I bought some new jack stand pinch weld adapter for my wife's lexus and wanted to check the fitting on my car. But then I notice all my pinch welds are curled up, bent inwards. They seem to be the same for all four pinch welds. The only time the car has been lifted is when I brought it in for toyota for maintenance service and to costco for some all season tire changeup. Are they typically curled up like this, or are they usually straight like most cars? Or are they really prone to bending like this?
Toyota and Lexus uses two different pinch weld patterns that can easily be identified by examining the scissors jack supplied with the particular car. They are either the "rounded" edge pinch weld as cited in the OP's photo or the "knife edge" pinch weld. When I purchased the Safejacks Rennstands, they came with the "universal" pinch weld adapter, which will fit the "rounded" but not the "knife edge" pinch weld. The jack for the "rounded" edge pinch weld straddles each side of the pinch weld, while the jack for the "knife edge" pinch weld uses the "knife edge" as a locator to keep the jack from slipping off the pad behind the "knife edge" that actually supports the car. Using a jack that supports the "knife edge" pinch weld with the weight of the car on it will most likely damage and bend the pinch weld.
The Gen 3 Prius uses "knife edge" pinch welds as opposed to the "rounded" pinch welds on your Gen 4 and the Lexus that you show a picture of. On account that the "rounded" pinch weld adapter does not work on the "knife edge" pinch weld, I made special custom adapters for using the Rennstands with my Gen 3.
that explains it. This is the first toyota/lexus I have purchases that have a rounded pinch weld, whereas my previous vehicle, gen 2 Prius was a knife edge pinch weld. Thanks.
