I noticed when I jack up a corner pinch weld, BOTH the front and rear wheel will start lifting up even though I am only jacking one spot. (e.g. If i jack the pinch weld on the rear passenger side, the front passenger side wheel will also start lifting off the ground)
Is this normal? I’m sure my garage is not completely leveled but its relatively flat.
Completely normal.
+1
The OP’s mystery vehicle apparently has a very rigid unibody structure–and that’s a good thing. Try doing the same thing with a Studebaker pickup truck from the '50s, and the result would be that only one wheel per side would lift, due to the extremely flexible frame.
If you lift the body the suspension will droop. Are you using a scissor jack? I assume. You said “jack”. I think it would be impossible to lift high enough to get both tires off ground with a factory scissor jack. And very hard with a full size $200 floor jack. Maybe a $800 pro model might do it. I almost always use my floor jack to lift rear control arm. And front frame rail. Very rarely the body.
I have been doing it with jacks that cost between $50 and $200 on all types of cars for over 30 years. That is how I put cars on jackstands. Lift in the right spot and the entire side rises so 2 stands can be inserted. I’ll take a picture and post it if you like with 2 different cars.
Is there chance the car can tilt and fall?
Got really scared when I started noticing the other wheel lifting up.
Nope, if you’re using a good jack and the emergency brake is on, The two tires on the floor provide lots of support.
My first car that did this was my 61 Dodge Dart Phoenix, an 116" wheelbase 4 dr .
Contrast this with my 72 Chevy Impala that was 600 heavier The Chevy was so limp that I had to take the very tall bumper jack all the way to the top notch to barely get a tire off the ground.
Don’t worry about both wheels off the ground. Main thing is put more than one heavy duty jack stand under that side if you are going to be doing any work on it.
The old VW air cooled Bugs/Beetles have a square hole on each side in front of the rear wheels. Simply insert the jack that came with the car into that hole and it would lift both ends simultaneously; and remain rock steady while doing it.
Thank you everyone! Despite both wheels lifting up, I kept jacking it higher and higher until I was able to place a jack underneath. Kind of strange seeing a car with both the rear and front lifted at the same time from a single jacking point/corner pinch weld but I was able to complete my tire change without any issues / injuries.
But, I thought that everything was made better in “the good old days”.
I don’t know about that. To me the OLD days were well before the 70s. Back when they made cars with wing windows and flow through ventilation and no one needed A/C in our climate.Also chair high comfortable seats and the cars had upright windshields so you were not driving a greenhouse.
Today’s cars are faster, better handling, get better fuel mileage plus they last much longer but they are not as comfortable or pleasant to live with.
I completely disagree with that .
Yeah, it was just so… pleasant… to start the carbureted cars of yesteryear on a cold day, and have to warm them up for many minutes in order to avoid stalling–all the while inhaling the super-rich exhaust fumes.
The tendency for severe rust damage after just a few years was also… pleasant… as was the likelihood of much more severe injuries or death in the event of a collision. Let’s not forget about the “pleasant” 1,000 mile maintenance intervals. And, those non recline-able seats (Nash excluded), which lacked both lumbar support and side bolsters, were really comfortable.
You used jack and jack stand to change tire? Where did you place jack stand? On what frame member? Uh, why?
If s jack stand is available I’ll always use it. Even changing a tire. Will never get under a car without one. Too many people depend on me.
I nearly always use the pinch weld points for the jackstands.
Easiest way to lift the car… jack each side, place two jackstands, one at each pinch weld, done.
All work from there is safe and easy.
I never said today’s cars were not much better, but I found the old chair height bench seats with no lumbar support ,much more comfortable. I hate lumbar support,. After 3 million miles of trucking by back is flat just like the seats in the old trucks and I prefer the flow through ventilation and naturally cool interiors of the old cars made with ,ore upright windows and no black interiors to waiting for today’s sweat boxes to cool down with the A/C. Th` old cars also did not corner hard enough to need seat bolsters which I also despise.
I was just stating my preferences. Comfort in a car is a very individual thing and the old cars, especially Chrysler products accommodated my 36 inseam very well.`
Some cars do this, It’s a function of weight distribution and body stiffness, nothing to be concerned about.
As with any car, don’t place any part of your body that you want to keep under a raised car until proper support is in place. Set parking brake and chock the opposite side wheels against both directions before jacking, use quality stands or the equivalent.
I live in earthquake country, don’t trust budget or many foreign stands/ramps, inspect for cracks and damage before each use, and feel more secure with redundant protection.