Jacking Up a Car in the Wrong Spot Can Cost You Thousands: Here Is Where to Lift It

Lifting your own car is the first step to doing your own oil change, brake job, or tire rotation, and it is also the step that sends people to the hospital. In this video, an ASE certified mechanic shows you exactly where to place a floor jack and jack stands on almost any car, truck, or SUV, what parts of the underbody you must never lift on, and the safety habits that keep a vehicle from ever coming down on you. Most drivers only jack up a car once, on the side of the road, with the little scissor jack from the trunk, and they put it wherever it seems to fit. That is how you crush a pinch weld, punch a hole in a floor pan, dent an oil pan, or crack a plastic rocker cover. Worse, a car balanced on a hydraulic jack alone can drop without warning if a seal lets go or the ground shifts. WHAT WE COVER How to find the factory lift points on your specific vehicle using the owners manual and the marks stamped into the pinch weld The difference between the front and rear jacking points and the four jack stand points Lifting a unibody car versus a body on frame truck or SUV, and why the procedure is not the same Safe center lift points such as the front subframe or crossmember, the rear differential housing, and the rear axle on a solid axle vehicle The spots you must never lift on, including the oil pan, transmission pan, control arms, sway bar, exhaust, floor pan, plastic side skirts, and any suspension component that moves How to use a pinch weld adapter or a hockey puck slot adapter so you do not fold the seam over Setting up on level concrete, chocking the wheels, and why the parking brake and transmission position matter How high to lift, where the jack stands go, and how to lower the car onto the stands correctly The shake test before you ever slide underneath Using the factory scissor jack safely for a roadside tire change Extra caution on hybrids and EVs, where a battery pack sits under the floor and the lift points are strictly defined What to do on a lowered car or a vehicle with low ground clearance, including ramps and a low profile jack Torquing the lug nuts in a star pattern after the wheel is back on and rechecking them after driving SAFETY POINTS THIS VIDEO MAKES CLEAR Never work under a vehicle supported only by a hydraulic jack or a scissor jack Never use cinder blocks, bricks, wood scraps, or a spare tire as a substitute for jack stands Never lift on soft ground, gravel, grass, dirt, or a sloped driveway Always chock the wheels that stay on the ground Always use jack stands rated for your vehicle weight and lock the pin or pawl Always test the setup by shoving the car before your body goes under it THINGS PEOPLE DAMAGE BY LIFTING IN THE WRONG PLACE Bent, folded, or rusted through pinch welds that then rip when a shop tries to lift the car Cracked oil pans and leaking transmission pans Punched holes in the floor pan or rocker panel, which turns into rust later Broken plastic ground effects, side skirts, and lower valances Bent control arms and sway bars, which then throw off the alignment Damaged battery pack shields and undertrays on hybrid and electric vehicles This is a universal procedure. It applies to nearly every make and model, including Toyota, Honda, Ford, Chevrolet, GMC, Ram, Dodge, Jeep, Chrysler, Nissan, Hyundai, Kia, Subaru, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Tesla, Lexus, Acura, and Infiniti, on cars, trucks, SUVs, vans, and EVs. The exact lift point locations change from one vehicle to the next, but the way you find them and the safety rules never change. Popular searches this video answers: where to jack up a car, car jack points, where to put jack stands, how to jack up a car safely, how to use jack stands, pinch weld jack point, floor jack vs scissor jack, can you jack up a car by the differential, where to lift a truck with a floor jack, how to jack up one side of a car, jacking up a car for oil change, safe car lifting points, how to change a tire safely, jack stand placement front and rear, how to jack up an EV. For more help, resources, and tools, visit https://www.youcanic.com #CarJack #JackStands #AutoRepair #CarMaintenance #DIYAuto #YOUCANIC