Okay, jack stands are the same as they were in the 70's and have mounts made for cars with rigid frame rails.  I am doing a major overhaul of a small SUV for my daughter and I can see where shops have already mangled the unibody reinforcement due to lack of any good mounting points.   The new jack I got has a nice flat area with a hard rubber pad but jack stands, even the $160+ don't seem well suited for late model cars.  Do I just need to get a pair with a good solid base and have a shop weld whatever contact area I want onto them??  Currently I have the stands under the FWD cradle but the contact area of the stands doesn't seat well with it because the surface of the cradle is flat and the jacks end up putting the weight on two small points... argh..

Always used good oak crib blocks, just feel better when laying under something that could crush me.

Is it actually causing important damage, or is it just bending the non-structural seam a bit?

If it's just sitting on the ridges like so:



Then you're totally fine. From an aesthetic viewpoint it's not the best, but I've yet to see a car and go "oh, wow, they used jack stands, poor thing's totaled."

Go ahead and check the car's specific manual, most vehicles will have specific stand/jack points.

Some company's make rail blocks that protect the rails.

http://shopfigs.com/v3/cat-ACCESSORIES/jack_frame_adapter

For example.

I have that problem with my Grand Cherokee.  I can jack it up OK with the floor jack, but the jacking point is also the only good spot for the jack-stand.

But I gotta tell you, they don't make good wheel chocks.  Forgot this was behind the rear wheel and backed by Grand Cherokee right over it.  Hardly even felt it!  Didn't realize I'd done it until I got back home after a test-drive and drove over it two more times.

Attached File


EDIT to add:  I still haven't replaced it.  I keep an eye on slickdeals.com for sales.  I've seen them put craftsman brand up for like $10 a pair- one of those sales they do just to get you to come thru the door and hopefully spend more money on other things.

That's great for the jack but doesn't help with the stands.  I stopped putting anything on the pinch welds as they almost always deform.  I really need a jackstand with a pad area like the jack itself.  Prior shops had put it on the lift under the frame reinforcements inboard of the pinch welds in straightmiataman's pic and they caved in a bit.  I placed them where two pieces connect.  Double walled with welds you say, right?? Uh, no those bent too. So now I have all the weight of the car sitting on about ten square cm's where the jacks contact the cradle.  I know that the likelihood it'll slip off is pretty low and they are in the middle of a larger flat area.  I'm well insured so I expect the wife will bump into the car quite a bit while I'm working out there

ETA:  Think I found something...  Only problem is it that I need more adjustment range...



Above $69, Below $101

Wow. FPNI again.

PLEASE use good cribbing regardless of what you choose.  I knocked my car laterally off the jack stands while separating the pinion flange from the driveshaft and it (my Mustang) fell on my chest, crushing me and putting me into a 5day coma - last rites the whole shebang. I set the car up right like any of the 100's of times before.  It's a true miracle that I am even alive.  Didn't breathe for almost 9 minutes and no apparent brain damage (my wife thinks otherwise...)

Cribbing would have prevented that nasty memory...

Research the car on forums for it and you will likely find a center jacking point for the front of the car.  Jack it up from there and use the "flat tire jacking points" in the owner manual for the jack stand locations.  Then look for jack stands that fit the flat tire jacking points.

Do the same for the rear.

Worked for my Thunderbird and Avalon.  My truck has a real frame and I can jack up the left side or the right side from the frame.

Google "pinch weld protector"

I got some from ECS Tuning for $10.

And listen to this guy. I had a teacher when I was in middle school that was killed changing his oil. Never was able to shake the thought.

If I'm not going under the car then a jack and stands are fine. If I have to go under for even a second, jack and stands, and I slide some stacked PT 6"x6" blocks under in multiple spots.

Never had issue with anything other than minor damage at the lifting points.  As with others, use multiple layers of safety.  I saw my neighbor working under the front of his truck with the stands about a foot apart near the center of the truck and was shocked, but he didnt seem to care.  He brushed off my concern and offer you use mine as a secondary means of support.  I use jack stands, cut sections of pressure treated 6x6s as a backup, an usually keep my floor jack under where I am working also.  I have no desire to get squashed like a bug.

I will add another safety, "doh, lesson learned the hard way" in here as a caution.

BE AWARE of your car's center of gravity and where you're jacking!!! At my old house the driveway was on a hill, nothing I could do about that except wheel chocks and caution. I once got in a hurry and go complacent. I was doing transmission work on a rear-wheel drive car with the front pointed down the driveway (so it was sitting mostly level when the front was jacked up). I was using properly cribbing and jack-stands etc. At one point I got in a hurry, failed to consider the COG of the car, and due to space constraints I placed a 4X4 across the frame-rails just behind the transmission and began jacking it up in the middle so I could reposition a cribbing block or something (I can't recall anymore). Apparently "just behind the transmission" is also "just a little too close to the center of gravity"; the weight of the car in front was heavy enough to take most of the weight off the rear tires to the point that the tires AND chocks began to skids down the driveway, the jack-stands kicked out and the car dropped about 2 inches before catching on the cribbing that was in-place. The frame of my nice AL race-jack was pretty twisted. I still use that jack today (straightened back out) and the battle-scars on it serve as a good reminder to ALWAYS think about every aspect before rushing right in... The move I made was stupid, the reason I did it was stupid (didn't want to have to do multiple jack-up, reposition, let-down ops to get things where they needed to be so I went to the "next best" place I could jack on), and it could have cost me dearly.

I think I've just been lucky over the years, even as a novice when I dropped the starter on my 64 gmc truck (3 spd manual) w/o disconnecting the battery causing it to (of course) jumper and lurch forward while I was underneath it lol.  Will put some cribbing under it this morning,  I have a bunch of 2X8 lumber if screwed together in 12" sections makes good cribbing that I've used before.

I have 4 of the 12 ton jack stands from harbor freight. They have supported my Jeep Wrangler  for a year when I had the axles out. Very tall stands so I was able to work on it easily underneath and keep my frame around ride height to cycle the suspension.

I wouldn't trust them under a semi truck, but a 3000lb jeep was no problem. They work ok under the f350 too which weighs just under 10,000lb

The 6 ton stands are medium sized and I have a few of those too. Better for just supporting a vehicle temporarily

The advertised weight load of the jack stands is for the pair carrying equal load.  So a pair of three-ton jack stands can only carry 1,500lbs each.  With the load of a front wheel drive sedan per corner  you will get real close to that limit.  Also jackstands are intended to lift only the front OR the back of a vehicle.  Not both at the same time and not an  entire side.

Look at Hiem Warner jack stands, the last of USA made jacks and jackstands.