Just to be clear, my intention when buying the stands was to use the jack I have - the same one I’ve used many times before - the scissors jack - to raise one side of the car, put the first jack stand in place, lower the car onto it, then walk around to the other side and repeat - at no time being under the car until the car is resting on top of both jack stands, on both sides. If the point where the jack was is the exact same spot where the jack stand has to go - then you can see why I asked my original question in my very first posting on this thread. If they don’t have to be in the same exact position - and I can jack the car up from further down along that same thin piece of metal -or- the stands are supposed to go further/deeper inside under the car - which may very well be the case (and that is what I am trying to find out now) - then there should be no problems. And the main thing I need to work on is the rack which is leaking and I need to find where the leak is coming from - and to do that, I need to get under the car without ramps. But like I’ve already written, ramps are not an option anyway.
All you need to do is buy pinch weld adapters for your jack stands.
Now you can use the scissor jack to raise the vehicle, and then place the jack stand at the pinch weld under the vehicle.
Which is one of the strongest points on the car body.
Tester
(emphasis added)
I’d love to.
When I do brake/steering/suspension work, I don’t get under the vehicle, even with it supported on jack stands.
But the point is the OP is going through all this fretting just to raise the car for a simple oil change, so I don’t really see a lot of brake/steering/suspension work in her/his future. We’re at 44 comments just to raise the car for a freakin’ oil change!
Edit: I forgot to address the tire rotations. For that, you need to go back to front and front to back (with or without an X pattern, depending on your preference and tire type). For that you’d need more than two jack stands, wouldn’t you? That’s why I prefer to spend an extra $5/tire for lifetime balance-and-rotate service.
…and last time I rotated my own tires, I didn’t have to go underneath the car.
Not according to the OP.
Tester
the first thing I wrote:
“I have to get several projects done with my car that I have never done myself before. First, I am going to change the oil”
Okay, mea culpa. I forgot you intend to do additional repair jobs.
My point stands that if it takes this much work to do an oil change, I don’t see that additional work on this car in your future.
My point also stands that you should use ramps if you’re going under the car, either under the wheels or as backup under the car in case the jack stands fail, as I mentioned in my initial response.
This car is not worth dying for.
No car is worth dying for.
I agree with Arnold!
Tester
Tester - any idea where I can get those things?
Imagine how I feel reading all this drama. I have worked on this car for 17 years and am trying to be overly cautious and not take any chances. I go buy some jack stands and figure I’d ask on this forum about where to put them. I didn’t realize that there would be such a lengthy result. I thought it was pretty simple: need to get under the car? Then use jack stands. Isn’t that what they’re for?
Call around to parts stores. If they don’t have them in stock, they can order them.
I’ve never owned car ramps because they limit the service you can perform on a vehicle.
I’ve always used jack stands.
And then I bought my lift.
Tester
OK back to serious again. In the Autozone link that waterbluff posted, they illustrated putting the jack stands under the frame rails, not the pinch welds for the front. I hadn’t seen that before and would feel more comfortable with that. Pinch welds for the rear and frame rails for the front. Any comments on that.
Also as far as the rack goes, that is a very difficult thing to change out or work on due to the need to have the front end up off the ground and limited space to work. I had considered it years ago with my Park Ave having the ole morning sickness, but after looking at the procedure, decided that was one job a shop should do on a hoist. I still feel that way. Maybe the mechanics here don’t see it as any big thing but it wasn’t something I would tackle.
Also even with jack stands under the frame rail, I would still want a floor jack in front or a couple more jack stands on the front end just in case, and of could a cell in my pocket.
Hey Bing!
I remember the GM’s with morning sickness.
Gotta change out the rack.
Back then, all I had were jack stands and no lift.
But that GM was lifted in the front as high as possible, and supported by jack stands.
You couldn’t do that job with the car on ramps.
Tester
Yeah, that was before cell phones too so if something happened, you just had to scream until someone heard you. Never had to do that myself though.
The only time I had to yell for help was, when a transmission fell off a floor jack, and pinned me to the floor.
The vehicle was on jack stands. The transmission was on my chest. and I could lift the transmission back up into the tunnel, but I couldn’t position the floor jack back under the transmission.
The wife heard my cries, and came out and placed the floor jack under the transmission while I lifted it up into the tunnel. I was then able to get out from under the vehicle.
That Christmas, the wife had a transmission jack wrapped up under the Christmas tree.
Tester
My son in law had a similar experience with a Dodge aspen I sold him. It had a bench seat, slant six and that huge 4 seped floor shifted standard transmission. He went to the junkyars and got a three speed transmission to replace the noisy 4 speed. the three speed was light enough to carry under on arm but when he dropped the 3 speed it pinned him to the ground and my daughter had to call me to come help. How that slant six was able to wear out that rock crusher of a tramsmission is still a mystery.
On the web last week I read of a man whose car fell on him, and he could not breathe, but he shouted for help, which is contradictory. A nine year old boy who had seen his dad use a car jack ran to help and saved his life with that jack. That was one lucky man.
You drive up north in Minnesota or even south, and you see folks that have cars propped up on tree stumps. I don’t know how they get them up there but better than concrete blocks I suppose. They seem to be long term as in a parts car.
I once did a sidejob in a particularly bad neighborhood
I replaced a front hub on a GM truck
It was propped up on a tree stump
I didn’t read all the posts above, so I may be repeating another poster. But imo you are trying to use your tire changing jack and jack-stands in a way they are not intended to be used. If you want to use jack-stands you should buy a floor jack, so you can jack at the approved engine compartment center point. If you don’t want to buy a floor jack, then use ramps instead of jack-stands. Ramps are the better choice for oil changes anyway in most cases. If you have other diy’er jobs to do where ramps won’t work (like changing brake pads), then you’ll need to buy a floor jack to go with your jack stands. Or pay to have the work done at a shop. Diy’ers have to buy or rent tools they don’t currently own all the time. It’s part of being an auto-repair diy’er. For the most part the economics are that the first time you do the job you don’t save any money over hiring the job out b/c the tool costs wipe out any potential savings. But the subsequent times you do the same job you save.
Extra safety can be had by stacking sturdy blocks of 4 X 6’s under the sides of the car too. I do that routinely to provide an extra margin of safety b/c I live in earthquake country.
Just don’t do like the guy in this photo…
I wonder if that guy’s still alive
