FAQ: Where do I Mount the Jack for Lifting the Car?

tommorow in my auto tech class we are doing oil changes........... i can do it with a JACK Stand but wheres the lift points???

I know this sounds stupid, but here goes anyhow.
Where should I place the floor jack under the car to avoid damaging anything or possibly flexing the vehicle too much?

I have only glanced under the car and am not familiar with this type of vehicle so be gentle with me. It kinda looked like there is a steel tube frame rail of some sort.

Thanks
Bert

ibmoses wrote:

I know this sounds stupid, but here goes anyhow.
Where should I place the floor jack under the car to avoid damaging anything or possibly flexing the vehicle too much?

I have only glanced under the car and am not familiar with this type of vehicle so be gentle with me. It kinda looked like there is a steel tube frame rail of some sort.

Thanks
Bert

pinch welds man........ two pieces of metal spot welded together..........

No worries it's written JACK

I usually put a piece of wood (2x6") under the control arm and jack it up there. The recommended jack points under the rockers are dangerous. I had a jack slip out from there once, needed a new piece of molding.

AA wrote:

I usually put a piece of wood (2x6") under the control arm and jack it up there. The recommended jack points under the rockers are dangerous. I had a jack slip out from there once, needed a new piece of molding.

are our lower control arms beefier than others? because they seem thicker.

ohh i see.The jack is only for a short time use.If you need to do some serious job u gotta use someting heavy-duty (wood logs)

I mean I use the wood to spread out the load from the jack, so it doesn't put pressure in one place. Use jack stands to hold up the car.

stan wrote:

No worries it's written JACK

Thanks, that will help. I did not spot it when I glanced under the car while they were inspecting the brakes.

Bert

I prefer to put my jack and jack stands under the subframe up front. In the rear if it's long term I'll go just inside the 'JACK' locations to what looks like a body mount just in front of the rear wheels. If it's short-term I'll use the JACK location. I don't like to use the control arms because they move when you shift weight around (hoisting engine, dropping transmission, etc)

Here is a pic with the jack points clearly labelled:

(note: thanks to Jason)

Bert

Be careful with #3, it's VERY easy to get in the wrong spot.

manofmany wrote:

Be careful with #3, it's VERY easy to get in the wrong spot.

Go on you can tell us......HOW do you know that???

ibmoses wrote:

Here is a pic with the jack points clearly labelled:

(note: thanks to Jason)

Bert

those are lift points, not jack points. Jack points are on page 0-30 - 0-31 of the '98 FSM. they are listed as:

- under the front suspension crossmember, spanning at least 2 of the front suspension crossmember's rear reinforcement ribs, or optionally spanning both of the front suspension crossmember's front reinforcement ribs.

- never place the floor jack under the rear suspension crossmember's front reinforcement rib.

- under the rear suspension crossmember spanning both of the rear suspension crossmember's rear reinforcement ribs.

- there are also pads molded into the rear control arms shaped roughly to fit the cup that'a on a typical floor jack. These are on the front too but are on the wrong sides of the control arms - you'll get it when you crawul under to look

- in any event support the car after jacking with jack stands at the frame points earlier mentioned.

Albertj

The areas in yellow are the only locations I will put jacks or stands under the car:

Rickw wrote:

manofmany wrote:

Be careful with #3, it's VERY easy to get in the wrong spot.

Go on you can tell us......HOW do you know that???

Well you see, I hit a pothole and busted a tire and was in a huge hurry to get it to walmarts tire shop before they closed. I slid the jack where it normally goes on cars. Well, it wasn't the right spot on the Riv. The underbody started to make cracking noises, so I took it down pretty quickly.

I once jacked up the car from behind the front passenger side wheel, where it said JACK, and it slipped a bit thus cracking the moulding. Was not impressed.

jamie wrote:

I once jacked up the car from behind the front passenger side wheel, where it said JACK, and it slipped a bit thus cracking the moulding. Was not impressed.

That pretty much sums up my experience.

I cracked mine doing the same. Needed to order new part. Lesson learned.

I replaced my accessory drive belt over the weekend, the biggest mistake I made was jacking it up in the grass. Over the time I was working the jack (even though there was a 2x4 under it) sunk into the ground a little, causing the motor to move a couple inches back which made putting the motor mount back on a whole lot of fun. Next time I will be sure to do it on the concrete.

I prefer to work on concrete over blacktop even. I've made marks in the driveway from jacks and stands sinking in.

I was thinking of using ramps like the kind they sell at auto parts stores. I've never used them on a FWD car, has anyone done this? I plan on doing my own oil change and oil filter has anyone used ramps to do that?

Thanks.

I use a set of plastic ramps all the time. Great for oil changes. Make sure you buy the ones that are rated at least 4000 lb per pair.

I have used ramps a few time with my riv. It helps a lot to have a friend tell you when you are all the way up. Be easy on the gas, and try to do it all in one go, because the torque of these cars can easily blow the ramps out from under you( i did it the other day).

jamie wrote:

I once jacked up the car from behind the front passenger side wheel, where it said JACK, and it slipped a bit thus cracking the moulding. Was not impressed.

I can hardly believe this is happening to multiple people.  Were you guys using the Riv's scissor jack?  I can't picture the "tongue and groove" slipping.

If you were using another jack however, that might just be the source of your problem.

I've used floor jacks in this area too, and never had a slip, but I put a piece of oak board over the jack head.  I was doing it to protect the Riv's tongue from the jack head, but the tongue bites into the wood a little, which may be why I haven't had a slip.  I can absolutely see a slip happening if jacking metal to metal.