A New Perhaps Better Way To Hold the Prius Up For An Oil Change

Whenever I can I prefer ramps. I have metal ones with a ridge; the car stays on them very confidently and they have plastic lower profile ramps that hook onto them so that the car can get on there without scraping.

 

Even though I have a herd of safety stands, wheel chocks, a 3 ton floor jack with decent lift range, and last but not least a bullet-proof lift regimen, I continue to obsess about DIY ramps. It could be partially due to the low tech nature of ramps: it irks being reliant on a close-tolerance, machined steel equipment for lifting.

 

I found 2 adapters for using a floor jack on the scissor jack lift points:

Z Jack Adapter

Amazon.com: Floor Jack Saddle Adapter for Rocker Panel Pinch Weld: Automotive

I purchased the second adapter from an eBay seller for under $16 shipped. Just received it, and it is heavy gauge steel with an adapter pin that goes into the jack to replace the lifting cradle. I haven't tried it out yet though.

As far as using my floor jack on the lifting points provided on the Prius, the floor jack I currently have does not have a very long reach under the vehicle, nor does it have a very high lifting range. A better floor jack is on my to buy list for sure, but right now my Rhino ramps, jack stands and floor jack with the pinch weld adapters is what I have to work with.