How to jack up one side of a vehicle?

M

mikebai1990

New member
I've been doing tire rotations, and every time I can't find a good way to jack up the car safely in order to put in the jack stands.



So here's my situation: I have a 2.25 ton floor jack that I can use to jack up the car. However, the reinforced area where the emergency jack is supposed to go is quite small. I can jack up the side using the floor jack safely, but then I don't have space to fit my jack stand into that reinforced area. Thus, I have to move a bit to the right and put the jack stand on un-reinforced metal. I have a feeling this isn't the safest way to jack the car up. Wondering whether you guys have any other tips?
 
It's a Mazda MPV. Basically it has 6 jacking points, 2 on each side (left and right), and it has 1 in the front middle (between the two wheels), and 1 in the rear middle (between the rear two wheels).
 
what are your jack stands rated for? I had a similar problem where the jack stands were way too big/tall and when I tried to jack it too high, my jack slipped and it punctured the bottom of my car. Luckily I wasn't hurt. I ended up getting way smaller jack stands that were sturdy enough to hold up my car.
 
My jack stands are rated 3 tons. I don't think the jack stands should be a problem. I guess my main problem is how to safely deposit the jack stand under the car when the floor jack is taking up the reinforced area.
 
You need to look at the vehicle lifting points (not the points where you put the spare tire jack, although some of them may coincide). These are sometimes in the owner's manual, but more frequently in the factory service manual. Some FSM's show different points for floor jack, frame contact lift, and suspension contact lift.
 
I think you need to use the jack to raise the front and then rear of your vehicle, not the sides. You say there are lifting points between the wheels, front and rear. Raise the vehicle at one end, place your jack stands at the lifting points on each side closest to the front and repeat the procedure at the rear. You should be able to raise your Mazda high enough this way to safely position the stands in the reinforced areas.
 
Hmm, yea, I've had the same question. I personally still have yet to buy all my own tools, but I recently had a friend teach/help me change my oil... but, he had a fully functional hydralic floor jack in his garage (the kind where you just drive on top of it, and it jacks up four points on the car all at once. Not quite a "lift" like at the shops, but it works just like one).



Basically, we couldn't use those points you're talking about, because the contact "pads" you slip over the arms don't fit there. Eventually my friend just put it under the "frame" rails that go down each side of the car, kind of between the center of the underbody and edge of the car. I know that my car is a unibody, but I think it was ok because nothing adverse happened and it supported the car just fine.



It also had no problems when I had to climb into my car so I could start it up (no other way to push in the clutch).



So yea, I have a feeling there must be a different jack or jackstand point for it.
 
superstring said:
I think you need to use the jack to raise the front and then rear of your vehicle, not the sides. You say there are lifting points between the wheels, front and rear. Raise the vehicle at one end, place your jack stands at the lifting points on each side closest to the front and repeat the procedure at the rear. You should be able to raise your Mazda high enough this way to safely position the stands in the reinforced areas.
Click to expand...



When I do my rotation, I'm looking to deposit jack stands are one side of the car. I only have 2 jack stands, so I'm not sure how I would safely let the van down if I only put one jack stand on one side before taking the floor jack out.
 
If you are doing a normal radial, all wheels the same size, non-directional rotation, you can jack up in the middle under the front, and put your two jack stands at the outboard frame locations. Then remove one front wheel, take the jack to the back of the car on that side, and jack up that wheel, take it off, put the one from the front there, let the jack down. Then go to the opposite front, take that wheel off, put the one on from the other corner. Roll that front wheel to the back, jack it up take the wheel off, swap, let the jack down, take that rear wheel to the front corner, put it on. Now jack the front back up and take out the jack stands. I've done this a few (cough) times, with one floor jack and two jack stands. Much easier when you have a set of winter wheels....only need to jack up one wheel at a time.
 
paul34 said:
... Eventually my friend just put it under the "frame" rails that go down each side of the car, kind of between the center of the underbody and edge of the car. I know that my car is a unibody, but I think it was ok because nothing adverse happened and it supported the car just fine..
Click to expand...



Those are where I put the jack on my MPV. There are reinforced areas where the front suspension bolts on that you can use for the jackstands, or you can just put them beside the jacking point. In the rear, I jack it up by putting the jack (and the stands) under the rear axle beam.



Here's how I'd probably do it with just the floorjack and two stands: jack up the rear axle a bit off-center so the side you're working on comes up and the other side doesn't. Stick the jackstand under it to hold it there and make sure it's good and secure when you lower the jack. Then jack up the front of that side using the subframe rail. Put the other stand somewhere for a safety net but leave it up on the jack. Switch the wheels, remove the front stand, lower the jack, then jack up the rear so you can remove that jackstand.



I *would* consider just getting another pair of jackstands though, if only so you can just jack up the rear axle and put them under that (that way the rear of the MPV is up in the air, secure and easy, and you can then work on each of the front corners. But then I'm spoiled..I got myself a second floorjack too :o
 
Thanks, Accumulator. Now I have to go out and take a look at those jacking points :) So if I jack up and use the (for example) left-center of the axle, nothing bad will happen to the axle? It will be able to take the pressure, right?
 
when do you tighten the lug nuts? If you are doing it by hand, I thought you couldn't tighten the lugs when the car was on the ground because it might rethread the studs?
 
mikebai1990 said:
Thanks, Accumulator. Now I have to go out and take a look at those jacking points :) So if I jack up and use the (for example) left-center of the axle, nothing bad will happen to the axle? It will be able to take the pressure, right?
Click to expand...





Sorry, didn't mean to leave you hanging...somehow lost track of this thread.



Yeah, that axle beam is nice and sturdy (as I bet you already found out). It's like when the vehicle's on some extreme side-ways incline...the axle bending is the least likely thing that could happen. Just watch that the axle doesn't slip/slide, this could happen if you get the angle too extreme.



Once you've jacked up your umpteenth vehicle ;) you'll get a good feel for what is/isn't a good idea/jacking point.



But go out and buy yourself a second set of jackstands so I don't have to worry about you ;) The cost is nothing compared to the convenience, let alone the safety. Really ;)



ScottFern- While you don't want to do anything weird (and I mean oughta-be-obvious weird), that potential cross-threading shouldn't be a problem as long as you get the lugs fairly snug before you get the weight of the vehicle back on the wheel(s). Everything will usually self-center if you mess up a little, not that you want to mess up! The studs/lugs are pretty tough, with wide/coarse threads; in my experience they'll take a lot of abuse if they have to...not that you oughta rely on that ;)



Just run them in/on snug enough that the wheel is pressed against the hub so it can't shift once the weight is back on it. I've been a little careless a few (cough cough..."a few" :o ) over the years and there must not be *that* big a risk of trouble as I've never had any problems. Just don't lower the vehicle with all the lugs on a wheel awfully loose and if you discover that you *did* do that, jack it back up so you can get them snug without the weight of the vehicle complicating things. Since you're putting the wheels back on/starting the lugs with it in the air anyhow, it only takes a moment (with a speed wrench- *do* use one of those; they're worth the $) to run the lugs to 99% of "tight". Note that running two diagonally-opposed lugs to that 99% point will center the wheel onthe hub and make installing the rest of the lugs easier.
 
I'm glad I have a Winter set of tires so I can rotate them when I switch sets. Yes it is a PITA doing one tire at a time.



When my Audi was last in getting the scheduled maintenance I saw the places under the body they use to lift the car (not the same as the jacking points.



A sissor lift is on my ever growing list of things Daddy has got to get.



MorBiD
 
MorBid said:
When my Audi was last in getting the scheduled maintenance I saw the places under the body they use to lift the car (not the same as the jacking points)...
Click to expand...



Yeah, the rubber pads are great spots to use with a floorjack too and doing it that way keeps from messing up the gravel-guard stuff that's sprayed around the regular jacking points. Also, there are nearby places where you can stick a jackstand if it has the right type of "top" (narrow, with a post in its center). I gotta get a machine/welding shop to whip me up a set of those some day, the ones left over from my 'vette *almost* work.



I never end up getting serious about the scissors-lift, especially since I got the second good floorjack. And I always remember that the guys at Mallett cars do all of their work with just floorjacks and jackstands, pretty significant as they do frame-up builds all the time.
 
I use one of these side lift jack pads when I use my racing jack at the jacking point on the Audi.
side-lift-jack-pad.jpg




You can get them from Protech
 
MorBid- Cool, that's a lot better than doing it the "regular" way, but I'm a big fan of using the rubber pads. But then I'm assuming your A4 has them just like my A/S8..been too long since I had my A4 for me to remember.



I *just* finished jacking up one side of Accumulatorette's A8 so I could R&R the wheels on that side...needed to clean old weight adhesive off the backs after having new tires mounted (I'll do the two on the other side next time). Went *very* quick and easy- one jack under each of the rubber pads with jackstands nearby, about 1/2" away from actual contact, just in case one of the jacks failed.



I'm afraid to jack on the MPV's rocker flanges even with one of those slotted pads; the metal there is *so* thin and flimsy I just know I'd cause the paint to crack or something. I sure wish they'd built that thing a little better...glad to hear the pad works fine on your car, yours is a more solidly built vehicle.
 
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