Pinch welds and jack stands

[skaughtz]

When raising and lowering my cars, I have always used the pinch welds as the support points for jack stands. I jack from the front and rear center support points and lower the pinch welds directly onto the jack stands. Recently I have read that this is not the best idea because the pinch welds can bend and slotted hockey pucks/wood/etc. should be used on top of the jack stands to prevent this.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? It would seem to me that if the pinch weld were so delicate, manufacturers wouldn't put them there. I understand how slamming the car down could bend them, but aren't they designed to support the weight of the vehicle directly when using jack stands? Is it really better to support the car using the area on the rail immediately to the left and right of the pinch weld (i.e., were you to rest the pinch weld inside of a slotted block of wood, the weight of the car would be distributed to the left and right of the weld on the rail)?

 

[roadrunner1]

There are several different manufacturers that offer a rubber boot to fit over the jackstand to prevent damage to the pinch welds. I have a set of them and they work great. We always practice "safe jacking" here!

 

[supton]

I've been finding a different jack point to lift with--anything big and beefy looking, solidly attached to the "chassis" folds in the unibody--and then using jackstands under the pinch weld. Reason being, when I lift at a different corner I'm concerned about rocking on the jackstand if it wasn't in/lifting something that would have it well captured.

The welds look spindly but I haven't seen one fold over, at least not yet.

 

[OneEyeJack]

In many situations I use a piece of wood between the jack stand and the vehicle before lowering the vehicle enough to put a load on the stand. I don't depend on a jack stand that is not making contact with the vehicle.

I had a car shift while I was working underneath. It happened in high school auto shop and now I make sure it can never happen, again.

 

[KrisZ]

I always use a hockey puck or a piece of wood for the jack stands. Rust prevention in our area is difficult as is and I don't want extra scratches and dents caused by improper use of jack stands to make it even more difficult.

 

[rationull]

skaughtz, I've been using exactly the process you outline for years with a few different cars with mixed results but generally positive. Historically I have used a pad on the jack saddle to prevent roughing up the central support points on subframes/rear diffs but nothing on the jack stands. However, I have had some pinch weld damage on my Subaru due to this and so have started to use Harbor Freight jack stands with the custom formed pads they sell, since the profile of these jack stands works well with this car.

However I've lifted multiple other vehicles multiple times this way and not had any apparent damage to the pinch welds. The damage was obvious after the first time on the Subaru.

A lot of cars are pretty screwed up on the pinch welds due to lifting practices. TBH I don't really like using the pads because it's another thing to set up, could be misaligned etc. and the simpler the better when it comes to something like this. At a minimum I would wait to see if you have a problem on any given vehicle before looking into additional padding options -- just my opinion.

 

[440Magnum]

I have a whole bunch of circular plywood pucks leftover from using a hole-saw to install electrical boxes in a garage ceiling. They're a perfect fit for the cup of my floor jack, and one of them stays in that cup until it falls apart. Work great for gripping pinch welds, but also avoiding scuffing the K-member (front) or axle tubes (rear) on cars that don't get lifted by the pinch weld.

I usually put jackstands elsewhere than the pinch-weld and leave the jack under the pinch weld as a backup to the jackstand.

 

[zzyzzx]

I also use a piece of wood with a slot cut in it. Having said that, my first piece didn't last too long before it split (and I did cut it the right way).

 

[Danno]

I ordered one of these for my floor jack.

http://www.inapinchweld.com/

Remove the floor jack "cup" and insert this. Very well made and there is a steel washer supporting the plastic top. The plastic is very strong and looks more like a very hard rubber - puck like in consistency.

I then support the car using jack stands supporting under a beefy part of where the suspension meets the body.

 

[razel]

Originally Posted By: roadrunner1
We always practice "safe jacking" here!

Is that why many wear gloves now?

 

[Kool1]

When I'm in a pinch and I need to jack, I call by girlfriend to line things up so I can make sure it goes up correctly.

 

[OneEyeJack]

Your wife's old paperback books work really well, too.

 

[Lolvoguy]

Originally Posted By: razel
Originally Posted By: roadrunner1
We always practice "safe jacking" here!

Is that why many wear gloves now?