Jacking unibody vehicles

[dtbingle]

I use the quickjack 7000sxl on my vehicles, but was helping a friend and ran into an issue with his 2015 kia optima. The quickjack is not long enough to reach the factory pinch weld lift points (about 6" short). Figured okay, just use floor jack elsewhere and place stands at pinch weld locations. However, looking on the kia forums, there are many reports of bending components with a floor jack using typical secondary locations, such as the boxed "frame rail" section or front/rear subframe crossmembers. Kia manual only officially specifies the pinch welds as suitable lift points.

1. How do you handle lifting the vehicle with a floor jack to get it onto jack stands at the pinch welds in a situation like this (ie. no great front/rear crossmember to lift from with a floor jack)?
   • I was thinking to get a heavier duty scissor jack (like 2.5 ton) to lift at one end of the pinch weld and sneak a jack stand next to it:
   • 
     
2. Confused on lifting at pinch weld. Most of the unibody car manuals I've read say to lift at pinch welds, but do not specify whether it is on the horizontal sections on each side of the pinch weld or directly on the bottom of the pinch weld. Additionally, the provided factory scissor jacks are not consistent. For example, my 2017 Ford Escape factory scissor jack lifts from the bottom (shown below), but others lift from the horizontal sections on either side.
   
   How are you supposed to know which is correct? If you're supposed to use the horizontal sections, does that mean you need a unique jack/jack pad for each vehicle since the height from bottom of pinch weld to horizontal surface is unique? Conversely, the majority of 2 post lifts I've seen use flat lifting pads.
   
   
   
3. Last, what is the point of the "pinch weld adapters"? Aside from a groove to prevent the pinch weld from slipping off of the jack pad, what's wrong with a flat piece of rubber lifting at the bottom of the pinch weld? Then back to point 2, if the adapter is to lift at the horizontal section above the pinch weld seam, then you would need multiple adapters to uniquely cradle each different vehicle.

 

[428PI]

If you lift near the notched out pinch welds you'll be fine. I've done that hundreds of times. But, if you get more rust there may be weak spots. You definitely live in the rust belt.

 

[dtbingle]

If you lift near the notched out pinch welds you'll be fine. I've done that hundreds of times. But, if you get more rust there may be weak spots. You definitely live in the rust belt.

Perfect, thanks! How far out from the reinforced pinch weld area would you be comfortable lifting from?

For example, it the first picture, you can see the rectangular cutout in the plastic side skirt, but then you can see the reinforced sections / 4 tabs outlined in green extending a bit beyond that. How far past that outlined green reinforced section would you limit as the max?

And yes......in the rust belt. Makes many simple tasks take much longer than they need to due to seized components, breaking boltheads, etc

 

[theoldwizard1]

For my floor jack, I have about a 10" long piece of 4x6. I ripped a groove down one the 4" faces wide enough and deep enough for the pinch weld. If you guess correctly you can jack up the whole side of the car like they do n NASCAR. I put my stands under the front or rear subframe attachment points.

 

[428PI]

Perfect, thanks! How far out from the reinforced pinch weld area would you be comfortable lifting from?

For example, it the first picture, you can see the rectangular cutout in the plastic side skirt, but then you can see the reinforced sections / 4 tabs outlined in green extending a bit beyond that. How far past that outlined green reinforced section would you limit as the max?

And yes......in the rust belt. Makes many simple tasks take much longer than they need to due to seized components, breaking boltheads, etc

I'd like to keep it within a couple inches (at work our pads are 4 inches across and have no problem missing the cutout altogether although I know it's not recommended. One really needs a pad that goes up into the cutout but what a pain to get lined up right. The fronts will always be more critical as there's more weight up there. I have an extended quickjack and miss it by a couple inches I'm sure at times. It's probably easier to straddle the cutouts with the quickjack's large and soft rubber pads though.

 

[Killer95Stang]

I lift a Flex with my quickjack using oversized pinch weld blocks that came with a Challenger SRM10 lowrise lift I used to own. I make sure the front of the Flex has a block aligned under the designated notch. The rear comes up a few inches short, but has never given me any issues. The majority of the weight is in the front, so that is the most important location to line up.

 

[Bucko]

Usually your manual will list where to lift from. Likely in the tire changing section since that's when most people would use the factory jack.

 

[wssix99]

Search for "pinch weld puck" and you'll find what you need. They have them for floor jacks, lift pads, and jack stands. Now that so many manufacturers are requrinig lifting by the welds, these things are becomming more common.

Don't lift any other way - you'll bend the pinch weld over and do damage that will make them rust faster.

Hard to see in your picture, but I expect that there are flat areas around the pinch weld where your factory jack engages that the sides of the puck (that wrap around the weld) touch and give you even more lifting contact.

You may want to do some shopping. When I purchased mine, I found that there were many different options for the size of the grooves.

 

[Ak Jim]

I was getting very frustrated with the jack then trying to find a place to put the jack stand. Just seems like a lot of cars don’t have a place for both a jack and a jack stand. I found these and have been happy with them. I combines both the jack and jack stand in to one. They make different size units and each unit is also adjustable for a height range.

 

[ZRX61]

I have the same UniJack. The rubber pinchweld pad they sell lasted less than one day, so that part was returned for a refund.
I now use it *nekkid* like you do, but lift immediately inboard of the pinchweld as the structure on the bottom of the Explorer ST is about 1/4in thick where it tells you to lift. There are even arrows showing you where to lift... unfortunately the morons at the dealerships can't see the ******** arrows & crush the pinchwelds by lifting in the wrong place.

 

[ZRX61]

Arrows indicating pinchweld area to be jacked...



What Ford did. The actual lifting area is the fatter triple thickness part to the right... as indicated by the arrow. They did this on both sides, I've already straightened it on the other side. It takes some effort.

 

[dtbingle]

Thanks everyone.

Lots of good options thrown around. I will either jack just off of the designated pinch weld area with a pinch weld block with just enough to place a stand underneath the actual pinch weld lift area OR use the quickjack and just line up the front pinch weld and then let it lift from the rear pinch weld area just short of the designated area.

I was getting very frustrated with the jack then trying to find a place to put the jack stand. Just seems like a lot of cars don’t have a place for both a jack and a jack stand. I found these and have been happy with them. I combines both the jack and jack stand in to one. They make different size units and each unit is also adjustable for a height range.

Do you use these on any cars/low vehicles? These looked great, but I'm not sure how you would get a sedan high enough to place them underneath. For SUVs though, this would be awesome.

Usually your manual will list where to lift from. Likely in the tire changing section since that's when most people would use the factory jack.

Manual doesn't give any info...both owners manual and FSM. They show the vehicle with the four pinch weld areas circled and that's it. No reference to lift from bottom of pinch weld, flats near pinch weld, no alternative lifting points on front/rear subframe, suspension, etc. I've been looking up random unibody vehicles and a lot follow this pattern of only indicating the pinch weld points.

However, some vehicles like my miata do have a lift point diagram that clearly shows additional front and rear lift points on crossmembers AND the pinch weld lift points. Why can't all vehicles have this?

Search for "pinch weld puck" and you'll find what you need. They have them for floor jacks, lift pads, and jack stands. Now that so many manufacturers are requrinig lifting by the welds, these things are becomming more common.

Don't lift any other way - you'll bend the pinch weld over and do damage that will make them rust faster.

Hard to see in your picture, but I expect that there are flat areas around the pinch weld where your factory jack engages that the sides of the puck (that wrap around the weld) touch and give you even more lifting contact.

You may want to do some shopping. When I purchased mine, I found that there were many different options for the size of the grooves.

Sorry that the picture wasn't clear, but the factory scissor jack for the 2017 ford escape shown only contacts the bottom of the pinch weld. It's probably 1/2" off from touching the flat areas. This why it's confusing because some factory provided scissor jacks lift from bottom of pinch weld and others lift from flat area. Manual never specify which is actually right.

With those pinch weld pucks, do you have to get multiple sets with different heights? Every car would need a different height to reach up to the flats and a lot of cars also aren't even the height on each side of the pinch weld so you'd have to accommodate that as well.

 

[Snapped-off]

QJ sells an add on adapter for longer vehicles. Don't know if it's be too long in your situation though.

 

[Ak Jim]

The height of the lifting post is adjustable by pulling out the silver pin. I’ve made a set of low ramps out of 2x10 that are two layers tall, 3”. So it has worked out ok. Probably wouldn’t work on a really low car.

 

[gmcgeo]

Amazon.com

 

[CraigStu]

I always go to the factory designated pinch weld point. IF you can see that the extra layer of metal part extends beyond the factory marked area you 'MAY' be OK to use it but it is definitely a risk. If I need to use jack stands I try to jack at a cross member and put the stands at the pinch weld, but I have also done the opposite. One thing that has made my life a lot easier is a second or third jack. HF has their small aluminum one for a good price and they are often on sale.

1.5 Ton Low-Profile Aluminum Racing Floor Jack with RAPID PUMP

Amazing deals on this 1.5T Aluminum Racing Jack W/ Rapid Pump at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

On our low cars I often jack at the pinch weld w/ the small jack so I can get the car high enough that now I can get the main jack under it to jack at the cross member or differential. BTW when I need to get the car really high it is going to be a multi step process. I don't go to the jack's full height because that puts the car at too much of an angle from level. Having that extra jack is also nice to use it for a safety tool. Rather than a using a jack stand in addition to the main jack, I use the small jack. When using a jack stand as a safety I place it and then lower the main jack enough that the stand is actually in contact even though it is not supporting the full weight of the car. The small jack makes this quicker as I just jack it until it makes contact.

 

[ZRX61]

The height of the lifting post is adjustable by pulling out the silver pin. I’ve made a set of low ramps out of 2x10 that are two layers tall, 3”. So it has worked out ok. Probably wouldn’t work on a really low car.

They're not even close to fitting under a regular car. Minimum height is about 8inches, the Camaro clearance is about 6in.

I also have this doodad for a regular floorjack:

Which is magnetic

 

[ZRX61]

With those pinch weld pucks, do you have to get multiple sets with different heights? Every car would need a different height to reach up to the flats and a lot of cars also aren't even the height on each side of the pinch weld so you'd have to accommodate that as well.

Nope, they lift right next to the actual pinch weld on either side of it. With the rubber ones it will compress in the slotted area until the top of the puck contacts the underside of the vehicle.

 

[Jeepster04]

It completely depends on the car, but on my hondoo, it has nice sub frames that are more than strong enough to lift the entire front and rear of the car, then I can put jack stands under the pinch welds.

The newer accords do not have the front subframe, but a center jacking point that is almost under the gear shifter area. It almost picks up the entire car from one point, its odd. Even more odd, I have to drive the car up on 2x6's so it has enough clearance to get the floor jack that far under the car. Very strange.

I personally do not like jacking anywhere on the pinch welds except for the obvious 'built up' area for the jack. Mine has little pieces that look like steel angle iron sticking down.

 

[egdede]

I need one of those magnetic doodads!

 

[PassnThru]

I never actually use the pinch welds unless I have to use the jack that came with the car. On both the Taurus and the minivan I always put the floor jack on the subframe - there are usually enough options to get a jack stand under with the jack still there. I honestly don't know if that's right or wrong - I just assume that if there is a bunch of steel under there that's attaching the wheels and suspension to the body then it should be strong enough to jack against even if it's only one side at a time.
Am I wrong?
Are there cars where only the pinch weld is strong enough to take the weight and how would you tell?

 

[ZRX61]

I need one of those magnetic doodads!

Amazon has a bunch of them.

 

[ZRX61]

I never actually use the pinch welds unless I have to use the jack that came with the car. On both the Taurus and the minivan I always put the floor jack on the subframe - there are usually enough options to get a jack stand under with the jack still there. I honestly don't know if that's right or wrong - I just assume that if there is a bunch of steel under there that's attaching the wheels and suspension to the body then it should be strong enough to jack against even if it's only one side at a time.
Am I wrong?
Are there cars where only the pinch weld is strong enough to take the weight and how would you tell?

The Gen6 Explorer is one. If you lift under the crossmember it just bends... and the front suspension actually has "No lift" cast into the aluminum

 

[haveissues]

My toyota that I recently replaced was great-it had 2 pads protruding from the belly pans front and rear roughly centered and designed for a floor jack. My new car is a different story-4 lift points, one in each corner and that's it. Otherwise it is all belly pan so no real way to put all 4 wheels up in the air without a lift or a set of those special jack stands.

 

[dtbingle]

QJ sells an add on adapter for longer vehicles. Don't know if it's be too long in your situation though.

This is correct and a good suggestion. They run like $240, the issue is that it stacks on top of existing quickjack, so you need another 1.5" of clearance, which would be very close from my measurements on the optima. Also, this would probably be the only time I use it on a friend's car which means having to deal with storing these big things haha. If it were my own vehicle, it would be a no brainer.


Overall, I'm thinking that a second jack (small floor or scissor jack) and a nice set of stands + pinch weld adapters for everything would be more versatile and easier to store for unibody cars with a long distance between the pinch weld lift points that the standard quickjack doesn't work on.

As a few other posts above have mentioned, more and more vehicles are being manufactured that explicitly say "no lift" on suspension components and crossmembers connected to suspension components you would expect to be fine also bend if you try to lift from. Not saying every vehicle is this way, but it's something to be careful of now and the manuals don't usually give this info either.

 

[PassnThru]

The Gen6 Explorer is one. If you lift under the crossmember it just bends... and the front suspension actually has "No lift" cast into the aluminum

Well that's just great - we've been looking at getting a new one. Thanks for the warning.

 

[ZRX61]

Well that's just great - we've been looking at getting a new one. Thanks for the warning.

The performance of the V6 ST version makes up for it The '22's have several features deleted owing to the chip shortage

With that said, there are reliability issues, but as with anything the people who have issues go on line & ***** about it... & the people who don't have any issues don't, so it skews the numbers. One guy just got his back earlier this week after an engine replacement & promptly hit a deer two days later. Tuners are getting 800hp from them

I'm not sure I'd want one with the 4 banger EcoSqueak though.

On the jacking issue:
You can jack from the pinchweld & put a jackstand at the outboard end of the cross member/subframe... or jack from the end of the cross member & put a stand under the pinchweld. It's a bit of a faff. Just don't jack the center of the cross member.

At the rear you can jack the subframe immediately behind the pumpkin, I'll probably put a piece of 2x4 on the jack cup to spread the load.

 

[Ak Jim]

They're not even close to fitting under a regular car. Minimum height is about 8inches, the Camaro clearance is about 6in.

I also have this doodad for a regular floorjack:

Which is magnetic

Once you jack it where do you put the jack stand?

 

[rayra]

There's this amazing stuff called 'wood' which can be used as a load spreader, a buffer to prevent damage and even a method conforming or filling the gap between two ill-fitting metal surfaces.

 

[ZRX61]

Once you jack it where do you put the jack stand?

On the Camaro I put them under a subframe structure doodad... & actually jack from the middle of the cross member. Only the ST requires lifting via the pinchweld & I have one of those UniJacks (soon to be two)

 

[ZRX61]

There's this amazing stuff called 'wood' which can be used as a load spreader, a buffer to prevent damage and even a method conforming or filling the gap between two ill-fitting metal surfaces.

Would be handy (& fairly cheap) for vehicles to have recesses for jack pads the way aircraft do. Only has to be a 20mm round hole near each corner (or wheel) with a doodad to fit the hole. The explorer actually has holes in the right places for such a device.

 

[CraigStu]

My wife's 2010 MustangGT had a front subframe that had two ears sticking back from the main cross piece that ended about 8 inches back w/ a nice big bolt head and washer. They were a perfect spot for my floor jack and that bolt head/washer nestled into the round jack plate just fine. Unfortunately about 3 years in I realized that I had been bending them slightly which pushed up on the floor pan right under your feet. I was able to pull them back down but I learned that they were good for left/right or front/rear loads but not designed for up down.

 

[pbon]

I use the factory jacking points, a subframe, or a subframe/chassis suspension mounting point (assuming you know enough to know it’s strength/structure). I would not trust “anywhere along a pinch weld rocker panel” when probably only one short section at each end is the reinforced and marked factory jacking point.

 

[ericm]

Are there cars where only the pinch weld is strong enough to take the weight and how would you tell?

You can tell when the non-approved jacking point visibly bends or the alignment is off, etc.

My VW has the reinforced pinch welds (typical for VWs) and also has reinforced sockets to support dedicated lift points. In the US VW does not equip those fully- the underbody plastic just covers them. But you can buy pads that fit the sockets and new plastic that goes around the pads. Having two factory approved lift points at each end is convenient though it still takes some manuvering to get both a jack and jack stand in there.

 

[ZRX61]

You can tell when the non-approved jacking point visibly bends or the alignment is off, etc.

My VW has the reinforced pinch welds (typical for VWs) and also has reinforced sockets to support dedicated lift points. In the US VW does not equip those fully- the underbody plastic just covers them. But you can buy pads that fit the sockets and new plastic that goes around the pads. Having two factory approved lift points at each end is convenient though it still takes some manuvering to get both a jack and jack stand in there.

That's what the Gen6 Explorer has, but the dealer mechanics are too stupid to use them.

 

[Denwood]

You can tell when the non-approved jacking point visibly bends or the alignment is off, etc.

My VW has the reinforced pinch welds (typical for VWs) and also has reinforced sockets to support dedicated lift points. In the US VW does not equip those fully- the underbody plastic just covers them. But you can buy pads that fit the sockets and new plastic that goes around the pads. Having two factory approved lift points at each end is convenient though it still takes some manuvering to get both a jack and jack stand in there.

You're going to run into 3 scenarios when lifting:

Scenario 1:

My A3 TDI (Audi) had factory lift points, (as well as pinch weld points) into which I installed some adapters from ECS tuning. These points are not designed though as single jack points..they are there for hoists where all four pads are loaded more or less equally!! You can cause damage if used otherwise.



Scenario 2:

Our CRV I lift from the rear trailing arm (where it attaches to the body) and under the front running boards where a lift point is specified after you install the running boards. So you can lift in that situation like you would any truck, from the frame.

On our Highlander, the only practical lift points are at the factory lift points (pinch welds) so I use these metal "pads" with integrated magnets, as well as the urethane "hockey" puck lift pads. Our LEAF EV is fully clad underneath with aero panels so again, you are restricted to lifting from the factory pinch weld jack pads. Keeping this free of rust in our region is very important as once they are rusted out, you are snookered for lifting without a complicated repair.



Once the car is up, you can always put a jack stand under the suspension points (A arm, trailing arm) typically where they mount to the body. You need to pay attention here as you don't want the stand under the suspension itself.

To be honest, I find having a two post hoist infinitely safer than a floor jack/stands as the vehicle is always being pulled sideways as you jack up...which in turn can create a dangerous situation with just one corner up on stand...particularly if you then jack up the other side. With a hoist, you're loading all four corners at the same time...

 

[fuggle]

I bought a bunch of hockey pucks off amazon (~$2/ea) and use the factory pinch weld point. Works for me.

 

[ecotec]

I bought a bunch of hockey pucks off amazon (~$2/ea) and use the factory pinch weld point. Works for me.

This is what I do. The made in Czech Republic practice pucks are $1.99 at ****’s.

 

[Sumboodie]

Thanks everyone.

Lots of good options thrown around. I will either jack just off of the designated pinch weld area with a pinch weld block with just enough to place a stand underneath the actual pinch weld lift area OR use the quickjack and just line up the front pinch weld and then let it lift from the rear pinch weld area just short of the designated area.


Do you use these on any cars/low vehicles? These looked great, but I'm not sure how you would get a sedan high enough to place them underneath. For SUVs though, this would be awesome.


Manual doesn't give any info...both owners manual and FSM. They show the vehicle with the four pinch weld areas circled and that's it. No reference to lift from bottom of pinch weld, flats near pinch weld, no alternative lifting points on front/rear subframe, suspension, etc. I've been looking up random unibody vehicles and a lot follow this pattern of only indicating the pinch weld points.

However, some vehicles like my miata do have a lift point diagram that clearly shows additional front and rear lift points on crossmembers AND the pinch weld lift points. Why can't all vehicles have this?


Sorry that the picture wasn't clear, but the factory scissor jack for the 2017 ford escape shown only contacts the bottom of the pinch weld. It's probably 1/2" off from touching the flat areas. This why it's confusing because some factory provided scissor jacks lift from bottom of pinch weld and others lift from flat area. Manual never specify which is actually right.

With those pinch weld pucks, do you have to get multiple sets with different heights? Every car would need a different height to reach up to the flats and a lot of cars also aren't even the height on each side of the pinch weld so you'd have to accommodate that as well.

Drive up on boards. I have to do that with my slammed G35. Only ~2" clearance for a jack.

 

[Katzen]

When in doubt, a subframe can almost always be a suitable jacking point, or place to put jack stands.