Brian S

I bought me a 2-ton Jack combo (Jack, stands, chocks) from Wal-Mart for $30. I'll be using these guys to put my summer tires back on and maybe do some minor work on my old Ford. The intructions did not provide much help as to where to put the jack under your car (read the auto manual). I know there's a place on the car to put the spare tire jack. I figure I'll put the stands there to support the car while working, but then where do I jack up the car at? Is any major frame structure okay?

Thanks,

Brian

Brian S

I put the summer tires on today. It seems the area around where the spare jack goes is OK to jack up. I just stuck the floor jack a few inches down from the spare tire jack area, jacked it up, then put the jack stands where the spare tire jack normally goes. Seemed to work fine. There's some sheet metal that might have been crinkled just a bit, but some was already when the mod people lifted my car. I figure this is normal.

Brian

bmm89

Brian,
Sorry haven't checked the site in a while... but your right, that's where i jacked up the car too. Did not dent the slots though, i think they are there to guide the emergency jack anyway so no biggy. That seems like a major crossmember and is suppose to support the weight. I used two short 2x4's between the slot so as to not damage anything. But i have to say, the gs is the hardest car to use a reg. jack on that i have ever owned. Usually there's tow points or centrally located members where i can jack up the whole front or rear with just one jack, but seems like you need alot more work for a lexus. Well, besides having a fully rack anyway.

Brian S

Yea, I looked around for other areas to jack the car up, but there didn't appear to be any safe and convienent places. My system seems to work, but would be nice to do it without any metal crinkle. What exactly did do you do with the 2x4s? I have practically no experience with this stuff, but I would think there would be a few flat areas under the car safe for jacking.

Brian

P.S. When I say crinkle, I mean pretty minor. I was actually pretty impressed by the strength of that steel. I essentially had the full load of the corner of the car sitting on a jack stand where one of the peices where the metal wasn't slotted and the metal didn't bend.

bmm89

I basically put two 2x4's between the slotted area, much like the emergency jack does. I believe it's on the emergency jack to prevent it from slipping and so it's easy to locate the jack points. This effectively prevented any "crinkling" and was quite safe. But still would prefer one point where the entire front can be jacked up. I have a hd 4 ton jack so it's no problem, but still... one corner at a time and then also finding a place to put the jack stands is not something i feel completely safe to do. Changing the tire is one thing, but when rotating.oil change, it becomes more of an inconvenience, but since we're doing this ourselves anyway, i guess i can live with it.

Brian S

Hmmm, I figure you have to put the 2x4 on the 2", since the 4" side would be too wide to put under the jack area. Wouldn't the 2x4s have a tendency to want to flop?

Brian

theanimala

I had to jack up my rear left tire when it went flat a couple of months ago. I placed the jack at the little 'slot', and I did not feel very comfortable with how it went. Lots of weird noises, and a little piece of plastic shot out at me. Not sure where it came from...

Anyway, I got it up as quick as I could and changed the tire. I'm hoping to never have to jack up the front of the car.

Brian S

There seems to be polyurethane/plastic on part of the area where you jack. I expect that the main support is right underneath. The spare tire jack doesn't look like it would be too sturdy, but so long as you don't go rocking your car, it should be fine. I used to change all four of my tires last fall and it went fine. I've also had odd creaks, but nothing flying at me.

Brian

Johnny Mo

Hey everyone - I had the same concern with my floor jack - (3 ton Craftsman - arh - arh -arh my best Tim Allen impression) - anyway, I got this catalog in the mail for the Eastwood Company - they sell all kinds of cool things for auto shop/car restoration type stuff. They have a thing called a pinch weld adapter for hydraulic floor jacks. It works like a charm. Click here:
http://www.eastwoodco.com look at Item-no 43042.