Where are jack stands placed?

[Palmetto]

I've read my owner's manual regarding the use of a floor jack to get the car up in the air and then using jack stands to maintain the lift.

The owner's manual shows where to lift the car with the jack but does not show me where to position the jack stands on either side, front or rear.

A picture is worth....well, you know. I'm about to buy some ramps for personnal safety sake, unless someone can help me out here.

Thanks :-)

[Patrick Wong]

The jack stands should be placed at the same points that you would use the jack supplied with the vehicle. In other words, between the pairs of notches on the rail that runs along the length of the body. You can find these pairs on the rail behind the front tire and in front of the rear tire.

However, if your jack stands do not have a ridge to fit the rail, then you may cause minor damage to the paint and undercoating on the rail.

[Palmetto]

My jack stands don't have notches that fit the Prius.

Be that as it may, thanks for your help. Since the manual makes the direct statement to use jack stands I am suprised it doesn't offer directions on where to support the weight of the car.

Then again, maybe it's intuitive and am I'm a bit thick! I'll attempt an engine block heater this week. Since I'm having trouble with step 1 (getting under the car)...wish me luck on the EBH install. :-)

[john1701a]

Use the frame, along the side of the vehicle inward about a foot from the door bottoms.

The changing oil document shows photos of this.

.

[hobbit]

Those seams where the supplied jack fits around are called
"pinch welds" in the trade, and almost every car body has
them. They're where a lot of metal comes together and is
more or less the body frame of the car. As Patrick points
out, it's a half-inch of various layers of steel sticking
straight down and obviously if you push straight up on
that it's an inherently unstable situation -- any deflection
right or left enough to start bending the flange will want to
let the weight continue and bend it over 90 degrees and
settle onto the thicker part. That's why the jack brackets
around the weld itself and bears upward on the thicker, more
boxy section the weld hangs down from.
.
But garages put cars up on these welds all the time, and say
there's nothing wrong with it. After having them put my own
car up on the lift a couple of times at the training seminars,
my pinch-welds are showing a little abuse and the layers have
been spread apart a little here and there. The jack I use at
home still fits around it, but barely. Sometimes the garage
guys toss a piece of 2x4 under there between the lift pad and
the car so a little of the stress on the seam is relieved, or
at least stabilized, as it digs its own little notch into the
wood. They're *supposed* to use notched rubber blocks on these,
which accomodate the shape of the pinch weld and is even shown
in the Toyota service manual under "lift points" [see the
training slides], but apparently nobody in the real-life
industry bothers.
.
So jackstands with flattish tops would not only abuse the weld
flanges but have a certain tendency for it to slide off; the
heavier, more "professional" stands might have a more compatible
shape or come with an assortment of headpieces to adapt. My
old JC-cheezoid stands don't even fit under the car after it's
raised, so I use a couple of big blocks of wood as a safety
once it's high enough for what I need to do, but leave the
jack in place as the primary support.
.
_H*

[edthefox5]

My 07 has 2 tow hooks under the front in front of both wheels poking out from all the plastic covers. Been jacking up the front of the car for about 8 months now with my standard rolling floor jack which rolls under the front perfectly and jack away on those tow points with no problem. There very strong. Most import cars them. Its quick & easy. I throw down some rubber work mats for the knee's I bought at Home Depot...roll the jack in...jack er up..put stands under there. Takes all of 30 seconds.

[dogfriend]

Originally Posted by Palmetto

A picture is worth....well, you know. I'm about to buy some ramps for personnal safety sake, unless someone can help me out here.

Thanks :-)

Jacking / Lifting points on your Prius

[jayman]

Originally Posted by hobbit

They're *supposed* to use notched rubber blocks on these,
which accomodate the shape of the pinch weld and is even shown
in the Toyota service manual under "lift points" [see the
training slides], but apparently nobody in the real-life
industry bothers.

H

True enough. The industry also insists on using an impact gun to tighten lugnuts, although more are starting to use the torque sticks

I have an assortment of heavy duty jack stands and hydraulic floor jacks at my hobby farm. I'm pretty anal about using the supplied headpiece rubber adapters, and have *never* noticed any deformation

One thing I would worry about with continued metal-to-metal contact spreading the seam is creating a place on the unitbody for corrosion to gain a foothold. If you live in an area with frequent winter road salt use, that should be a concern

I only jack up my Prius twice a year, to swap the "all season" tires/wheels for the studded winter tires/wheels. Using the proper headpiece adapter, the job goes quickly and smoothly

Otherwise, for working on my Prius I have that ramp made out of old railway ties at my hobby farm. I can keep the car almost perfectly level once up on the ramp, and have almost 34 inches clearance under it. Makes the WS fluid change a lot easier

jay

[Palmetto]

Jay,

Regarding the use of jack stands, if I knew how to enter a quote I would add here "I'm pretty anal about using the supplied headpiece rubber adapters"...

Where did you get these rubber adapters?

Regards,
Jeff

[jayman]

Originally Posted by Palmetto

Where did you get these rubber adapters?

Regards,
Jeff

Jeff

I'm currently away on business, should be back late next Tuesday. I purchased trade quality stands, and they came with a couple different rubber headpieces. At better trade and pro stores, I've also seen a wide assortment of headpieces and adapters

jay