2018 Prius oil filter is a spin on now?

A lot of people here seem to do that, still: not for me. I'll raise the car using either the front or rear central jacking point. Never the side, seems to flimsy. Oil changes, I'll just raise the front as high as I can go.

Tire rotations, I'll raise both: front end first, try to get it so tires are 1~2 inches clear of the floor, onto jack stands, then repeat at the rear. The object being to have all four tires just clear of the slab, easier on my back, lol.

With minimal clearance under the tires, I can lift the wheels up and on with the help of a pry bar bar. I find if just muscle them on a day later my back is telling me about it.

 

You know that's a red-flag-to-a-bull for me, right?

From the 2016 Owner's Manual, page 590:



Suspecting it's similar to third gen, it's a prominent low point on the engine bay lower cross beam.

 

You’re always quick on the draw.

 

It seems like if you roll under the centre/front, a typically-dimensioned 3 ton range floor jack with it's handle vertical, around the time the handle encounters the front fairing the jack cradle should be in the vicinity of the (designed) jacking point. The engineers think about the need, come up with something.

 

That's what I ended up building for mine so that I could get under it to do the filter.

 

I know this goes against what this forum, and most of the internet, probably thinks but Chrysler has a better engineered design for how to use these cartridge type oil filters than Toyota does. On my Prius I have to be under the car and I use the special oil filter wrench to remove the filter cap because apparently my dealer likes to use air guns on those things. The first time I did it I had to use a breaker bar to get it to move, then let the oil drain from the filter. With Chrysler there is no special tool needed, just a large socket. The filter is at the top of the engine where it is easy to access and all of the oil drains out of it so you're unlikely to make a mess. So I'd be glad if my Prius had the spin on oil filter that the engine was engineered for rather than the what seems like a haphazard last minute update to use a cartridge style filter.

 

Yes I just find the biggest bolt and Jack it up there on one side for my oil change. I put big diameter maple wood supports for safety.