How to Jack up your car and put it on Safety Stands

[jazza15]

I just thought I would do a quick write up on how to jack up your car and put it on Safety stands.
I'm sure a lot of you on this forum are keen to start doing some work underneath your car but are a bit hesitant as you don't know where to jack up your car from and where to put the safety stands, I know I was when I first started out.
So I have taken some photo's that should help you get the idea of how it's done, but I must stress that I am not a mechanic and will not take any responsibility for any injury or worse that occurs from anyone following this how-to.
The car being used here is a VT commodore, so this should be directly releveant o VT - VZ commodore owners in regards to the positions of various underbody components. I'd assume that VS and earlier would be similar though.

First up, some key things to do when jacking up your car.
- Always jack your car up on an even and level surface, where your trolley jack is free to roll under the weight of the car if it needs to.
- Use chocks on the oppsoite wheels to the ones that will be jacked up. If you are jacking up the front, chock both of the rears to prevent them from rolling back, or forward. If you are jacking up the rear, do the same for the front (this is fairly essential considering that there is no handbrake or gears to stop the fronts from rolling in a rear wheel drive car)
- Never get under a car that is only supported by a jack, always use safety stands before proceeding to work under your car.
I have had a scissor jack collapse while I was winding it up and let me tell you that I just about ruined my underwear that day. More importantly, had I been, or any part of me been under the car at the time, serious injury or death could have occured.
- Jack the car up from the Front or Rear when possible. Avoid jacking the car up from the side as this encourages sideways movement, which is not desireable safety wise. It is better to have you car moving forwards and backwards as you jack it up, this is due to the trolley jack moving the car slightly as the arc of the trolley jacks arm lifts the car.
- Always have a backup in case the safety stands fail/topple over. I Usually have the jack still touching the jacking point i'm using, but not supoporting any substantial weight. If the jack is going to get in your way while working, then think of something else to use that will help prevent death (read below for suggestions from fellow memebers).

Owners with FE2 suspension start here:
My car is lowered with FE2 suspension, so for those of us with this low suspension you may not be able to get your trolley jack underneath your car. The one I am using in this how-to is a 2 Tonne jack, so it is a bit bigger that a 1.2T jack. Some people suggest removing the front bumper, but I usually can not be bothered doing this as it can be time consuming. So what i so is first jack up the side of the car that my trolley jack will be entering from with the factory scissor jack.
Alternatively, you can drive your car onto some wooden boards which will raise the height of the front of the car, relative to the ground. I haven't tested this myself, but if it works for you, then do it.

This jacking point for the scissor jack is just inside the cutout in your side skirt, towards the front. It has an arch (semi circle) where the center of your scissor jack should slide over. It is a tab that should fit in between the gap on the scissor jack.
Do Not put any part of your body (legs. heads etc.) under your car when it is only supported by a jack, always use safety stands before proceeding to go underneath your car. Even if you are 'only going to be quick' use safety stands please.
Once you have found this (you should already know where this is, incase you get a flat tyre!) jack the car up high enough to roll your trolley jack under your car to the centre.





Owners with Standard suspension start here:
The best centre jacking point for the front of the car I found to be the K-Frame. As you can see in the picture it is just behind the sump. There are 2 crosses on it, so you can align your jack in between the 2 crosses if you want centre (unless you want to jack your car up on an angle (which could be unsafe).
I usually jack my car up from the side for some reason, using the gap in between the wheel and the wheel arch for the trolley jack's arm to move up and down in between. You should however jack the car up from the front (or rear) when possible, which is most of the time.
I've been told that you should get full (or as close to) strokes of the jack when jacking up your car. [Can someone please cite as to whether this is so that thew jack works properly, is safer to use or another reason.]
It's easier if you remove your wheel, which you usually do when doing most under the car work, which I guess is why I always use the side of the car as my thrusting position...

So once you have jacked your car up to the height you want it at, it would look something like this:



[Note that the front wheel of the jack is wedged in between the bricks of my driveway, preventing easy movement. This is bad and contradictory to what I advised at the start of this thread. Always use a level surface and/or ensure that the trolley jack can roll when it needs to]
You then need to place your car on safety stands before proceeding to venture underneath it. Here I have used the hoist pad locations for placing my safety stands under. This is one of two that you would usually use, the other and more common being used is the chassis rail (hence the term chassis stands sometimes being used).



The chassis rail is the rail coming down from an angle in the picture (right hand side) and then leveling out to be parallel with the cars body as it passes next to the hoist pad. Your safety stand should fit around it perfectly and this would be a more ideal position for them to be placed. I don't know why I didn't use it for this how-to, but since then I now use the chassis rail more for my safety stand positioning.
The chassis rail starts around where the front hoist pad location is and runs to about the middle of the car, so it can only be used for jacking up the front of the car. Here's a photo of it:



Place your safety stands on either side of your car, preferably symetrical to each other, so that your car sits evenly once suspended by them.
You can then proceed to lower your car slowly onto your safety stands, taking your time to make sure that this is done correctly. Make sure that the car is sitting on the nice and square, not on the edges or anything bad like that.
So once this is done, it should look something like this:


Now for the rear of the car.
If you want to jack up the rear of the car, you can do so a little more easily than for the front. The best centre jacking point for the rear is the centre of the diff. Just roll your trolley jack under there and jack your car up.
The bottom, diff oil soaked diff cover bolt in the picture should be inside the cirlce of the jack, for reference.

You can use the hoist pad location for the rear to put your safety stands under. Make sure that the car is dropped onto the stand nice and evenly, to obtain maximum safety for the operation.
Here is the rear hoist pad, or outer cradle mount bracket:


I am going to update the crap out of this thread with all of your usefull suggestions, so that it can become a very useful resourse for those wishing to undertake some DIY work on their car. So if you think there is something that I have missed or can improve on, feel free to suggest it, so that I can put it on here.
I will also be posting up my setup for how I bled my brakes either in this section or on a new thread soon, as well as making a few changes to this how-to along the way. This will do for now as I have struggled to get the motivation to type this sucker out until now.

How do I make the pictures smaller?

[Cobez]

Nice write up mate! This will be very useful for new forum members wanting to service their cars themselves and what not.

[Dum*P*ster]

Thanks mate

I rarely jack up my car.. Usually put it on Ramps,

Im usually to nervous to put it on stands.. I've had a bad experience with one before.. bloody Stand broke.. And yeah

[strgas]

I have a good suggestioe to help those with lowered cars and jacking them up , to raise the car up enough to position a trolley jack under the front or rear of the vehicle drive up on some boards placed on the ground in front of the wheels .
Have you noticed how much the vehicle moves when jacked from the side as pictured in your thread ? somewhat dangerous practice wouldn't you agree ?

[HoZy]

I have a good suggestioe to help those with lowered cars and jacking them up , to raise the car up enough to position a trolley jack under the front or rear of the vehicle drive up on some boards placed on the ground in front of the wheels .
Have you noticed how much the vehicle moves when jacked from the side as pictured in your thread ? somewhat dangerous practice wouldn't you agree ?

I would have to agree with that, Meant to jack from the front or rear, unless specifically only lifting a single wheel high enough to change a spare tyre in case of emergency.

Cheers
MaT

[vxcalais_01]

Excellent write up mate. Just what the doctor called for. A pic of the chassic rail for the rear jacking point would be good.

[tanner892]

Excellent write up mate. Just what the doctor called for. A pic of the chassic rail for the rear jacking point would be good.

I just use the diff, and also just to mention a point, make sure the jack is definently on the K frame when jacking up the front and not on the sump, or you could be in for a very messy job.

And a couple posts up this was mentioned and i also do it as it definently helps when you have skirts /a lowered car, drive up on some planks first so you can get the jack under the car easily

[Kirbs]

We were told in automotive class at school we should always give the car a shake to make sure the car wouldn't fall when we were under it.

[VKCOMMO]

^^ i was told that as well, and also you forgot to say chock the opposite wheels, especially at the back because the back wheels are the handbrake

[HoldrodeoLT]

Oh great, i already freak out when im just servcing my quad on a jack, now reading your stand broke makes it worse.. haha.

Nice wright up!

[Kal123]

Any recommendations on Brands of Jacks and Stands?

Saw a nice Kincrome Kit for $99 at My local Auto shop..

[jazza15]

^^ i was told that as well, and also you forgot to say chock the opposite wheels, especially at the back because the back wheels are the handbrake

It's mentioned near the start. I think I forgot it when I initially wrote it out.

As for brands, I can't personally recomend any, as I'm not an expert on the topic (I just did a how-to on it though :P). I'd say get one with a warranty, provided that you are going to use it properly, when you do get your jack, make sure you keep it lubricated as per manufactuers instructions and always follow correct safety procedures.

[JT090]

hey good write up for some of the 'noobs' (no offence intended) my mate (who is a mechanic and should have known better) jacked the rear of a car he was working on up but didn't chock the wheels or use stands, as it happens it rolled off the jack whilst he was having a quick look under. Down to the point his head got crushed into the ground with the petrol tank, stopped breathing and loss conciousness, although he did survive he is very bloody lucky he was revived on the scene broke a couple or ribs but would have been dead if anything like the diff crushed him, just remember it can happen to anyone and take the precautions to make sure you are safe

[VYMAD]

Good how-to mate. Excuse my noobness but I've been very hesitant to jack up the rear by placing the jack under the diff. Is this really ok?

[dynoryder]

can i add one thing if you are not working on a commodore it is safest to put the jackstands under the chassis rails allways and leave the wheels under the sils and the jack just off its jacking point

this way you have two fail safes plz be carefull

oh yea if you can leave wheels on then do so

[Cobez]

For once, i agree with him ^^^^ I always throw spare tyres under each side of the car AS WELL as car stands. If the car falls, sure you may have a broken face, but it's better than dying. If i'm using a jack and stands and only jacking one side, i'll lower the car onto the stands, and i'll leave the jack supporting the car too.

Same deal, if the stand fails, the jack may just give you that extra few seconds to scramble out from under the car.

[Philthy]

I always leave tyres under the sills, as well as leaving the trolley jack just a few mm's under the car for that added protection.

Good write-up Jazza

[jazza15]

Agreed guys, I usually kep the jack under for an extra safety margin. I added this point into the how-to.
I prefer to use the chassis rails when using chassis/safety stands, the stand just fits them better and safer.

[vxcalais_01]

Why not just add another set of jack stands ? They cheap enough at supercheap. And why isnt this thread stickied ???

[jazza15]

Why not just add another set of jack stands ? They cheap enough at supercheap.

I think that's be a bit of an overkill, we are really talking worst case scenario. Making sure that your safety stands are positioned correctly initially is a good way to save a perfectly good pair of undies at the least.

And why isnt this thread stickied ???

Called it early, but yeah!

[strgas]

22 years of jacking up cars and working under them over them in them never had one fall off the stands yet , never had a problem jacking from the diff housing at the rear . always position the stands on the rail never the floor pan , sumps are not a good place to jack from replaced afew sumps coz of this . wheel placed under the sill will prevent the car dropping to the ground for sure .
always watch out when placing car on four stands once one end is up and while jacking the other end watch for the jack rolling or the stands shifting under the weight transfer and vice versus when lowering back down .

[vxcalais_01]

Are slight slopes a no no ?

[strgas]

avoid slopes they only good for skiing on , the more level the ground the more stable the car will be less chance of a roll or slip then gravity sux's

[vxcalais_01]

Its sometimes hard to guage the quality of the base you are jacking up the car on. Old driveway could be thin concrete, new concrete in garage slab might be too thin to carry the weight as well, so all things considered. Maybe slap a few planks to timber under the stand to spread its load.

[Maxseverity]

I'm going to kill myself one day. I jack it up with standard holden jack, put cinder bricks under jack points. all set. i do have a car pit... dont know why i dont use it...