Where Are The Strongest And Weakest Jack Points Under Your Car?

Let's not have a jack poke through the floorboard, causing you to end up on the sub-Reddit r/justrolledintotheshop. To be sure you're supporting your car when jacking it up, look up the jack points in the owner's manual. Or, walk to the side of the car you want to jack up, and look at the rocker panels. They should have some triangles or arrows pointing down, which will guide you to the jack points.

If you're fixing a flat by the side of the road, and you just have a scissor jack, one jack point is fine. More than likely, your scissor jack will have an obvious notch in the top for straddling a pinch weld. For stability during more extensive repairs, it's best to jack up the front of the carunder the front crossmember or, if the car can handle it, the rear of the car via the differential. If you own a Tesla, put it into the unfortunately named "Jack Mode" to avoid freaking out the car's air suspension.

If you have an FWD car with no obvious central jacking location in the rear, or don't want to damage the diff in your RWD car, use one side jack point, put in a jack stand, then do the same on the other side. You might be able to cradle the pinch welds with the tops of the jack stands, but only if your vehicle was designed to allow that and the welds are in good shape. Otherwise, you can often use the subframe mounts.

Oh, boy, there are so many places you shouldn't place a jack or jack stands. Let's start with the most catastrophic to your wallet. Never jack under the engine's oil pan or the transmission pan. While it's true your engine can make more power with less oil in it, a floor jack stab wound isn't how to go about achieving that. Also, avoid the frame rails because they can be thinner than you think. When in doubt, ask yourself, "Could I easily dent this with a single hammer blow?" If yes, don't jack there.

Some other places never to place your jack or stands under: any hoses or fluid lines, plastic body panels, plastic splash shields, universal or CV joints, the driveshaft, the fuel tank, the exhaust, the floorboards, the trunk, or pretty much anywhere other than the points already discussed. Unless, that is, you own an off-roader with a really sturdy skid plate, but still, unless you know beyond a shadow of a doubt it can withstand the abuse, just use the dang existing jack points.

Don't actually jack up your car yet, though, there's a bunch of stuff to do first. Ok, start by parking on flat, stable ground with no incline. If you live in San Francisco, good luck. When you've parked in the ideal spot, chock the wheels that are staying on the ground, or the opposite wheel from where you're changing your tire (i.e., chock the left front wheel when changing right rear). If you don't have fancy shmancy dedicated chocks, you can use bricks or large pieces of wood. Once you've determined your chocks are doing their jobs, put the car in park or, in the case of a manual transmission, first or reverse.

Now, put your jack stands near where you need them to hold up the car, and jack it into the air. Find the exact support points you want and ensure the V in the top of the jack stand will fit there. It should cradle the jack point rather than sit on a flat surface where the stand could slip. If you're worried about the jack stand digging into the ground, such as on dirt or gravel, you can crib the stands with platforms made of sheet metal, plastic, or plywood. 

Yes, plywood, not beaverbarf particleboard or chipboard, but good old resin-adhered crack-resistant plywood. Gently let the jack lower the car onto the jack stands, being careful not to let them tilt. Otherwise, your car can rock off the stands. Always use quality jack stands and use them properly. Remember, crappy jack stands can kill you, and that's worse than showing up on r/justrolledintotheshop.