Ridiculous Front Lift Point

You pretty much need another set of eyes to center a floor jack that far back. I always use my rhino ramps, faster and easier - IMHO. I've only used my floor jack to raise the car a bit more to get the CAT shield on her or tire rotations. One at a time at the designated pinch points.

 

Our 3rd gen has the front lift point about 15" back. From what I've read here that's the exception: 2nd, 4th and now 5th gen have it way back, roughly in line with the front wheels? I've had to deal with another car with similar, way back front lift point, and cobbled some low-rise ramps: run the front wheels up 3~4" ramps, and you hopefully will have enough room to get the floor jack back to the lift point, and get the handle raised enough to get it lifting.

With the car I’m lifting, I’m the “second set of eyes”, I reach under to nudge the saddle as needed; someone else is working the jack handle. You could do it all yourself, but it’s awkward for sure.

 

Looking at this as well since I'm going to change the oil soon for the first time. I bought 4 jack stands but I'm thinking about returning 2 of them and getting a set of ramps. Need to figure out how to do tire rotation also with some combo of these.

 

My 2 cents:

Hang onto all the stands. A couple of layers of 2x8 stacked on the flat will make you low-rise ramps. Drive front wheels up onto them. Place wheel chocks fore and aft of both rear wheels (worth buying proper ones, solid rubber). Release parking brake (so rear end can freely hinge). Roll floor jack under to front jacking point and raise front (should be doable with the ramps). Position front jack stands and settle car onto them. Roll floor jack under rear jack point, raise and settle onto jack stands.

Note: if your floor slab is off-planar (not flat) you may need to shim under one corner jack stand, to ensure solid contact. Car will flex slightly, but only so much. Also, if you don’t have an impact, slightly loosen all wheel lug nuts at the outset.

 

Ideally, you want a spare tire - use it as a place holder during rotation.
Alternatively; you can also jack up and place a jack stand on one corner of the car and work your way around - but that's a lot more work.

Good Luck....

 

Although some may disagree with this procedure, I roll my floor jack under front side lift points and raise both front and rear wheels off the ground. Makes changing summer/winter wheels much easier, also front/back rotations. Done this about half-dozen times, no issues.

 

FWIW; While your on the lift point, you may 'bend' the uni-body - especially if you've a lot of rust. Whenever I jack, I just take the tire an inch off the ground; if something should happen - it doesn't fall far. That's just me. IMHO; jacking a car under it's weight bearing cross-bracing; where most of the weight is directly above it; is better than prying up a corner.

YMMV

 

^ That’s more-or-less what I do with my third gen, though I follow through, use jack stands in the rear as well. I also put sturdy rubber wheel chocks fore and aft of rear wheels (and release parking brake), prior to raising front. My garage floor slab is slightly out of planar, left/rear corner I know from experience I need to add 1/4” shims under the jack stand legs, to achieve solid bearing on all four corners.

 

What jack do you have and what would be the ideal length if you were to get a new jack? My low profile jack is pretty old and beaten up so I'm considering getting a new one

 

I wouldn't pursue a jack long enough for that waaay-back jack point, likely hard to find, heavy as heck and expensive.

Just roll the front up on low-rise ramps first, then roll a regular jack under there. How much the jack handle has to go up to start the lift can be a factor too. My cheapo, 3-ton Sonoma is good in that regard, will stay horizontal if you let go of the handle, and starts lifting with just a slight amount of lift.

A few years back I purchased a newer 3 ton for my son, it had a spring that slammed the handle up to vertical if you let go of it, and took an inordinate amount of handle lift before it accomplished any lift. Handle pulled out the first time we tried it, and the connection snapped up to vertical. It was a miracle nobody was hurt. We returned it.

 

I'll be curious to see how easy/difficult it is to get my new XLE off of the ground. I have a couple of heavy-duty floor jacks, but none that are designed for "low-clearance" vehicles. Like Mendel said, If rolling the car up onto some cut sections of 2x10 lumber gives it enough clearance to get the jacks in a good place, I'll be happy.

FWIW, I usually jack up the entire vehicle and put it on a set of 22-ton jack stands, which I've long considered to be safer than jacking up just one section of the car.

 

There is a thread about pneumatic and electric jacks down in FHoP. Those might be a better option for the front than a typical hydraulic jack.

 

I checked Home Depot for longer options and found this:

Husky 3-Ton Super Low Super High Garage Jack HPL4790-HLD - The Home Depot

If I were to buy a new jack I'd probably try this one. I have the 2.5 ton (which is a few inches smaller) and I've never had any issues with it. Also it's Home Depot / Husky so the return policy is exceptional and no questions asked.

 

^ The low profile is only on the front portion, so doesn’t improve things, if the whole jack and half the handle needs to roll under. 24” lift is sweet. The main factor is how much the handle needs to raise in order to start it lifting. You’ll likely still need low-rise ramps, which’ll allow you to use most any jack.

 

I know it's not this post, but glad to see people doing things for themselves with the homemade ramps.
Everybody always rushes straight to the thought of buying a solution instead of creating one.

 

Oh yeah good point