No car in decade, bought a 2012 Prius

I couldn’t get my Prius up Rhino ramps. I didn’t like them, either because they take up a lot of space in the garage. Harbor Freight has some fantastic floor jacks. A little more expensive than Rhino ramps but much more useful. You can’t remove a tire using ramps, for instance.

 

If you put a short 2x4 block of wood in front of the ramp, it's easy to drive onto the wood then
onto the ramps. I forgot who told me that is what they did, here on chat, but it works. Same with
back off them.
When I change the oil I only jack on the passenger front side and use one jack stand.
It's easy for me to reach the filter housing and drain plug.
I stand my ramps up for storage and they don't up much room. At least for me.

 

Do you use a floor jack, the stock scissor jack, or something else? Where do you jack up one side? The jack points don't seem to like floor jacks.

 

I’ve used both and floor jack is way better. Faster, roomier underneath, works with any car, lets you do brakes, stores better… no comparison. The ramps were a PITA compared to a good floor jack, as long as you have a good concrete floor.

 

This is how you do it.
There’s a central jack point. There’s a circle cut out in the plastic splash guard; it’s hard to miss. I put the jack stands in-board, under some frame members. You can see it in this photo.

 

Delete

 

Do you ever use the jack stands to hold up your car, or you only place them in case the jack fails?

 

You definitely rest the weight of the car on the jack stands. Then, you push the car to make sure it’s solidly situated on the jack stands. You don’t use the jack to hold the car’s weight while you’re under it. Never ever do that.

Hydraulic jacks hold the hydraulic fluid in using rubber seals. Although it’s very rare, the seal can fail and the jack will fall, pinning you under the vehicle. Even the pro lifts use mechanical devices to hold the car’s weight; always, always. Besides that, you can’t easily do an oil change with the jack located there.

 

Has anyone tried these, or some other jack stand pads?

Pads For Jack Stand, 2 Pc.

 

I don't believe mine has a spot for a jack under the radiator. That metal is pretty thin.
It doesn't need to be too still I suppose.
I've had my ramps for decades, never had any problem working on any of my cars using them.
The extremely rare times I'd use the floor jack does not justify the cost, at least for me.

Glad it works for you, and certian it will for others.

 

I got lucky. I managed to snag a floor jack and 2 jack stands on Craigslist for $20. You might similarly find a good deal on the second hand market.

 

get your oil change at jiffy lube and never have to buy anything for oil changes.

 

I have rhino ramps, a large jack, and jack stands. I never had a problem using any of them on my gen 3 and gen 4. I like the rhino ramps when doing fluid changes because they're easy to set up and don't require Jack stands. Maybe the slipperiness of the concrete makes the difference with rhino ramps? I also block the ends with rubber wheel chocks.

They're hollow and stackable so maybe OP can fill with other tools.


moto g power ?

 

Rubber what??

 

chocks - missed an 'h'

moto g power ?

 

I have no use for one any longer. I already have 2 floor jacks.
And I'd rather not get a used jack, that might fail at any time.
That is one thing I would buy new unless I knew who I was buying it from.

 

i put old pant jeans under the ramps so it doesn’t slip

 

I do it the same way. Central point is behind the radiator. Pretty sure it's just a part of the cross member.

Jack stands on the frame rails. Used to use the pinch welds but they started to deform and I didn't want to bend them anymore Incase I need to use the emergency jack.

Enjoy your new car OP. For basic tools I bought the following and it got me by for years.

Breaker bar
Set of metric sockets 10-21mm
Hammer
Flat head and Philips head screwdriver
A socket wrench (obviously)
A floor jack and jack stands
And because Toyota... The filter wrench adapter

That will get you a looong ways

 

Up the page in post #14, I mentioned:

There's info on alternative locations for jack stands in that link too. I used the scissor jack positions ONCE, and never again: they appear to be unreinforced, and are very skittish; don't inspire confidence. I'll try to dig up some more pics:


(Step one is chock the rear wheels solidly, then release the parking brake. That way the rear wheels become an unrestrained hinge point when you raise the front.)

(Front raised at the prescribed front/central jacking point. In post #14 link there's an excerpt from Owner's Manual showing exact location. BTW: third gen is lucky to have this jacking point relatively near front of car; with 4th gen (and 2nd gen?) the jacking point is MILES back.)

(jack stands are NOT at the scissor jack bearing point, instead about a foot inwards, at front end of main underbody rails.)

(You can see a little clearer where these are, in the underside pic with arrows, linked in post #14. Much more solid and stable than the sicssor jack loc's.) Addendum: I've tried to outline the underbody rails in red dashed line. Also, the distinctive L-shaped bracket I've outlined in blue dashed line, just to help with orientation.

(Tree stump section, pushed in past engine bay, is for insurance.)

Excuse the topic-drift, this pic was in the same folder; showing new vs used oil, with at most 4K kms on it. You'll hear owners say things like "at 10K miles the oil still looks like new". That's more'n likely judging from the thin film of oil on the dipstick, not a sample jar. Admitedly, with conventional cars, even judging from the dipstick the oil is black, but yeah, Prius oil does age:

 

"(Front raised at the proscribed front/central jacking point. In post #14 link there's an excerpt from Owner's Manual showing exact location. BTW: third gen is lucky to have this jacking point relatively near front of car; with 4th (and 2nd gen?) the jacking point is MILES back.)"
FYI to Mendel (no offense intended, you are a god here on PC IMO):

Proscribed = DON'T do this.

Prescribed = DO this.