a car like that... but then pissed all away by relating danger only to state of spring vis-a-vis coilover and not fact car was only being jack supported. Really surprised Velocity aired that portion...

In any event, please ALL be extra careful working under a raised car. Double and triple check it's solid, not just jack supported w/ at least one additional failsafe back up... two are evenbetter.

Good luck :)

I used a 500lb capacity "lift table" I got from Harbor Freight which would lower to about 10" above the floor so I had to remove muffler & rear bumper etc.

Echo this
 

The only stands I have ever felt really safe under

I always keep the jack in a location as well. On a level floor, car level and the jack stands where they belong, a Boxster is pretty bombproof really. Getting the jack stands in the right place under the jack points is a funky proposition though, but not too bad.

Bringin this one back:

What is the maximum recommended time one can leave the car on stands with the wheels off?

-What suspension issue can result..

Allowing the suspension to hang exposes sections of the strut shaft that are normally inside the strut when the car is on the ground. Left exposed too long, these can develop corrosion that then ruins the seals inside the strut housing when the car comes down, resulting in strut cartridge leaking and failure. And before you ask, no, you cannot get at the shaft to spray protectant on them; they are covered by the strut boots.

If the car is inside a temperature-controlled, dry facility, the car can be up in the air for quite a while before this develops. If the facility is unheated or damp, the time frame becomes much shorter.

Thank you. So it is an oxidation of metal timeline and even with the engine out it needs to be back on wheels as soon as practical. I would suppose that all shock strut types are susceptible. I have PSS9s. I dont know how easy it is to get into the boot

This process takes days or months ?

Depends upon too many "local factors" to give a precise prediction; is the facility unheated and located in damp environment, or heated and in a dry environment? Is it in an environment near salt water? The components inside the struts, namely the strut shafts. were never designed to see prolonged exposure to moisture, some can start to develop evidence of surface corrosion in relatively short order given the right conditions.

Porsche saw enough problems associated with damage from storing the cars with unloaded suspensions that they put out a TSB on the subject, warning dealers that they should not warranty any parts that were damaged because of this issue. Other OEM's have similar policies in place as well.