vladc77

I am wondering if someone know where the front jacking point can be found in Mercedes GL. I am asking for the jacking point under the engine area. I need to lift the car and put jack stands under both front wheels. I tried to locate it but no success yet. It is either hidden or no obvious to see.

All of other cars I used to have to have had it.

Thank you in advance!

Fourdiesel

per the operators manual (available to download from the M-B site) the front jack points are just behind - to the rear of - the front wheel wells on each side.

vladc77

It will be very disappointing if it is true. All of my previous cars had it. It is hard to believe it is done this way.

dgiturbo

If you look from the front by the cross member under the engine, you should see a buffer pad and a circular indent where the splash shields meet. That should be it, but I won't recommend using it as that is a lot of weight to put on such a small area. Not worth the risk of damage or injury just to save 4 minutes. You are balancing +-2500 pounds on a 4 inch plate supported by a jack with say a 12" across wheelbase.
Please use the ones behind the wheels by the frame rails as mentioned, lifting one wheel at a time, and use jack stands.

vladc77

Thank you! It looks like it is a risky business. At the same time, using that jack point behind the wheels without jack stands is also a risky business for my applications. I am trying to replace both shucks. My intention to use the front jack point under the engine is only to lift the car to be able to put it on jack stands using the jack points behind the from wheels. Any ideas on how to achieve this goal in safely manner? Thank you again.

Fourdiesel

Car in Park - thereby locking the wheels from turning. Car on level, hard, surface.
Use a hydraulic bottle jack at the R front side jack point to lift the right front until you can put an alligator jack under the R front wheel. Put the alligator jack under the wheel (centered). Lower the jack holding the body up. Raise the wheel using the alligator jack until the jack stand will fit under the R front jack point. Put the jack stand in place. Lower the alligator jack.
Repeat on the L front.
You car is now supported on the jack stands at the front and you can work on both front shocks at once (why you would want to work on more than one shock at a time is another question however).

vladc77

Thank you for your guide. It seems possible to do. However, I am not sure if I know the alligator jack. Can you tell me what it is? Thank you again.

Fourdiesel

Alligator jack is the term used in the US for the type of floor jack used by all/most tire shops to lift a car to change tires. The jack is hydraulic, has a long 'snout' (like an alligator) and long handle that allows the lifting point to be placed way under the car easily. The handle is pumped up and down to raise the 'nose' of the jack. It is lowered by twisting the handle to release the hydraulic fluid. Its advantage is that the nose is very close to the ground (again, like an alligator). This means that it can be put under a car part just a few inches (about 10 cm) off the ground and lifted.

vladc77

Thank you for the great explanation! It happened that I own it and it is in my garage. For some reason, I did not know it is the alligator type.

vladc77

I finally had a chance to identify how easily put GL on front jacks. No different as I would do it with BMW X5. This information was provided me by one of the Mercedes technician guy. You can do it by placing alligator jack under the platform which is located at the front center part of the susp crossmember. Look at part# 10 on the diagram from here: http://www.getmercedesparts.com/oem-Mercedes-parts.html

Then, you need to put jack stands under the front left and right jack points for safety. Even though it ended up to be an easy task, I am not suggesting to anyone to do the same way. You will need to have a strong alligator jack and be sure that you placed it correctly in the center position on the susp crossmember.