What Jack do I use?

I bought a combo of 1 floor jack with 2 stands at Sears when it was on sale. Works great so far.

 

Sounds like a little Jack Daniels is in order...

 

not sure what you want to jack it up for. i suppose the tin can one that comes with the car is for emergency use only, but i use it to rotate my tires. i would never climb under the car with that jack or any other for that matter without jack stands.

 

HUH? The manual I have with my 2007 doesn't say anything remotely like that. How about letting the rest of us know where the manual "clearly" says that (or words close to that)?

 

I believe what they are getting at is that you cannot use the jack that came with the car (which is used at the 4 wheel-specific lift points) to get jackstands in place (because the jack stands use the same points). Therefore, you should only use the supplied jack to change a flat, not to crawl under.

To crawl under, use a floor jack to lift front, place two stands, lift back, place two stands.

 

While we are discussing jacks and jacking does the Gen. II have a single jack point in the front and rear to be used with a floor jack like how my Gen. III does? I think that that is smart how they integrated the jack points in to the design. Jack up one end insert jack stands on sides at tire changing jack points then repeat for opposite side. Very easy to put up the entire car for maintenance.

 

On pages 423-424 in the Owner's Manual they show how to use a floor jack to raise the vehicle and show the front and rear locations of the jacking points under the car to be used with "floor jacks". They state not to use the scissor jack that came with the vehicle for this purpose as this jack does not have capacity to lift the entire front or rear of the vehicle.

The scissor jack that came with the vehicle is meant to be used for jacking up one tire at a time for changing flat tires. There are 4 jacking points shown on the sides of the vehicle for this purpose.

As for a good floor jack, a 3-ton hydraulic jack can be found at Sears, Harbor Freight, Advance Auto or Auto Zone. These are sometime sold in combo sets with two jack stands.

 

sears.

 

Yep, the Prius owner's manual is not the world's best example of translated technical writing. In comparison the manual for the Honda Civic is a miracle of organization and clarity.

 

The OP has a Gen. II. I was trying to figure if they have the same single front and rear single jack point as our Gen. III's do?

 

I bought my 2-1/4 ton Allied Hydraulic floor jack (made in China) from Costco around 20 years ago and it continues to work well. It is not particularly lightweight though, as it is made of steel.

G2 does not have a single designated jackpoint on the side of the car. However if I wish to raise up one side of the Prius, I will just use a length of 2x4 on the hydraulic jack saddle to spread the load, and lift the car forward of the midpoint with the 2x4 supporting the rail that runs along the edge of the body.

The reason for lifting forward of the midpoint is that there's more weight on the front of the car. Then jackstands can be placed at the official jacking points to hold up that side of the car.

 

If this is for home use, Sears, $39.99, a 2-1/4 ton Floor Jack, oh, it's just perfect!

Here's the Jack URL

Sears: Online department store featuring appliances, tools, fitness equipment and more

While your there, another $22.49 gets you a nice pair of matching Jack Stands!

Here's the Jack Stand URL

Sears: Online department store featuring appliances, tools, fitness equipment and more

 

That is a good choice. Notice however, that the lifting saddle is pretty small. I assume that the handle is going to be shorter than normal, since the jack weighs only 33 lb. So more force will be needed to lift a given load - compared to a normal-sized hydraulic floor jack.

Here is an alternative jack from the Craftsman line which has a larger jack saddle and a longer handle, both of which I think are more useful for auto repair purposes. However it weighs 3x the other jack.
Sears: Online department store featuring appliances, tools, fitness equipment and more

 

^^^Mahalo^^^

Howzit Patrick,

What about the ends front and rear?

The G3's have two jacking points underneath for use with floor jacks one in the front and one in the rear they are not on the sides. If using those jack points you could lift both of the tires the two fronts or the two rears simultaneously depending on the jack point used. So you can jack either end up place your jack stands on the sides at the appropriate emergency jacking point and then lift the opposite end the place your other jack stands and rotate your tires or change your oil with plenty of room under the car. Here is a pic of me jacking the back end up with rear jack point the front is on ramps and there are jack stands placed at the rear tire changing jack points left/right.

 

Well, compare that price to ~$300 for either of these aluminum jacks.
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00950244000P?prdNo=5&blockNo=5&blockType=G5

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00970798000P?prdNo=14&blockNo=14&blockType=G14

Yes, G2 is similar. The rear jacking point is an inverted metal tower while the front jacking point is at the center of the front suspension cross member.

Looks like something nasty was stuck to your LR tire tread...

 

Cool it sounds like the G2 and G3 jacking points are very similar if not the same. It was probably a rock in my tire I have a gravel driveway.