How do you jack your car up?

[melwff]

So can I safely Jack anywhere along the pinch weld or just on those four spots?

Are you using a pinch weld adapter?

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[19gtMD]

I have the quick jack low profile car lift. Its awesome and worth every cent

 

[Austin1992]

I just received my jacking rails last week....Any recommendations on where to buy a good set of jack stands?

Been wrenching 15 years with harbor freight and Blackjack jack stands and I’m still here to tell you about it… I have no issue crawling under a 3900lb car supported by 4 jack stands rated to support 24,000lbs combined that only cost 60$ total. I would not crawl under any vehicle that weighed near the max capacity of any brand.

 

[Nickyweg]

Are you using a pinch weld adapter?

Yes

 

[melwff]

Yes

Then you can lift at any point but the two designated points are best if not using a jacking rail to distribute the load.

 

[Cobra Jet]

(not my rendering)

 

[pt's21]

Jacking points I use:
Whole car or one side only - jacking rails.
Front only - cross member.
Rear only - Differential (I'm on my second S550 and have never harmed diff mounts).

All of the above I now do with a bellows air jack (less $ than most floor jacks - will lift 6000 lb with 125 psi). With 2x12 lumber, I've added a total of 6 inches of jack extension over the 16.5 inch jack height. With the same 2x12, I can add 6 inches to each of two jack stands or 3 inches to each of four.

 

[TrackMustang]

You can do all that without rails.

I jack it up from the front jack point and the entire side of the car goes up. Place 2 jacks and then move onto the other side to do the same thing. Up on 4 stands in less than 5 minutes.

You can also walk to the grocery store and carry 40lbs of groceries home, but it’s a lot easier with a car.
You can do it without rails but life is so much easier with them that it is a no brainer. Also, regular jacks/Jack stands car mar/damage your pinch welds.

 

[TrackMustang]

Jacking points I use:
Whole car or one side only - jacking rails.
Front only - cross member.
Rear only - Differential (I'm on my second S550 and have never harmed diff mounts).

All of the above I now do with a bellows air jack (less $ than most floor jacks - will lift 6000 lb with 125 psi). With 2x12 lumber, I've added a total of 6 inches of jack extension over the 16.5 inch jack height. With the same 2x12, I can add 6 inches to each of two jack stands or 3 inches to each of four.

That’s the scariest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. I’m sure it’s fine and perfectly safe, but I’m terrified.

 

[pt's21]

The bellows jack has a telescoping steel tube in its center. It's more stable than a scissors jack.

I might use jack only to pull a wheel, but I'm not using jack only, ANY jack, if I'm getting under the vehicle.

Also, my jack stands have rubber pads on top (Amazon), they're not removing paint from anything. And the bellows jack is topped off with a rubber pad from manufacturer.

 

[wadewolf76]

This

Now if I could just convince someone else that this is affordable. Or maybe I could become one of them YouTube influencers and get a free one.

 

[EFI]

You can also walk to the grocery store and carry 40lbs of groceries home, but it’s a lot easier with a car.
You can do it without rails but life is so much easier with them that it is a no brainer.

I've had both, and I would say that it's marginally easier at best. Even doing multiple wheels swaps a day at track events and home it's not that big of a deal.

A better comparison would be bringing 40lbs of groceries home it a 2 seater with limited trunk space vs. bringing 40lbs of groceries home in a 4 door sedan.

 

[TrackMustang]

I've had both, and I would say that it's marginally easier at best. Even doing multiple wheels swaps a day at track events and home it's not that big of a deal.

A better comparison would be bringing 40lbs of groceries home it a 2 seater with limited trunk space vs. bringing 40lbs of groceries home in a 4 door sedan.

What!? No way, 2seater with limited trunk space vs a bicycle. I’ll give you bicycle over walking cause you seem like a nice guy

 

[hlfbkd420]

I can tell you how I will never do it again. Plastic ramps.

I had my wife back the car up to them and when she tried to go up them, the tires (drag radials) grabbed them and the car did an endo. The ramps went under the pinch welds and the bottom body panels (the thin strip) bent out away from the car. My wife barely pushed the gas and we are on kinda slick concrete so the went right under. They are now in the trash.

Had to jack up the car one side at a time and use a board between the jack and the pinch weld to get it high enough to pull the bastards out. My wife was freaking out that she fucked up the car. I was like holy hell.. WTF. Glad I didn't have my foot anywhere nearby.

Car is fine. Both panels stuck right back onto the car. My poor wife felt terrible though. I couldn't blame her cause I would have done the same thing.

Lesson learned.

 

[RRR69]

This is what I did last time. It's cumbersome and a bit embarassing, so I do not recommend it and I would like to find an easier way. Interesting to see what others do.


1) jack up the front right (or left) enough to put my flimsy jack stands under at one of the lowest settings. This height is too low to put my proper jack stands under (their lowest setting is close to the highest setting of my older flimsy jack stands). The rear left will lift a bit too, enough to put another flimsy jack stands under the car at the rear.

2) jack up the front left just enough to a proper jack stand under on the front. Since this also lifts the rear quite a bit, put a jack stand under the rear too.

3) regret that I sold my medium-quality floor jack when I bought my new 630 mm / 24 inch floor jack (with matching jack stands). Had I kept it I would not have to move my proper floor jack around so much.

4) go back to the left side, and jack that whole side up enough to put my proper jack stands under at one of the lowest settings.

5) back to the right side and jack the car up enough to put the jack stands on the highest setting.

6) back to the right side and jack the car up enough to put the jack stands on the highest setting.

What I do not do is to jack the car up completely on one side, and then switch to the other side. I have no technical documentation saying that is bad, but I'm thinking it is not good for the wheels and axles to carry a lot of weight leaned over to one side like what will happen if I jack the car high up on one side first, then switch to the other side.

The reason I go back and forth so much is I had a scary experience once where I jacked the car up too much in one go, and when I returned to the other side, the jack stands on the other side were balancing on two points each, rather than four as the car was leaning over so much. This was with the flimsy jack stands, even though they do not go very high (around 480mm / 20 inches I think).


I'd love if there was a good jacking point in the middle of the front and the middle of the rear, or if somebody made some jacking rails that did that. I'd love an quickjack even more, but cost is high and my good quality jack stands and floor jack allow me the same height as the standard quickjack (or even a bit more).

I agree, just did my first oil change and I go back and forth untill I get to height I need, having said that I just ordered a set of jacking rails to suit my convertible so I can lift it in one place each side instead of lifting it in the corners. I’ve had it like pivot on 3 points at times and I just do t like it

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