$38.99 Craftsman Floor Jack and Stands at Sears

I find that a 2 ton floor jack is marginal for lifting the front at the jack point. I hope that yours is "sufficient". Next time I would opt for a three ton jack.

JeffD

 

An excellent price point.

Personally, I would look for a jack that has a larger-diameter lifting saddle, to spread the load over a larger area. Since the OP already made his purchase, I suggest he use a block of wood between the jack saddle and the car to achieve a similar result.

Further, a jack with a longer handle will allow you to place the jack further under the car and the longer handle results in greater leverage, hence it is easier to lift a given weight.

 

I bought the combo at regular price and it works well for my Prius:

 

Get a few 2x8's and make one or two step ramps, really minor/easy amount of raise. Drive your front wheels onto those and then you should be ok. With that amount of lift you should have a little leeway: and if so, I'd recommend to slip a hockey puck into the jack cradle, to avoid chewing up the front jacking point metal.

Maybe goes without saying, but anyways: when lowering the car don't neglect to lower them back onto those ramps.

I used that sort of lightweight jack for years, but with a previous vehicle we had I needed more lift, so ended up getting a 3 ton jack with unloaded max height of around 21". It's also more solid feeling. OTOH, it's also more of a handful, and lightweight jacks can get the job done.

Also, sooner or later you'll likely want to put the whole car up on (4) jackstands, just for something like snow tire swap, for instance.

And: I'm finding the underbody rails much more stable than the rocker panel jack points. I put my safety stands just at their front ends. They're about a 10~12" inboard of the rocker panel edge.

 

I see no problem. In fact I will lift the entire side of the car using one hydraulic floor jack with a length of 2x4 to spread the load across the body. This makes it easy to rotate tires front to back and vice-versa.

 

First of all I learned all this from PriusChat members, especially Patrick. If you look at the picture I posted earlier closely you can see I positioned the jack under the "welded cross" of a rectangular beam that runs down the length of the car at each side of the car. It is more toward the center of the car from the Toyota official jack points (the rectangular shaded area in the picture you posted above). I raise one side at a time and put jack stands under the official jack points (pictures below). If you are just rotating tires then there is no need to raise both sides up and this way (raising one side at a time) is more convenient than raising from the official front and back center jack points.

I think having some rubber between the metals should help stability (so the car won't slide off). Hope this helps. Good luck and be safe!

 

Push it real hard!

No I think we need to use a hammer and something to knock and bend it and it is supposed to be one time deal, not reversible, so make sure the parts are assembled correctly before starting to bend it. I was too lazy to do mine and have learned to carry the stands carefully so the two pieces don't separate (if they do then one of them may drop on my toes ).

I haven't done this but I think it should be fine. I would also stick something sturdy and thicker than me under the car if I crawl under there. Here I use my homemade wood ramps:

 

1) This relates to the insertion of the top portion of the jackstand into the base. The idea of depressing the metal tab is to prevent the top portion from sliding out of the base, should you hold the jackstand upside down. All you need to do is to use a hammer and large screwdriver or chisel to depress the metal tab so that the top won't fall out of the base. Once the tab is depressed, you are not supposed to try to reverse that.

I would recommend that you bend that tab as this is a safety issue. Someone else may use your jackstands and may be careless, holding them upside down. Then their feet will be nailed by the jackstand top.

2) It is fine to lift one corner at a time when placing the jackstands.

 

What are you trying to get to that you just want the front of the car raised? I found the best jacks for the Prius are the low profile floor jacks - sometimes called racing jacks. I picked one up from Harbor Freight for around $85, and have an old set of stands that my brother decided he didn't want anymore that I use. The only reason I jack the car up is to do the winter tire swap, though. Oil changes I drive up the Rhino Ramps, with a piece of 2x6 in front of each tire.

 

I lift mine one wheel at a time like that. Unfortunately my carport has enough slope (right to left) that it's not safe to try and lift the whole front end on jack/stands (because of the sideways forces due to the slope).

I will lift an entire side (either left or right) as the two tires on the other side are firmly grounded and can take any lateral forces. I still do it one wheel at a time though. I jack the rear wheel and place a stand, then move the jack to the front wheel and repeat.

Does anyone have any idea of what the maximum left-right slope for which it's safe to jack/stand the entire front end? I'd guess you'd want something that's pretty close to dead flat.

 

Is that Pic a Prius? Doesn't look right: front central jacking point is not that far back. The Prius front jacking point is just a little over a foot back, 18" at the most: a raised black metal zone, protrudes through the engine undercover.

OTOH, if you're having trouble with the jack handle tapping the front bumper, you'll find it impossible for sure with the rear central jacking point: it's way under. Even with my 3 ton the whole jack more-or-less disappears under the vehicle, and the handle travel is very limitted.

I think that Pic is a RAV or something, it's saying rear differential.

 

Looks exactly the same as my gen 2 Prius. Your gen 3 may be different?

 

You are correct. The diagram of the vehicle in the Prius repair manual is slightly different and the rear jacking point is not identified as the rear differential.

With 2G Prius, the center rear jacking point is the bottom of the inverted tower that points downwards from the body; while the center front jacking point is the X-shaped subframe.