How to properly jack you're car up

I have a napa close by I will have to check them out thanks

You have 3 jack stands and you are lifting a FWD car. Use 2 on the front - the heavy end - and 1 centrally located under a jacking point at the rear IF there is one. The front is about twice the weight of the rear so that should give you no problems EXCEPTā€¦ the jacking point is exactly where you should place the jackstand so thereā€™s that problem. Buy a 4th jackstand.

I will only advise that once the car is on jackstands that you leave the jack in place also. You can never have too much insurance.

With respect to Mustangman, if you have three jackstands and want to elevate the whole car, buy a forth jackstand. Never get under a car elevated on three jackstands. Itā€™s unstable, just as was the Isetta when it had three wheels and as were the old cop three-wheelers. Your life is at stake. I urge you, DO NOT get under a car on three stands.

It should be noted that in the end weā€™re both recommending getting a forth stand, the disagreement is only on the stability issueā€¦ and it isnā€™t worth risking your life to prove one of us wrong.

Agree that 4 is better. Will all due respect, TSM, I do disagree that stability is an issue. 3 points determine a plane so the car will be stably supported. The center of gravity is well within the triangle formed by the jackstands. With a FWD car supported 2 stand just behind the front wheel opening and one center of the rear axle, the center of gravity will be nearly as far from the tip line as using 4 stands. FWIW, nearly every forklift sold is a 3 point stability design, even 4 wheel trucks, since the steered axle is center-pivot supported making that the tip-line point.

Yeah I just have to get new jacks the jacks I got are 2 ton and donā€™t really look strong so Iā€™m thinking of getting 3 ton with the safety pins

Yup, three points determine a plane, but gravity is acting on this four-cornered car directly perpendicular to the planeā€¦
Isetta thought three points would be stable on their original 3-wheeled designā€¦ but they kept falling over going around corners, so they placed two rear wheels 6" apart to solve the problem (true story).

The bottom line is that I would not risk my life or anyone elseā€™s based on the proposition that three points define a planeā€¦ for anyone reading this, I strongly urge you not to get under a vehicle on three jackstands.

You couldnā€™t PAY me to get underneath that car with only 3 jackstands

And no offense to anybody . . . Iā€™m no engineer, but thereā€™s no way Iā€™m ever going to be convinced that car is stable and safe on only 3 jackstands

FWIW . . . Iā€™m happy to hear that OP is planning on getting some decent 3 ton jackstands

Plus 10. Never ever ever use concrete blocks to support a car. They are not designed for that and can easily collapse.

Not sure what OP is intending to do, @Barkydog mentions bleeding the brakes, but donā€™t see where OP says thatā€™s the objective. Anyway, for my Corolla what I do ā€“ for example to inspect the front brake pads ā€“ is use a floor jack under the center cross member, a point the manual says is a safe jacking point. Itā€™s a balance point so both front wheels come up. Then Iā€™ll place a jack stand under each sideā€™s pinch weld, just behind the tires. Thatā€™s another place the ownerā€™s manual says is a safe jacking point. I had to improvise a method so not to crush the pinch weld in the process. What I did was use a short piece of 2 x 4 lumber in which I cut a notch running across the grain, and put that in between the jack stand and the car, with the pinch weld running in the notch. Something like this is commercially available too I think, thatā€™s probably the safest method.

For jacking up the rear tires, I do about the same thing, thereā€™s a safe jacking point halfway between the rear wheels. Then jack-stands on the pinch weld just ahead of each rear wheel.

Iā€™m a little paranoid about working under the car even with all this ā€“ earthquake country mind you ā€“ so I usually leave the jack where it is as addā€™l safety beyond just the jack stands, but with very little pressure on it. I want almost all the pressure on the jack stands, not relying on the jack. I also put some 2 x 2, 4 x 4, and 6 x 6 lumber in whatever combo is necessary (often in conjunction with the tires) under the car at strategic spots, piling it as high as possible so thereā€™s very little clearance, then if the car falls off the jack stands the lumber will catch it (hopefully) before it falls more than an inch or two. This has never happened thankfully, so no evidence on whether it would actually work.

George, I respect a manā€™s right to assume whatever level of risk heā€™s comfortable with, but I wouldnā€™t get under a car on one jack. I guess I have a lower tolerance for risk than some. :neutral_face:

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you mean this would not be a safe way to jack up your car/truck to work under it?

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Itā€™s perfectly safeā€¦ For the truck.

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Hey, what better way to weld the hole in your gas tank?

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Where do you put the wheels while working on the brakes? How about sliding them under the car as a failsafe?

The trick is to use a long enough 2x4 that the explosion will blow you out of the way of the falling truck before the truck can hit you.

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what can go wrong, he blocked the rear wheel?

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LOL, good one, shadow!

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Anyone else wondering how he got it up that high in the first place and how heā€™s going to get it down?

I did wonder how he got it up there, but I think I know how heā€™s going to get it downā€¦
KABOOM!!! :scream: