How Do I Safely Lift My Subaru?

[jMon]

This is a question I have had not just about my 03 Baja, but about any
car. How do I know where to place my garage lift under the car so I
can then safely place jack stands. Last night, I was looking to
rotate my tires. I lifted the front of the car by placing my floor
jack underneath the frame rail about where the driver's seat is
positioned. Then I placed a jack stand in front of the the floor
jack, slowly lowered it, and that worked fine. However, in back, I
placed the floor jack at a point where I thought the frame rail would
provide support but when I started raising the car the part the floor
jack was pushing against started to buckle! I now have a small dent
there. Moving the floor jack a few inches further towards the front
of the vehicle did the trick. I know where the safe lifting places
are for the emergency jack but if I use those I still need to know
places where I can safely position jack stands. Can someone shed some
light on this?

 

[S]

Hi jMon, All!

This is a question I have had not just about my 03 Baja, but about any
car.

I've never looked under a Baja, but I'll assume it's the same as every
other Soobie I've worked on . . .
When using a floor jack, lift the front by jacking at the center of
the cross member just behind the oil pan. Lift the rear by jacking at
the rear diff, or on the FWD cars, at the cross member just forward of
the rear bumper.
Jackstands go just behind the front wheels, and just ahead of the
rears; same place you'd put the compact jack if you needed to use it.
There should be a notch in the rocker panel there.
If using a two-post hoist, position the front pads either on the
"frame rail" near the rear mounting point of the front arm, or (I have
to use a 2X4 on the arm of my hoist to get this to work) beneath the
front OEM jacking points. The rear pads go beneath the rocker panel at
the rear jacking points.
FWIW, this nfo should be in your owners manual.
Hope this helps.

ByeBye! S.

Steve Jernigan KG0MB
Laboratory Manager
Microelectronics Research
University of Colorado
(719) 262-3101

 

[Paul Pedersen]

jMon writes :

However, in back, I
placed the floor jack at a point where I thought the frame rail would
provide support but when I started raising the car the part the floor
jack was pushing against started to buckle! I now have a small dent
there.

I had the same thing happen to me at the front on an Impreza.
I wasn't terribly impressed. I now put a piece of wood between
the jack and the rail (really only a seam) to spread the
contact out a bit and that seems to work ok.

 

[Todd H.]

This is a question I have had not just about my 03 Baja, but about any
car. How do I know where to place my garage lift under the car so I
can then safely place jack stands. Last night, I was looking to
rotate my tires.

I was able to use the service jack included with my vechicle to jack
at the prescribed jack points (behind front wheel, in front of rear
wheel) and still have enough room to get the jack stand next to it to
still be on the jack point. the service jack is gloriously skinny.

Gotta do one wheel at a time though. There appears to be no central
front jackpoint on this generation.