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Lifting and supporting points

105680 Views 32 Replies 17 Participants Last post by  Ekeenan8686, 
The_Lizard
This is the OEM rear skidplate on a 98 OB. It can be used as a lifting point, with a floor jack.

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S_ÜBER_U
The_Lizard said:
Today I lifted the front of the 96 to go after an exhaust shield rattle. I noticed that the pinch weld has old damage from being either lifted or supported incorrectly. So here's a shot of doing it right, next to evidence of doing it wrong.
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Hi everybody,

i was curious about safely lifting my unit and didn't want to do things like this ^^

i want to use the pinch welds but my stands don't have the same groove depth as some of you guys.

mikebike357 mentioned a hockey puck under the center plate and thought I'd try this out by making a groove in the puck and placed between the pinch weld and the jack stand.

any thoughts...?

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plain OM
The small jack that comes with the car actually spans the pinch weld. The weight is not supported on the bottom of the pinch weld; rather, it is supported on a reinforcing pad just inside (underside of the body) of the pinch weld jack locating marks.

The service manual shows a block with a groove cut out. (See below). I use a hockey puck, actually two, one which I grooved out with a router deep enough that it straddles the pinch weld. This one was glued to another underneath -- this helps stabilize the upper one and ensure that the two "halves", which actually support the weight, are less likely to pull apart. I use it on my large shop jack, or on jack stands that have a flat top plate. The type of jack stand shown above, which supposedly should straddle the pinch weld, won't work safely with the puck arrangement. The added benefit of the puck is that the rubber won't damage the paint surface it comes in contact with. If I could find larger blocks of hard rubber, as in the diagram, I'd make those up, but for now the pucks seem to be working well, and are inexpensive.

I'll post a pic here of the hockey puck pad when I'm back at the desk computer that has the photos.

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plain OM
Okay, so here's the hockey puck. One side is sloped, because on my 07 there's a plastic trim piece that goes under the rocker panel and is slightly sloped, so I wanted to match it. Most of the weight is on the inside, where there is a reinforcing bracket, at least until the rubber compresses and the outside part also begins to take the weight. Also, at the ends of the slot the corners are cut to accommodate the raised jack location marks on the pinch weld. The puck is wider than the space between the marks, and without either these cut out, or widening the slot, the puck would bind on the pinch weld. I'm not sure if the earlier MYs have the same location marks.

Incidentally, I bought a bunch of pucks (about 99 cents each a few years ago) and made up six of these adapters. That way I have one for each of my four jack stands, as well as spares. And as I noted earlier, I use the same ones on the hydraulic garage jack.

Note: have to keep watching for tearing down the center of the groove, which could lead to separation of the two sides. This is the one drawback that a better block of rubber might address better.

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driveby
I like your solution to work around the rocker trim and lift marks! :)

For my 2001, fyi, all I had to do was cut the puck in half (and raise it slightly with a circle of cork cut from an Ikea trivet). It has worked perfectly the few times I have lifted from the side of the car. Usually I lift from the center.

Here is the cork to raise the inside of the lift plate (Craftsman jack) by about 1/3":


And here is the puck, cut in half to fit around the pinch welds:



Fyi, you could buy a pinch weld adapter like this if you want:


...but I think the hockey puck is even better. The hard rubber cushions the jack point.


I also use a harborfreight jack cap to protect the jack plate or diff:


Plus harborfreight jack stands with optional rubber caps to fit around the pinch welds and cushion the lift points.

:7:
-Jeff
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jmaynard
This was the best I could come up with on my 2000 OBL wagon...the crossmember that the jack plate attaches to. I think it's stable. I couldn't find any better place to put the saddle. Did I get it right?

Edit: It'd be nice if I could find a place to put them where they weren't so close together, so I could get in between them...

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rockhopjohn
jmaynard said:
This was the best I could come up with on my 2000 OBL wagon...the crossmember that the jack plate attaches to. I think it's stable. I couldn't find any better place to put the saddle. Did I get it right?

Edit: It'd be nice if I could find a place to put them where they weren't so close together, so I could get in between them...
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Well, the best place, as mentioned earlier in the thread is to support off the of the pinch welds along each side of the car. To me this is the most stable point. The biggest issue is having a jack stand with a slot in it for the pinch weld, or to create some sort of block that slips over the pinch weld and can then jacked up. I just took 4 6" pieces of 2x6" and cut a slot into them for this purpose, and it works fine for me.
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C
I have a 05 outback and for the tires to be rotated all that is need is for the front left (or right) to be switched with the back left (or right). Since this is one side only tire rotation I am wondering if I can just jack up the entire left side (or right) at a time to rotate the tires??? So i wouldnt need 4 jack stands??? is it possible to do this without hurting the car. I figure if the car can be jacked from one corner or tire (like with the scissor jack) then I can just do all one side.????
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rockhopjohn
cybertiberium said:
I have a 05 outback and for the tires to be rotated all that is need is for the front left (or right) to be switched with the back left (or right). Since this is one side only tire rotation I am wondering if I can just jack up the entire left side (or right) at a time to rotate the tires??? So i wouldnt need 4 jack stands??? is it possible to do this without hurting the car. I figure if the car can be jacked from one corner or tire (like with the scissor jack) then I can just do all one side.????
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This shouldn't be a problem. I would probably have two jack stands on the side that you've jacked though. Jack one corner, place stand, jack other corner, place stand, rotate, reverse, repeat on other side.
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C
rockhopjohn said:
This shouldn't be a problem. I would probably have two jack stands on the side that you've jacked though. Jack one corner, place stand, jack other corner, place stand, rotate, reverse, repeat on other side.
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That is exactly what I had in mind. I wouldnt dare rotate tires without proper equipment like jack stands. Now I can just use the floor jack to jack near the jack point (a few inches over) and place the jack stand on the jack pinch point?? or do i still need to jack at specific jacking point locations???
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rockhopjohn
cybertiberium said:
That is exactly what I had in mind. I wouldnt dare rotate tires without proper equipment like jack stands. Now I can just use the floor jack to jack near the jack point (a few inches over) and place the jack stand on the jack pinch point?? or do i still need to jack at specific jacking point locations???
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I usually have my jack stands sitting there before I jack, and I position them close to the wheel where I can slide them in place once the car is jacked up. I then position the jack as close to the jack stand as I can, and still be able to easily slide the jack stand in to place. You can jack anywhere along the pinch weld running along the edge of the car, but obviously the closer to a wheel you jack, the more stable everything will be. Using this method the jack is a little further from the wheel and the jack stand, but still more than stable enough to lift the car safely.
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C
thank you sir
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more2life
Great guide!
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E
aerosaaber said:



I don't have any better pics of this location, hope that's good enough for now.

Also once you install a skidplate like this one, you'll still be able to jack the car from the center jackpoint, located just behind the two bolts at the back of the skidplate.
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That's a great looking skid plate there, where did you buy that?
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