Not impressed with side jacking points on G3

I am referring to the 4 jacking points on the framerail, on the sides of the car, between the wheels. The steel is straight, and doesn't feel overly thick. My reservation is not that they won't support the weight of the car while lifting only one wheel at the time, but rather, the repeated jacking may allow rust and corrosion due to metal to metal contact.

So I finally scored a low profile alum floor jack with a rubber pad. I placed a scrap piece of maple with a groove cut in it to go between the jack and the metal. I practiced a few times and the paint did come off a bit. I also tried the bare rubber pad of the jack itself, but because the jacking points are thin, it almost cuts the rubber pad. Finally, I settled on a hockey puck.

In comparison, my wife's Acura has much sturdier jacking points. The metal is folded into a butt joint (a small "L") so the contact point against the jack is much wider than the relative knife-edge on the Prius.

The alternate jacking points in the center of the car, front and back, lifts the an entire end at a time. However, I would want to support the car with jackstands under the side jack points, which still leaves me with metal to metal contact.

It's a small thing and it wouldn't have costed Toyota anything to fold the steel into something thicker. This would allow winter swaps and wheel rotations with little to no risk of damage to the car.

 

I have come across those pads in my research for a floor jack. However, the contact points of the car against the pads are not consistent in sturdiness. On inner side of the pinch weld, it feels solid. On the outer side, the rubber jackpad would push up against the plastic mounts of the side skirts. If I push hard with my thumb, there is some give and I'm afraid to load it there. I suppose if I cut two of four supports lower, then the taller ones would be load-bearing on the inside of the pinch weld.


However, those jackstand pads are promising. Thanks!

 

The Prius' supplied scissor jack is very much the same, sitting not the pinch weld.

I think I'll try the center jacking points. I'm just removing the wheels with an impact wrench, so it's not like I'm torquing the bolts while it's in the air. So even without jackstands, it should be stable enough. I won't crawl under the car or torque bolts back on while jacked up.