Lifting location for 2 post lifts?

The oil filter wrench is a 64mm. I tried a standard 65mm and had it slip on me.

Search on here for the lift points. There is a really good photo on here showing the underside of the Prius on a lift and will show clearly the lift points.

 

I just had my two post lift installed a few months ago and have only used it for the Prius a couple of times. I put the lifting pads right where the four jacking points are and had no problems.

I had trouble with the 65 mm filter tool also so I bought one of these, which is 64 mm and works better.
Assenmacher Specialty Tools TOY 640 Oil Filter Socket Wrench for Toyota/Lexus : Amazon.com : Automotive

 

This one's pretty good....

 

That one is probably better than the one that I remember for showing the lift points.

 

The hatched areas are what I'm using. Pretty much per the pic. The rear safety stand points on the "rocker panel" edge, as proscribed in the Owners Manual, are ok: the loading is relatively light.

But, per the pic, I'm not using the front rocker panel points; it just seems too much of a knife edge, with the weight of the front end. My safety stands (and me) start getting skittish, LOL. So I put the front safety stands at the leading end of a sort of rectangular rail running along the underbody.

I've marked up the pic, hopefully clarifies. The hatched zones are where I put my stands:

 

Hi Mendel, I'm about due for my first, non-Toyota-Care tire rotation so I searched for jack points and found this thread. If I'm not mistaken, the front points you're using (and as shown in the lift picture) are right on the big bolt holding the back of the front control arms, correct? I can't see the bolts in the photo because the lift arm is in the way.

In the back, I'm thinking right under the suspension spring (in the pocket the spring is sitting on) which has the benefit that you only need to raise that corner an inch or so because the sprint stays compressed.

I hate using the factory jacking points on any car because usually the weenie jack that comes with the car actually lifts just on either size of the seam, and doesn't actually put weight on the edge itself.

Doing a tire rotation also means I'll be able to attempt to reproduce your "donut spare versus regular tire" measurments

 

This is the latest, what I've settled on. The orientation of the rectangles show the orientation of my safety stand cradles as well. In all cases the cradles are going across a peak of metal, and it is heavier gauge, sturdy. Works a charm. I typically chock rear tires, raise at the front central jacking point, put in front stands, then raise rear at rear central jacking point, put in in rear stands.

 

So I just laid down in the driveway and crawled under the car with cell phone in hand, happy I live in the woods and the neighbors can't see

It looks like the bracket behind the front suspension arm is a bit different on my car, and may block the point you're using. But that whole area is where the front subframe bolts onto the unibody so it should be pretty stout, and in that photo the lift is definitely on the mounting bolt for the control arm.

I'm partial to using one of the bolts, as that's what I'm used to using on our escape, and that is recommended by Ford in the owner's manual.

I really like the rear point you pointed out, somehow I missed that in the sea of plastic under the car.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

At the rear points are obllong slots, that I believe are used as locking pins during shipping. I've noticed similar on a civic, btw. The area is beefed up, extra layers, heavy plate.

On the front the point is basically at the front end of a "rail" that runs some length of the underbody. It's mostly covered in plastic, but there's an inch or two near the front end where you can place cradle. Here's a better pic, in use:


(shot near drivers side front wheel well, looking diagonally back towards passenger side rear)

 

I ended up using the control arm mount because it was the best fit for my jack, though the rails would probably work very well for jack stands as in your picture. Here was my setup, with your photo inserted and what I think is the "Mendel Point" shown by the red rectangle. Note that the three-bolt bracket is different on our cars, but uses the same 3 mounting point. They must have decided at some point that three sides are better than two This was taken from a different angle than yours, passenger side looking forward. The bolt at the top of your photo is the bolt right behind the jack in mine.



From the wheel well it looks like this:



At the rear, the spring pocket worked very well, though it's actually quite flat on the bottom and not really pocket shaped:



So it looks like there's several viable options for lifting a Prius depending on whether you're using a jack and/or stands, and what you're trying to accomplish.

 

guess you have your place in (prius) history right now /

 

@tpenny67 are you jacking up one corner at a time?

You're correct regarding my front safety stand placement point.

I jack the (Toyota proscribed) front centre point, then put in the front safety stands, repeat on rear. So end up with the whole car up, for tire rotation I use smaller safety stands, aim for maybe an inch clear from tire to slab.

Also your rear jacking point is "sprung" I think? Not sure of the implications.

 

Yes, one corner at a time. Jacking on an unsprung point has its advantages. You don't have to lift as far, and on some cars it unloads the ball joint so any pay will be more obvious.

BTW, the body is sprung, the wheels are un sprung.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Yeah good points. See that now, especially last sentence.

 

Excellent Work People!

 

@Mendel Leisk curious about an update. I presume still no damage caused using your jack stand points?

I jacked up the front of my car yesterday and used the knife edge points for jack stands. I did not like that. Because of how low the car is and therefore how steep an angle it takes when jacking up, the stands wanted to walk as I lowered the car onto them and I couldn't get the front passenger stand to keep all four feet on the pavement. Definitely going to try your points next time.

 

Darn. I commented on the wrong thread. Meant to comment on this one. Prius Jackstand position | PriusChat
Oh well.

 

Yes no problems here. Did an oil change using the alternate points a few days back. They are heavy gauge, front end of longitudinal underbody ridges, about 1.5” wide, and the ends flare through a curve, so even with the cars tilt the safety stand cradle sits solidly.