Question on Jack Stand Placement

[Jsf721]

I know the jack points for my cars and own the proper jack pads for each. I swap out my tires summer and snows. I do not own Jack stands and have been doing one tire at a time. I always stay clear in case of jack failure but I would like to take the tires all off and do a good post winter clean up of the car. So if I jack the car up at the jack point where do you place the jack stand?

I realize this may be a super dumb question but I don't know and in this case I don't trust some guy I don't know on google.

Thanks in advance for the guidance

 

[geneg]

I know the jack points for my cars and own the proper jack pads for each. I swap out my tires summer and snows. I do not own Jack stands and have been doing one tire at a time. I always stay clear in case of jack failure but I would like to take the tires all off and do a good post winter clean up of the car. So if I jack the car up at the jack point where do you place the jack stand?

I realize this may be a super dumb question but I don't know and in this case I don't trust some guy I don't know on google.

Thanks in advance for the guidance

Get or view a factory service manual for your vehicle. It will indicate the lift / support locations.

Although this site is different than generic search sites, your "my cars" needs to be qualified prior to asking for answers. Let us know what vehicles you own & someone here can more than likely help you.

 

[CamMark]

Not all, but many vehicles have center jack points front and rear. This is what I typically use to get a stand at each corner.

For the ones that don't have that provision, usually the frame/sub-frame at or near where it is bolted to the body is a sturdy spot for the jack. Still best to proceed with caution and get some model specific confirmation if you're unsure.

 

[supratreo]

that type of car? most you can jack from the rear diff if it has one. front subframe or crossmember if one is convenient.
if its unibody then the "frame rails" and do 1 side at a time.

 

[75gmck25]

Also consider your driveway material and the vehicle weight.

If I jack up the front of my 3/4 ton pickup from under the front differential it works nicely, but the wheels of the hydraulic jack usually start to sink right into the asphalt. Next time I will put the wheels on a 2"x8" to spread out the load on the asphalt surface. Rear tires are not a problem, since its much lighter in the rear.

 

[BrandonV]

Usually I like to lift just the front or the back but if you want to do just one at a time something like this can be handy.

https://www.amazon.com/Powerbuilt-620470-4000Lb-Unijack/dp/B00GJJZ5YC?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Jsf721]

Also consider your driveway material and the vehicle weight.

If I jack up the front of my 3/4 ton pickup from under the front differential it works nicely, but the wheels of the hydraulic jack usually start to sink right into the asphalt. Next time I will put the wheels on a 2"x8" to spread out the load on the asphalt surface. Rear tires are not a problem, since its much lighter in the rear.

I had that problem one summer night on the side of the road, I was jacking the jack into the asphalt ! So now I am all too aware.

 

[Jsf721]

that type of car? most you can jack from the rear diff if it has one. front subframe or crossmember if one is convenient.
if its unibody then the "frame rails" and do 1 side at a time.

My car is a 5 series BMW. Its in the shop now have the rear pinion and diff seals replaced. Wondering if the diff as a jack point caused the issue with weeping at seals. Car has 53K on the clock. Also getting 2 new thruster arms. Thankfully covered under my Geico 7/100K mechanical breakdown less the $ 250 deductible.

 

[PassnThru]

It's a big problem for unibody cars. I've searched for alternate jack/stand points on my unibody cars with very little success. If I'm raising the front end I usually look for a spot where the subframe bolts to the body.

 

[racecougar]

Info for your 5 series: https://g30.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1974910

EDIT: Are you italian926 on that page?

 

[Stuart in MN]

I have an older (e28) 5 series BMW. I typically use the differential to jack up the rear, and the center of the front subframe crossmember under the engine for jacking up the front.

 

[CraigStu]

My car is a 5 series BMW. Its in the shop now have the rear pinion and diff seals replaced. Wondering if the diff as a jack point caused the issue with weeping at seals. Car has 53K on the clock. Also getting 2 new thruster arms. Thankfully covered under my Geico 7/100K mechanical breakdown less the $ 250 deductible.

Jacking at the diff had nothing to do w/ the weeping seals. For swapping tires, just use the jack. No need for stands unless you will be going under the car. You might also want to grab one of these.

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

Having an extra jack comes in real handy. For your tire swaps or your more detailed cleaning, jacking one side of the car using a jack at both front and rear side points lets you get it up pretty high.

 

[Old Man Roger]

For unibody with no good jacking points, one side at a time works pretty good. You can usually lift both wheels at once using a piece of wood on the jack to spread the load.

 

[spazzyfry123]

Depends on the car of course, but Bimmer typically has a point near the motor and utilize the rear diff. Jack stands go at the specific points at the rail. You can see the front jack point under the motor in this picture.

 

[Jsf721]

Info for your 5 series: https://g30.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1974910

EDIT: Are you italian926 on that page?

Nope- Not me

 

[Jsf721]

Jacking at the diff had nothing to do w/ the weeping seals. For swapping tires, just use the jack. No need for stands unless you will be going under the car. You might also want to grab one of these.

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

Having an extra jack comes in real handy. For your tire swaps or your more detailed cleaning, jacking one side of the car using a jack at both front and rear side points lets you get it up pretty high.

I have a similar jack from them

 

[racecougar]

Nope- Not me

Ok. Just saw a lot of similarities in the post, title, vehicle, and location. Looks like you have a twin out there.

 

[supratreo]

My car is a 5 series BMW. Its in the shop now have the rear pinion and diff seals replaced. Wondering if the diff as a jack point caused the issue with weeping at seals. Car has 53K on the clock. Also getting 2 new thruster arms. Thankfully covered under my Geico 7/100K mechanical breakdown less the $ 250 deductible.

unless you put the jack on the pinion flange i don't see it causing your leak. that said, always use a block of wood because most diffs now are aluminum and you don't want to risk cracking it with the steel jack pad. also, there should be a small plastic jack point under the front. unfortunately it will probably be deep in so you'll need a long reach jack or drive up on blocks. if it doesn't have that jack point, just find a solid point on the subframe.

 

[CraigStu]

Just to ad a caution for people reading this that may have cars other than a BMW 5 series. W/ modern cars you can't assume it is OK to jack at the center of a crossmember/subframe especially if it is aluminum. The crossmembers on my 19 Stingray are aluminum and look almost scary because they are hollow and have quite a few what I might call lightening holes also. I have made up a 2x6 for the front and a different one for the rear to spread the jacking load across the entire crossmember.

 

[MikeC55]

I've never had any problem on a non-rusted unibody car lifting at the pinch weld on rocker panel. It is the jacking point on many cars. This is using a hydraulic jack or on the 2 post lift. If the car has structural rust in the rockers, all bets are off...

 

[Colin Len]

It's a big problem for unibody cars. I've searched for alternate jack/stand points on my unibody cars with very little success. If I'm raising the front end I usually look for a spot where the subframe bolts to the body.

That's interesting, other than my Tacoma all I've ever owned have been unibody cars and I've never had an issue. There has always been a front (center) and rear (center) jack point available to lift with my floor jack and then a place (usually reinforced pinch weld for where the OEM spare tire jack would go) for a jack stand at each corner. If no reinforced pinch weld location then there's usually a spot on the frame indicated by the manufacturer (often near where a control arm or subframe will bolt to the unibody).

As the others have said, just research the specific car. Older cars it's often obvious where the jacking points are but my experience with newer cars is that it is fairly ambiguous unless you're familiar with that specific make or model. Your owner's manual should have the info.

 

[PassnThru]

Not sure what cars you've had but out of the last four unibody vehicles I have owned they explicitly state to only jack the vehicle at the approved jack points - the normal pinch weld spots close to the tires - and do not list any alternatives. I have not only looked at the manual but I've done web searches on those cars which, as always, turns up some questionable info. All of those have been domestic models - were all of your cars not domestic? It might be a Toyota thing but it's certainly not a domestic thing.

 

[racecougar]

Not sure what cars you've had but out of the last four unibody vehicles I have owned they explicitly state to only jack the vehicle at the approved jack points - the normal pinch weld spots close to the tires - and do not list any alternatives. I have not only looked at the manual but I've done web searches on those cars which, as always, turns up some questionable info. All of those have been domestic models - were all of your cars not domestic? It might be a Toyota thing but it's certainly not a domestic thing.

What cars? SN95 Mustang and earlier, MN12 Thunderbird/Cougar, FN10 Mark VIII, Jeep WK2, and many many many more domestic unibody vehicles have central front and rear jack points.

 

[Chipm]

As said above, many modern unibody cars do not have a lot of good options here. Quickjack is a great solution if you plan to get all four wheels off the ground somewhat frequently.

 

[theoldwizard1]

The best place in the front of the vehicle to place a jack stand is directly under where a the lower control arm attaches to the subframe/body.

More variability in the rear, but again, where the control arm/leaf spring attaches to the subframe/body.

I have a 4"x6"x10" block of wood that I made a wide, deep grove lengthwise grove in. I use it as a jack pad in the center of the car, placing the grove under the body seam.

 

[Colin Len]

Not sure what cars you've had but out of the last four unibody vehicles I have owned they explicitly state to only jack the vehicle at the approved jack points - the normal pinch weld spots close to the tires - and do not list any alternatives. I have not only looked at the manual but I've done web searches on those cars which, as always, turns up some questionable info. All of those have been domestic models - were all of your cars not domestic? It might be a Toyota thing but it's certainly not a domestic thing.

That's a good point to make - my experience is 100% Japanese. I don't see myself ever owning any domestic cars (perhaps a domestic truck or large SUV). The only exception here is my FIL's C8 corvette, which I haven't jacked up yet but have googled a bit because I'll be helping him with a project soon. This car makes lifting it kinda complicated and requires special "pucks" to be put in place but still has additional front/rear jack points that can be used.

I do find it a bit hard to believe still though that they don't have front/rear jack points. But I would have said the same about the new trend of disappearing spare tires on new vehicles. My issue with the newer cars I've worked on is that the front jacking point seems to be moving further and further back (think under firewall rather than under radiator support). This can make it tough to get to the jacking point.

Post up some specific makes/models. I'm always interested to learn more about this kinda thing.

 

[CraigStu]

What I see is a subframe that is strong enough to take the suspension loads but not, at a specific point strong enough to hold up 50% of the car's weight. My wife's 2010 Mustang had a typical rectangular front subframe w/ a tail off each rear corner going back maybe 8" and out a little toward the rocker panel. At the end there was a nice cup shape stamped into it and a nice big bolt head that attached it to the unibody. That cup and bolt were a perfect match for one of my jack pads so that is where I jacked it. One day I got in the passenger side as my wife was driving and thought the floor just ahead of the seat seemed high. Is it high or is it just that I don't ride here often? Later I checked it out and sure enough my jacking had pushed the floor up almost 3/4 inch. My thinking was that that tail was there to help stabilize the subframe in a left/right or front/rear direction but was never meant to be strong in an up/down direction.

 

[racecougar]

What I see is a subframe that is strong enough to take the suspension loads but not, at a specific point strong enough to hold up 50% of the car's weight. My wife's 2010 Mustang had a typical rectangular front subframe w/ a tail off each rear corner going back maybe 8" and out a little toward the rocker panel. At the end there was a nice cup shape stamped into it and a nice big bolt head that attached it to the unibody. That cup and bolt were a perfect match for one of my jack pads so that is where I jacked it. One day I got in the passenger side as my wife was driving and thought the floor just ahead of the seat seemed high. Is it high or is it just that I don't ride here often? Later I checked it out and sure enough my jacking had pushed the floor up almost 3/4 inch. My thinking was that that tail was there to help stabilize the subframe in a left/right or front/rear direction but was never meant to be strong in an up/down direction.

You can place the jack under the center of the K-member on that S197 and lift the front of the car.

 

[PassnThru]

Post up some specific makes/models. I'm always interested to learn more about this kinda thing.

Currently two vehicles - a 2008 Ford Taurus and a 2022 Ford Explorer. We did own two Chrysler minivans before the Explorer and I never found a point for them either but didn't look into it too much as I never needed to do any work requiring jack stands.
On the Taurus - I have placed jack stands where the front subframe bolts to the body without any physical damage but again it's not an approved point in the manual. As stated above on the Mustang - it may hold it up but will some body bending occur? You don't know until you try. He made a very good point about the subframe not necessarily being designed for that particular load.

 

[racecougar]

Currently two vehicles - a 2008 Ford Taurus and a 2022 Ford Explorer. We did own two Chrysler minivans before the Explorer and I never found a point for them either but didn't look into it too much as I never needed to do any work requiring jack stands.
On the Taurus - I have placed jack stands where the front subframe bolts to the body without any physical damage but again it's not an approved point in the manual. As stated above on the Mustang - it may hold it up but will some body bending occur? You don't know until you try. He made a very good point about the subframe not necessarily being designed for that particular load.

Not sure if you're on TCCA or not, but the front of your Taurus can be raised by placing the jack in the center of the front subframe, and the rear by placing the jack under a short board spanning the subframe flanges in the center where the LCA's attach. Place your jack stands in the designated pinch weld locations.

The Explorer is a known PITA for raising if you're stuck using a floor jack.

 

[CraigStu]

You can place the jack under the center of the K-member on that S197 and lift the front of the car.

Yes but then the jack is in the way of drain pan etc. After I realized my error and fixed it, I started doing the center jack and then a stand at both pinch weld jack points. Did the job fine of course but was more work.

 

[racecougar]

Yes but then the jack is in the way of drain pan etc. After I realized my error and fixed it, I started doing the center jack and then a stand at both pinch weld jack points. Did the job fine of course but was more work.

Wait. You really shouldn't be under there without jack stands. Were you just using the jack alone?

 

[CraigStu]

Wait. You really shouldn't be under there without jack stands. Were you just using the jack alone?

No there was a stand in there somewhere. This was 2015 and prior so 10 yrs ago. I actually don't remember details. My main point was to illustrate that one needs to be careful when choosing subframe/crossmemeber spots for a jack.

 

[PassnThru]

Not sure if you're on TCCA or not, but the front of your Taurus can be raised by placing the jack in the center of the front subframe, and the rear by placing the jack under a short board spanning the subframe flanges in the center where the LCA's attach. Place your jack stands in the designated pinch weld locations.

The Explorer is a known PITA for raising if you're stuck using a floor jack.

Thanks - I'll check that out. Due to it's age I'm more likely at this point to have the Taurus up in the air than the Explorer - it's still under warranty. I like my 07 Explorer - there is no shortage of jack and stand points on it.

 

[csp]

With that said, always use a block of wood because most diffs now are aluminum and you don't want to risk cracking it with the steel jack pad.

Are you somehow hammering on the diff housing with that steel jack pad? If an aluminum diff housing is going to crack it's because of the weight on it, not the type of material that's under it and lifting it up. A wood block isn't going to change the weight/pressure on it.

 

[GRN96WS6]

Depends on the car of course, but Bimmer typically has a point near the motor and utilize the rear diff. Jack stands go at the specific points at the rail. You can see the front jack point under the motor in this picture.

BMW probably makes it the easiest to jack up, side note what is that shield? I can't make out the name on it.

 

[supratreo]

Are you somehow hammering on the diff housing with that steel jack pad? If an aluminum diff housing is going to crack it's because of the weight on it, not the type of material that's under it and lifting it up. A wood block isn't going to change the weight/pressure on it.

a jack pad usually isn't a flat surface it would have 2-4 smaller sections that actually make contact, if one of those points is supporting the load of the car then yes, you can crack it. i've see it done with diffs and transmissions.

 

[rharman]

Not sure what cars you've had but out of the last four unibody vehicles I have owned they explicitly state to only jack the vehicle at the approved jack points - the normal pinch weld spots close to the tires - and do not list any alternatives. I have not only looked at the manual but I've done web searches on those cars which, as always, turns up some questionable info. All of those have been domestic models - were all of your cars not domestic? It might be a Toyota thing but it's certainly not a domestic thing.

My Ridgeline has a centerpoint front & rear as well as the jack points at each wheel.

 

[rharman]

Also consider your driveway material and the vehicle weight.

If I jack up the front of my 3/4 ton pickup from under the front differential it works nicely, but the wheels of the hydraulic jack usually start to sink right into the asphalt. Next time I will put the wheels on a 2"x8" to spread out the load on the asphalt surface. Rear tires are not a problem, since its much lighter in the rear.

I had that problem one summer night on the side of the road, I was jacking the jack into the asphalt ! So now I am all too aware.

@75gmck25 - Our driveway is pavers. When I've used the floor jack, I put a small (2'x4') piece of OSB down.

@Jsf721 - Which is why I made this. 12" diameter 3/4" plywood. 3/8-16 tee-nuts to anchor the jack. Hope I never need to use it on the side of the road.

 

[Bill T]

Jacking at the diff had nothing to do w/ the weeping seals. For swapping tires, just use the jack. No need for stands unless you will be going under the car. You might also want to grab one of these.

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

Having an extra jack comes in real handy. For your tire swaps or your more detailed cleaning, jacking one side of the car using a jack at both front and rear side points lets you get it up pretty high.

Even if you are too lazy to transfer the load to the jack stand, you should always use a jack stand. In the original post, the writer stated he was going to perform post-winter cleaning. This implies that they will place their body under the raised vehicle. Never, never trust a jack alone if you are placing body parts under the vehicle. You might get away without using a jack stand 999 times, then have a jack fail on # 1000. After that incident (if you survive) your nickname might be Lefty or Hoppy.