Jack and stand placement

[theflea42]

I'm pretty sure this topic has been beat to death already, but I wanted to share how I raise my car to set it on jack stands, and the reason's why I did it this way.

On the back, I put the jack stand and a piece of wood on the mount where the subframe bolts to the body. This is a very strong place since it's where the two parts of the car come together.


The red circle is where I put the jack to raise the car up. The mount fits perfectly down into the saddle of the floor jack I was using. Another very strong spot since it's where the body and subframe come together.

[theflea42]

On the front, the red circle is the location on where I put the jack to raise the car up. This is behind the front tire. I had to go in from the side since I was using just a regular 3 ton floor jack, no low profile jack, yet! The subframe bolt is to the left of that red circle. I didnt put the jack there because there seems to be some sheet metal from the car body in that area and I didn't want to bend anything.

The second picture is where I put the jack stand. This point is just forward of where the rack and pinion bolts. This should be good strong place to rest the car. I should have put a board here so as not to scratch anything. The front subframe to body mounting bolt is kind of hidden by the bumper and all that stuff.

[ElderJ]

https://www.camaro5.com/forums/showt...ht=jack+stands


3rd post has the stand locations, but as we know, you can alter it if need be. I'd also recommend using a piece of wood for support on those front jack points if possible as it could bend the frame.

[Trawz]

Originally Posted by ElderJ

https://www.camaro5.com/forums/showt...ht=jack+stands


3rd post has the stand locations, but as we know, you can alter it if need be. I'd also recommend using a piece of wood for support on those front jack points if possible as it could bend the frame.

I place my front jacks stands where the front sub frame bolts to the main cassis.
The jack stands fit perfectly in that area and zero chance of them slipping out of position.
The positions shown for the front stand points on that post are a pain when you are working under it.

[Eddymel1998]

My car ended up going on jack stands often enough that I bought those aluminum pads that bolt on to the pinch welds at the 4 lift spots, only missed those spots and drove a jack stand into rocker panel once, no damage thankfully, so win in my book

[Eddymel1998]

Actually while on topic of jack points, I have a 2010 SS and my go to jack spot is the beam right under the engine, I have been considering retrofitting a zl1 or z28 belly pan under the engine bay but does anyone know if that would block that spot from being useful? It looks like it covers that beam but if I marked the location with some paint would the pan handle the load or would it crack?

[SaReNi]

I have the pinch weld pads as well. three on both sides. front back and center. work great and makes lifting the car so easy. the middle allows the whole side to go up at the same time. front and rear tires are off the ground. then I can put jack stands on the front and rear pads. had to notch the rocker a little like the front and rear spots so the center pad could go on. no big deal.


just put tires on the car. the tire place used the front and rear pads to lift the car after I pointed them out so now I don't worry as much when I take the car someplace that it has to be lifted, relying on the person putting the car up knows where or not.

[CamaroCracka]

Originally Posted by Eddymel1998

Actually while on topic of jack points, I have a 2010 SS and my go to jack spot is the beam right under the engine, I have been considering retrofitting a zl1 or z28 belly pan under the engine bay but does anyone know if that would block that spot from being useful? It looks like it covers that beam but if I marked the location with some paint would the pan handle the load or would it crack?

I was looking into one and IIRC it does cover the crossmembers and since it's plastic and held in by relatively small screws, it would not survive a floor jack.

[CamaroCracka]

I picked up a set of pinch weld pads on here, but I still use the jack points the OP uses because old habits die hard and I know exactly how the car behaves with those jack points. They do come in handy from time to time.

I find that once I have a floor jack under the front crossmember, I can use 6 ton jack stands and reach under the front bumper to locate them on the front cradle without having to get on the ground.

I also use a big round rubber pad that covers cup on the floor jack. I think it was $10 for four of them on Amazon. They don't work as well on my high lift floor jack because the cup is smaller. I have pucks that drop in the cup for that.

I don't put the jackstand under the cradle bushing because I might need access to that. I have 12 ton stands that are pretty tall and I put a small wood block between them and the frame just behind the rear cradle bushing.

I really need a lift but I keep telling myself I am almost done would just have a lift blocking walking space.

[Trawz]

I also have a set of jack pads from ZL1 Addons.
Using them with my floor jack and placing the stands under the subframe and main chassis connection points.

I do this because I swear reading somewhere here that the two front most jacking points shown in the above link are not actually strong enough to use to jack the car up....

Have I been doing this wrong this whole time??

[Eddymel1998]

Originally Posted by CamaroCracka

I was looking into one and IIRC it does cover the crossmembers and since it's plastic and held in by relatively small screws, it would not survive a floor jack.

Dang, might look into how it's mounted a bit more, way I see it, if no major bolts are in the way it might be possible to cut out a hole where jack meets cross member, then be very careful with the jack.

[ariZona28]

Thumbing through the Summit catalog and found this. AGM Jackrod. Locks in place on your floor jack. Obviously it's for one wheel removal or if you're sliding under for some quick projects. $100-150 at various internet sites. Seems like it would work good at pinch weld location. Might be good for track day maintenance between sessions.

[theflea42]

Originally Posted by Trawz

I also have a set of jack pads from ZL1 Addons.
Using them with my floor jack and placing the stands under the subframe and main chassis connection points.

I do this because I swear reading somewhere here that the two front most jacking points shown in the above link are not actually strong enough to use to jack the car up....

Have I been doing this wrong this whole time??

I read the same thing you did somewhere myself. To me, after looking at the car in those spots, I wouldn't use them as jacking points.

[kenfb1]

Found this also