All excuses aside, I was jacking up the front of the camaro, in my driveway, and made the mistake of leaving a jack stand under it.

The jack started to slide to one side and continue to go on two wheels so I stop jacking and accidently set it down really hard and fast onto the jack stand.

The jack stand put four good sized holes in the driveway(black top) and the top of it put an impression into the frame.

Should I be worried or just be a lot more careful. I knew the driveway was on a little angel but not that much. Never had problem with using ramps.

 

always chock your wheels it's all about safety

 

Yea, safety is always the key. Better safe than sorry. I got in a hurry one time trying to change a tire on my 4th gen camaro one time and hurried up and jacked it up and didn't realize what I did wrong until the jack went thru the bottom of my fender. Doh! And another time I was changing one in the back on a gravel driveway and the jack fell over and the hub/drum hit the ground hard twice. But anyway, hope all is ok with yours.

 

On the subject of jacking these things up in the front, where is the best place to raise these vehicles in the front on the passenger side? The other day I used the scissor jack to raise mine in the front but it damaged part of the pinch weld. Is there an easy way to repair the pinch weld ?

 

It dented the Unibody, or the actual subframe? Always have the car in park, with ebrake on, and chocks on the wheels. As far as where to jack them up at, there are only 3 acceptable spots up front, the LCA(A shaped piece that holds the spring), the K-member, or the subframe itself, anywhere else and you will dent or punch a hole in the body. Sounds like you tried to jack it up by the rocker panel.(to the most recent poster)
And a small enough dent within reason is only cosmetic really, even if its on the subframe, unless you actually bent or warped it I wouldn't worry about it, but it sounds to me the most it did was make a minor dent. As long as the other 2 sides of the rail are still straight and parallel I wouldn't worry about it.

 

okay thanks. the biggest issue I have on the passenger side is the exhaust in the way, and then secondly neon lights and the stock ground effects.

 

i tossed the scissor jack long ago lol honestly my exhaust gets in my way too, but it has a bit of play so i just ram the jack under it and get to the frame normally, one time i jacked up the front, held it with the stand, moved the jack and lifted on the frame, then readjusted my jack stand position, alot of work....but ive never messed my stuff up lol

 

I wouldn't worry too much about a small impression in the frame rail, no jack stand is really designed to fit any framerail, so it's inevitable that that will happen at some point from setting the weight of the car on the stand.

It sounds worse than it is, but it's almost to be expected given the retarded width/design of jack stands. The should be 25-50% wider and completely flat, rather than having that retarded double-lip curve design to them on the top surface the car rests on. Even if you hadn't dropped the car on it quickly, it could still happen just from the car's weight.

What a dumbass design...doesn't fit any framerail I've ever seen:

 

Couldnt agree with you more. Makes me feel a little better, but still embarrassed

 

Yeah I never got the deal with the shape of them either, if it were a single curve wide enough to accomadate a frame rail that would be just dandy....but most of the time you have a hard time getting more than the tips on something which is unsafe as hell, generally I place the curve part under a spot where the rail has a hole in it, so it has a narrow enough bit of rail to straddle. But kind of limits placement badly...

 

These help with the odd shape:
http://www.harborfreight.com/2-piece...and-95952.html

 

Is the K-member the same as the engine cradle? Also is the rear end a good or bad place to jack these things? I've seen it done multiple times with these cars just seems like it would damage something.

 

It wouldn't be safe to jack the car up by the rear end, as the diff can pivot side to side, and you wouldn't want all that weight on the center even if not. It would however be ok to jack it up by the rear subframe, or the bracket the LCAs mount to, and it is alright to put jackstands under the diff, though personally I wouldn't do that unless I specifically needed to. Especially since a lot of jobs require the opposite, being able to jack the rear without moving the car body.

 

i always use the frame rails for jacking and jack standing with a little piece of plywood to spread out a bit of the weight and stop the frame from being pinched/mangled/bent/etc. for the rear, i use the frame rail directly in front of the LCA mount