I'm still a little hesitant about where to jack my 1.3 mj - even after studying Haynes.

I do know that my existing trolley jack is a tad too high to go under the car, so I was looking at low entry trolleys when I came across an item called a cross beam adaptor. Completely new to me, but I can immediately see it's use. It installs where the jack cup would be and lifts the car on both jack points at the same time.

Presumably, this spreads the load more efficiently. But has anyone out there come across an item like this or actually used one?

Any help much appreciated!

snes said:

I'm still a little hesitant about where to jack my 1.3 mj - even after studying Haynes.

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I'm not surprised you're confused - FIAT's guidance on this is extremely vague, even in the official factory workshop documentation.

For a safe way to jack up your 500, read this.

Cross beam adapters enable you to lift both sides of the car at once - very useful as an attachment to a professional lift or workshop pit, but they can be a bit unsteady when used with a trolley jack. Clearance may be a problem as they generally need more than a simple trolley.

There's a very neat professional-grade low profile trolley jack for sale at Costco just now for a little over £100, which would be just the ticket for Abarth owners & those with lowered suspension. Must say I'm tempted.

Work safely out there, guys & gals .

Many thanks JR - and the link, which I have previously read - most helpful!

What appealed about the cross beam adaptor was the fact that it would lift the entire end of the car rather than just one unbalanced corner. But I cant be sure if there would be clearance under the car for both the low entry jack and the attached beam.

But the weight/load distribution would be more even. It would be as near as I could ever get to those wizzo lifts you see in garages. But as you hint, JR, it may not be as good in practise.

My dilemma is this - I definately need to buy a low entry jack, but should I also go on to purchase a cross beam adaptor also?

Any more advice from JR or anyone else would be welcome!

My top tip is to buy a low entry 3-tonne jack.

It'll have a bigger cup and you may find that the jacking point fits completely into it. It's more stable than a same-sized cup (though you should use a block of wood between the cup and car body regardless).

A 3-tonne jack will also be more stable when you lift the car... and will be working well within its capabilities, so it's not going to flex or twist... though that doesn't mean you should work under the car supported just by the jack.

The beam thing looks good and I rather fancy one myself but I'd jack the car with it and then lower the beam onto an axle stand placed under each cup. That way the car is supported on the beam, which is held up by two axle stands. That'll be pretty secure.


Ralf S.

Having just been for a look "down under", I suspect one difficulty with jacking the rear using a beam adaptor would be clearing the exhaust pipe which hangs below floor level.

Looks like JR was right, as ever, to suggest caution on this purchase.

Many thanks!

A trick to get trolley jacks under low cars is to drive the car onto a couple of bits of timber say 3x1". It will add just enough clearance to slide a standard jack under there.

UFI said:

A trick to get trolley jacks under low cars is to drive the car onto a couple of bits of timber say 3x1". It will add just enough clearance to slide a standard jack under there.

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Agree with that user. I have some spare sets of cross beams in my workshop which i buy recently. These are comfortable in use and never make in problem which above members share.

MarkO11 said:

Agree with that user. I have some spare sets of cross beams in my workshop which i buy recently. These are comfortable in use and never make in problem which above members share.

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I think use of aluminium cross beams are better in use and able to bear extra load than wooden cross beams.