So something I never even thought about until I saw other people worry about this.


Everyone knows where the usual support/jack stand positions are on a unibody car like a Honda Civic, under the pinchwelds on the four corners of the car under the rocker panels.


Fine.


But now I see people worrying that certain kinds of jack stands don't actually rest on the pinch welds, they rest on the body around the pinch welds. Does this location offer any kind of support? Or will it dent the rocker panels or even rip through it?


For example this kind of jack stand is so deep, almost a half moon where it engages with the pinch weld (actually you can see a reviewer mention it in the "Most Liked Negative Review"):
3 Ton Jack Stands - Heavy Duty Jack Stands for Cars and Trucks


So it looks like on some cars actually the two tips of the sort of half moon would touch the body and the pinch weld itself would just float. On some cars the pinch weld might stick out far enough to where it would touch the bottom of that half moon and the two tips would float instead. Look at this civic for example:
http://www.8thcivic.com/forums/attac...r-img_0005.jpg


So I don't actually know what's under that rubberized undercoating they spray on the area around the pinch weld. Does anyone know if it's something that can hold the weight of the car? Is it safe for a jack stand to balance the car on that region?

 

Jack makers and car makers would need to get together on this, but until they do I will only buy jack stands that will lift the car in the same area the stock scissor jack does. A fitter/welder can modify the jack stand to fit the car the way it should, but it's easier to just buy a jack stand that works. Not likely you can find one that fits perfectly, but I found one that is not flat, but not such a deep U shape.

 

Put me in the "worry" side of this discussion. I like to see the bottom part of the "jack point" touching the jack stand.

But that is just me

 

I now see "EX" chimed in as I was typing.

I have seen some "jack points" that are very tall - say they stick down a good 2 inches clear of the body. So in that case a deep "V" might give better safety.

 

Yeah so I thought about the stock scissor jack too as a point of reference and it does indeed (at least on mine) contact only the pinch weld.


I guess for cars that have really long pinch welds it would be better to have a deeper v like poorman said because if it were more on the flat side I'd worry about it sliding off or bending.


I guess in the end you just got to measure the pinch weld and the distance from the pinch weld on other side to see where the tips of the jack stand would touch and whether you're going to be sitting on the pinch weld or not before you decide to buy one. Not that big of a deal I guess.