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re: I broke the pinch weld with a jack. Should have known.
That can be straightened back out and rewelded.
I always jack mine up by the sub frame connetors but on third gens w/o them I use the center of rear end to jack up both sides of back at once... Or Right past where the lower control arm bolts to the "frame rail" on each side... If you look at the rear of car, where LCA bolts then look for an oval looking hole in that frame rail... That is where I go as well.
Up front... It's under the K member or A arm, or on front side at the "frame rail"
I always jack mine up by the sub frame connetors but on third gens w/o them I use the center of rear end to jack up both sides of back at once... Or Right past where the lower control arm bolts to the "frame rail" on each side... If you look at the rear of car, where LCA bolts then look for an oval looking hole in that frame rail... That is where I go as well.
Up front... It's under the K member or A arm, or on front side at the "frame rail"
re: I broke the pinch weld with a jack. Should have known.
Shoulda jacked it under that flat place about 4" in front of the control arm bolt.
NO the sheet metal is NEVER EVER OK to use for jacking a car; not these cars, not ANY cars, not in an emergency (unless it's life or death and the car doesn't matter), not at any time for any reason. Sheet metal won't hold up a ton-and-a-half or 2-ton load.
Really, any place is better than the sheet metal lip or floor pan to jack it up. Look at the suspension, and "frame" of the car. Those are the best and strongest parts.
Like rear shock mounts, rear end housing, LCA mount on rear end, A arm, K member, etc.
Re: I broke the pinch weld with a jack. Should have known.
that doesn't look bad- i don't think you actually broke any welds... pound if back into shape and pretend you never saw it..
and actually, the pinch weld is the strongest point on most unibody cars- thousands of shops lift millions of cars of every make and model every year by putting the pads of their hoists under the pinch welds near the front and rear suspension mounting points. it is the recommended jacking point for most cars, and they even sell jack stands with notches that straddle the weld to positively locate the stand under the car and support the car..
Re: I broke the pinch weld with a jack. Should have known.
That's exactly what I thought. I've seen it done this way hundreds of times but always with a slotted scissors jack
Originally Posted by novaderrik
that doesn't look bad- i don't think you actually broke any welds... pound if back into shape and pretend you never saw it..
and actually, the pinch weld is the strongest point on most unibody cars- thousands of shops lift millions of cars of every make and model every year by putting the pads of their hoists under the pinch welds near the front and rear suspension mounting points. it is the recommended jacking point for most cars, and they even sell jack stands with notches that straddle the weld to positively locate the stand under the car and support the car..
Re: I broke the pinch weld with a jack. Should have known.
It is the the Recommended spot on most cars. On the instructions on the jack it is even the recommended way for third gens. HOWEVER, on these cars it almost always does some kind of damage. It's only slightly better than jacking up by the floor.
With a flat tire it's sometimes impossible to jack on the rail though. Sometimes better to just get it towed than use a jack on it.
Re: I broke the pinch weld with a jack. Should have known.
damage like this can happen if you use a crappy little floor jack like the ones you buy at Wal Mart and jack the car up on gravel or some other surface that doesn't allow the wheel of the jack to roll in as the jack lifts up... something has to give as the jack travels on an outward arc as it moves up, and the tires on the other side of the car aint going anywhere so it bends the pinch weld.. the factory jacks are designed to be used on gravel or other irregular surfaces, so they don't damage anything.
06-28-2015, 03:38 PM
