This is great! I was always under the impression you could only lift the car on the jack point where you put the scissor.
Question on floor jacks - Can you lift and work on the car with just this? I don’t mean forceful maintenance but things such as oil change (low car)
Also - My car features a skid pan right across underneath, I imagine this covers the lifting points viable for the trolley as opposed to the scissor, how would I work around this?
I’m guilty of lifting a car on a scissor and kerb to balance the car and while sturdy it’s definitely nervous to be under it like that.
Okay, first off, jacking a car in the factory recommended points aren’t that good
Secondly, I would recommend having something else just in case, a spare wheel would do it, also, maybe invest in or build a set of ramps that have a shallow angle I use that method for oil changes, but be slow enough to not allow the suspension to compress when moving onto or off of the ramps
I always jack up from the frame rails running along the side and jack from the centre, i.e. between the two doors on a typical 4 door sedan
I wouldn’t recommend that, it’s better to lift just one side at a time or buy a second jack, but remember to have something between the ground and the bottom of the car in case the jack fails
Always use jack stands when working under a vehicle. Don’t trust the jack. There likely aren’t any lift points under the skid pad. I’d avoid lifting from that area.
If you need to go under the vehicle use jack stands and ALWAYS have atleast one backup safety (spare tires, a log high enough to keep the car above you if stands fail etc.) But if you don’t need to go under the car it still isn’t good to have it on jack all the time. Keeping weight on jack for long periods of time wears it down. If it needs to be lifted longer than let’s say 1,5-2 hours then use jack stands. I’d say it’s okay to keep it on jack for the duration of oil change if you don’t want to bother with jack stands. But anything more time consuming use something else to support the car than a jack.
Every single car I’ve worked on has frame rails running down each side (think where you place lift the car from using a hoist), so I jack the car from there, and since I’m poor, once I take a wheel off, I place that wheel where you’d put jack stands, it’s better than nothing.
Also, the factory recommended jacking points are crap, I tried to jack a Corolla AE92 from such a location and it instantly started to bend, so I lowered it and went with the area mentioned above
I also use a trolley jack as you can have it in your boot and you can also position it on gravel (I have a gravel driveway)
I do the same, jack on the strongest point of the chassis rail usually as far forward and as far back as possible, then slide jack stands under. My C63 and Boxster dont have rails so I either use the scissor on the factory jack point if im just removing a wheel or jack on a firm part of the suspension arm and jack stand under the factory jack point. With the boxster, at the rear i always place a hydraulic jack, as backup, under the rigid plate between the trans and engine.
Really really hate those scissors jack, in my mother car. It’s under the passenger seat, and hell lot of effort to release that jack.
Just a question, I see you put the jack stands where you’re supposed to place the small jack to replace the wheels. However when I place my jack stands there they immediately bent backwards and ruin the jack point, is there a better place/ way to place the jack stands. I know my parents Volvo 940 had these amazing jack point with some small reinforced bars you could place the jack stands, those never bent but no car manufacturers use those anymore sadly enough.
I’m wondering if you’re placing the jack stands in the correct location based on what you wrote. Those areas should support the vehicle unless they aren’t jack points. You might check your owners manual to see where the lift points are suppose to be and use those.
This vid is very supportive
I lift up at the subframe or framerails, is this a good idea?
It should be, it depends on the vehicle though.
Wrong do it like this
Amateur.
I guess lifting car on plain, stiff surface is quite clear, but lifting car with lack of proper jack and good surface is tricky. BTW: I always put wheels under the car, even when the car is on stands…just for case.
hmm whenever i need to lift my car i use the crane at work on the tow hitch and lift till the front lip is on the floor xD then put jack stands under, was able to sit on a chair while installing a locker xD
Comments
This is great! I was always under the impression you could only lift the car on the jack point where you put the scissor.
Question on floor jacks - Can you lift and work on the car with just this? I don’t mean forceful maintenance but things such as oil change (low car)
Also - My car features a skid pan right across underneath, I imagine this covers the lifting points viable for the trolley as opposed to the scissor, how would I work around this?
I’m guilty of lifting a car on a scissor and kerb to balance the car and while sturdy it’s definitely nervous to be under it like that.
Okay, first off, jacking a car in the factory recommended points aren’t that good
Secondly, I would recommend having something else just in case, a spare wheel would do it, also, maybe invest in or build a set of ramps that have a shallow angle I use that method for oil changes, but be slow enough to not allow the suspension to compress when moving onto or off of the ramps
I always jack up from the frame rails running along the side and jack from the centre, i.e. between the two doors on a typical 4 door sedan
I wouldn’t recommend that, it’s better to lift just one side at a time or buy a second jack, but remember to have something between the ground and the bottom of the car in case the jack fails
Always use jack stands when working under a vehicle. Don’t trust the jack. There likely aren’t any lift points under the skid pad. I’d avoid lifting from that area.
If you need to go under the vehicle use jack stands and ALWAYS have atleast one backup safety (spare tires, a log high enough to keep the car above you if stands fail etc.)
But if you don’t need to go under the car it still isn’t good to have it on jack all the time. Keeping weight on jack for long periods of time wears it down. If it needs to be lifted longer than let’s say 1,5-2 hours then use jack stands. I’d say it’s okay to keep it on jack for the duration of oil change if you don’t want to bother with jack stands. But anything more time consuming use something else to support the car than a jack.
Every single car I’ve worked on has frame rails running down each side (think where you place lift the car from using a hoist), so I jack the car from there, and since I’m poor, once I take a wheel off, I place that wheel where you’d put jack stands, it’s better than nothing.
Also, the factory recommended jacking points are crap, I tried to jack a Corolla AE92 from such a location and it instantly started to bend, so I lowered it and went with the area mentioned above
I also use a trolley jack as you can have it in your boot and you can also position it on gravel (I have a gravel driveway)
I do the same, jack on the strongest point of the chassis rail usually as far forward and as far back as possible, then slide jack stands under. My C63 and Boxster dont have rails so I either use the scissor on the factory jack point if im just removing a wheel or jack on a firm part of the suspension arm and jack stand under the factory jack point. With the boxster, at the rear i always place a hydraulic jack, as backup, under the rigid plate between the trans and engine.
Really really hate those scissors jack, in my mother car. It’s under the passenger seat, and hell lot of effort to release that jack.
Just a question, I see you put the jack stands where you’re supposed to place the small jack to replace the wheels. However when I place my jack stands there they immediately bent backwards and ruin the jack point, is there a better place/ way to place the jack stands. I know my parents Volvo 940 had these amazing jack point with some small reinforced bars you could place the jack stands, those never bent but no car manufacturers use those anymore sadly enough.
I’m wondering if you’re placing the jack stands in the correct location based on what you wrote. Those areas should support the vehicle unless they aren’t jack points. You might check your owners manual to see where the lift points are suppose to be and use those.
This vid is very supportive
I lift up at the subframe or framerails, is this a good idea?
It should be, it depends on the vehicle though.
Wrong do it like this
Amateur.
I guess lifting car on plain, stiff surface is quite clear, but lifting car with lack of proper jack and good surface is tricky. BTW: I always put wheels under the car, even when the car is on stands…just for case.
hmm whenever i need to lift my car i use the crane at work on the tow hitch and lift till the front lip is on the floor xD then put jack stands under, was able to sit on a chair while installing a locker xD