Best place to utilize the jack

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If you are using a scissors jack, it's possible that; it's made to use the pinch weld.

My wife's car (2004 hyundai elantra) actually has no place to jack in the rear other than the pinch weld. The lower control arms are round bar stock and using them would surely bend them, and the sway bar is directly under the axle!

Speaking of scissors jacks.....as much as I like our old school farm style bumper jacks, I've started equipping all my classics with u-pull/ thrift store/ yard sale scissors jacks. I find they are safer and easier to use. Sometimes you can find electric ones that plug into the lighter socket.
 
Excuse me, for me a pinch weld is a type of weld, not a "place" underneath the vehicle. I am not a welder, where exactly is this terrible place mentioned in post #1 anyhow? Thank you and excuse my ignorance please.

Maybe we should paint (or apply decals) under our cars with instructions for those who don't know any better. Somehing like "jack here" or "place jack here" or "put jack here" or "don't you dare jack-off here!" Seriously.
 
Refer to your Factory service manual. below is where lift points (there are others) are located for 67 Dart. the FSM also calls out a minimum surface area for the lift points.

Lift Points.jpg
 
BTW the harbor freight 3 ton "low profile" is nearly perfect for getting under the LCAs of our cars, especially if they've been lowered a bit in the front.

For $80 (with coupon) mine's been going strong for over 15 years.
 
I use both a floor jack and a scissor depending on where and what I am raising the car for.
As mentioned already 2 of the floor jack pad raised edges get set between the oil pan and rear edge of the K if jacking the front, and if jacking the back with the floor jack it's always under the center of the axle.
I don't like lifting one corner of the car if it can be avoided.
I keep the original jack and a scissor in the car in case of a flat tire, so the bumper jack can do most of the lifting and the scissor under the A arm or one side of the axle gets that one tire up.

One of the last times I took my car to a tire shop I went down the block for a few minutes and when I came back they had the right rear wheel about a foot off the ground and the left front wheel was buried up inside the fender.
That pissed me off a bit and I told the guy that torsion bar suspended cars should NEVER have one corner lifted like that unless there was no other choice.
(Either barely off the ground on one side or that whole end of the car up by jacking in the center)

In my case if I jack up only one side I use the point where my 2x3 welded frame connectors tie into the torsion bars crossmember, or back where they tie into the rear subframe.

Speaking of not trusting anyone, I just got a brand new set of 18x9.5 rear and 17x8 front aluminum spoke rims with Nitto 245 and 225/40 tires and put them on the rims on the kitchen table.:D
Then drove them up to the tire shop and had them balanced and took them back home to put them on the car.

Some of the shops around here want you to hand them your keys so who knows who will pull your car in and out. NO WAY thank you.
If I can't trust them with the rims, why would I trust them with the whole car?
 
for OP, it was good that you knew that that was not the correct place to position the jack, but it's not just for aesthetic reasons you don't jack on the rocker pinch welds. If you look closely there are bumps stamped in the sheet metal pinch weld "halves". They are deliberately made that way to allow moisture to drain out of the rockers, so water doesn't collect and rust the rockers out. And the rockers are an important frame component, whose strength is vital to support the car. So you don't want to do anything that would compromise the designed in integrity of the uni body frame.
 
Oh, so the pinch welds everyone has been talking about all this time is where there are gaps to drain water out of the rocker area, now it makes sense to stay away from there with a jack. I was trying to figure this whole discussion out.
 
The inner and outer rocker panels have (basically) a "hat" shaped profile.

The rims of the hat, if you will, are pinched together and spot welded.

This hangs down below the flat area on the bottom of the rockers.
 
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Some newer floor jacks have padded saddles. My old Walker is bare steel. I just use a piece of 2" X 4" under the K. I've found some old but new mud flaps in the "catch all" shed recently. Think I'll cut 'em up and make a pad for it (after hibernation:D).

The Owners Manual has bumper jack instructions I do believe.
You might check the FSM. If it helps, this is from a '70 manual..………

upload_2019-1-15_11-45-36.png
 
Being that you know these cars better than him, you probably should have nicely explained to him that is the wrong place to jack up one of these cars because they are not strong enough there to handle the vehicle weight. Its obvious he didnt know. Teachable moment.

Lots of newer cars have jack points in the rocker areas at the pinch welds, but are reinforced for that, and have specific locations for a scissor jack in these spots. My 2008 HHR DD has little triangles stamped into the rocker panels on either side showing where the jack is supposed to go to lift it.
 
Even it it's your car?
 
Rainy Day Auto said:
So I had a friend help me change a tire on my 68 Dart and he put the jack on the pinch weld. I don't really like that because it damaged the pinch weld a little and when I tried to straighten it, it left a mark and is really hard to straighten because that metal is really thick on the pinch weld.

I didn't tell him I was kinda pissed about it because it would seem like a such a small thing to most people, but just confirmed to me why I do everything myself with my cars and don't even trust shops.

then I started looking under the car and thinking where the best possible place and strongest point is. On the front, it's easy, there is a huge chunk of flat subframe that seems logical but I am thinking about those times you need to get the jack in from either the front or rear of the car, So is the K frame a good point??

where do you guys place the jack ??
Click to expand...

For working under the car.
I use two floor jacks.
Front: K Frame with a piece of wood.
That is more to distribute the load and prevent slippage on the K frame than anything else.
Rear: The differential.
I alternate front and rear working the car up to the height I need with jack stands under the lower control arms and the axle housings while raising.
This is for general and "long term" work. I believe the suspension should not be allowed hang for long periods.

If I need to work on the front end I use the frame rails for the jack stands in the front instead.
 
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