Proper Location for Jackstands

T

truvette

New member
I have a question about using jackstands on my vehicle.



I would like to know where is an appropriate place to put the actual jackstand. Could I place it near the pinch weld where the owners manual recommends using a jack? I would preferably like to do this as I do not feel comfortable going in any further to locate a point for the jackstand with just the jack holding up the vehicle. My car is a unibody construction, if such information is helpful.



FYI, the procedure I plan on doing is cleaning out the inside of each of my wheels. Therefore, I would not be going under the vehicle.
 
When I've used jackstands in the past, that's where I've put them. Firm believer in them when you're under the car after I had an emergency jack break once. Now I have a couple jacks to use.
 
I only like to put stands under the actual frame. All of my cars are rear wheel drive so I put two under the rear axle, and two under the front frame rails which is right behind the front wheels.



If I'm getting ready to remove and engine or do work that requires a lot of pushing and pulling I like to get the stands as far as I can toward the front and rear of the car which means actually putting two of them under the K-member or engine support right where the control arms meet the k-member and this gives the car more support and distributes the weight better.



I put a stand under the pinch weld like the manual states one time, and it bent the body of my car and I've never done it since.
 
JDookie said:
...I only like to put stands under the actual frame.
Click to expand...



Me too.



Also, you can "cushion" the contact point of the jack stand and the frame with a block of wood like a 2x4 or 4x4 if you have any concerns about marring some undercoatings or whatever. Don't forget to block your tires as an added precaution. (4X4 blocks work pretty good.)
 
Yeah, I've found the pinch welds to be sorta susceptible to damage too. Even the factory jacks, which are made to fit them, can chew them up. Even with a pad/block, putting something that doesn't fit the exact contour can really mess them up. Note that the exact spot for the jack is often reinforced, and the areas to each side of it are often *not*; they could be easily damaged.



Eastwood does sell an adaptor, basically a metal block with a slot to fit the rocker panel flange, that will make it easier to use a floorjack on them. But as for the jackstands, I'd find something like a framerail or a suspension attachment point.



If you have a contact at a dealership, you could see what they recommend. Often, the factory service manual covers this stuff.
 
I'd actually have to recommend just using a floor jack and going at it one corner at a time. It's easier that way than trying to pull all four wheels at once. That way you won't even need to worry about where something should go.
 
It is entirely right that you wish to use a stand. Whenever you work under or next to the car and it is not fully supported by the wheels you must use a suitable support.



This is not only for safety reasons but 'jacks' can fail which results in your brake disc's hitting the ground. Ask me how I know!
 
I pull my wheels at each oil change to rotate the tires and clean up the wheelwells, suspension pieces and clean the insides of the wheels. I'll place the stands under the actual frame of the car. The pinch welds are too flimsy for jack stands. I've already bent one just jacking it up with my floor jack.



For what you plan to do just jack up each wheel one at a time, place the stand underneath, do what needs to be done and move on. That's what I did just last weekend when I cleaned the inside of the wheels, wheelwells and changed the oil.



I also have a smaller floorjack (1 1/4 ton) that I'll use for rotation purposes in addition to my larger 3 ton floor jack so I can swap tires front to back, etc. Having an extra floor jack comes in handy.



When I jack up my car I use a piece of wood to cushion it. I then slip a piece of pipe insulation onto the pinch weld itself. Helps keep the paint from getting scraped up.
 
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