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| The following is for informational use only, author(s)
are not responsible for damage or any other expense caused by the use of
this information. In all cases of jacking up the car, or using
tools, BE CAREFUL and DO IT PROPERLY. Parking brake, wheel chocks,
and jack stands are NOT OPTIONAL, they are NECESSARY. Always
disconnect the negative battery lead where electronics or welding are
involved, and make sure the lead is touching nothing but air. Be
safe, and have fun. See the
Safety Tips page for
more info. 1. Get the car onto a flat, level, solid surface, preferably cement. If blacktop, make sure you use boards under your jack stands to prevent them from sinking in. 2. In most cases you need to drive up on some 2" thick boards. I use 2x12x24 pieces with angle cuts on the side you're going to drive onto. If jacking only the front, you just need these under the front. If jacking the rear, you should put them under all 4 tires to prevent the front fascia from touching. If you're not going too high you can put them under just the rear and watch the front clearance. If jacking the whole car, obviously you need all 4. Put them about 6" in front of the tires so you can get a rolling start, and ease up onto them slowly. Try several times if you have to, if you spin the rear tires, those things become deadly projectiles and can damage the body too. 3. Set the parking brake, put it in gear, and chock in front AND in back of the tires that will stay on the ground. 4. The easiest way (and the only way I've used) is to just jack by the front and rear crossmembers. This is the silver metal piece that connects your two lower control arms (piece that connects to the wheels) to the car. I use a piece of pressure-treated 2x6x24. Just set this on your jack cradle, and center it on the crossmember (side to side and front to rear). If you look on the cross member there are four circular nubs on the bottom, it is easiest to just make sure all 4 of these are on the piece of wood. Be absolutely sure not to touch the leaf springs (black bar running side-to-side in front or in back of the crossmember). When doing this in the front you have to flip the air dam out of the way. 5. Jack it up, and place your jack stands under the same piece of wood a couple inches in from the ends. Let the jack out just enough to move the weight onto the stands, and close the valve (extra safety measure). 6. If you are jacking both front and rear, go in increments, like 1/2 way on the back, then all the way on the front, then the rest of the way on back, etc. The higher you go, the more increments you should do. Keep a CLOSE eye on the jack stands to ensure they aren't tilting, ESPECIALLY if you have an angled jack. You MUST make sure the angled jack is rolling some to compensate for the angle or those jack stands are going to TIP! There are other methods using the stock puck locations (in front of the rear tires and in back of the front tires, on the bottom of the rocker panel), but I haven't needed them yet, and haven't bothered to make pucks.
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