Please show me where the floor jack suppose to go!

Discussion in 'Prime Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Salamander_King, Nov 16, 2018.

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  1. a_gray_prius

    a_gray_prius Rare Non-Old-Blowhard Priuschat Member

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    We own some pretty low cars where it's really challenging to get a jack under them (even a low profile one).

    You have two good options for doing it properly yourself:

    1. Jack helper ramps like these (there are slightly cheaper options): link (forum keeps trying to parse the raw link so I have to do it this way)

    2. $250-$300 Race Ramps (54" is probably good enough for a stock height prime, 72" if you're slammed)
     
    #21 a_gray_prius, Jan 20, 2019
  2. litesong

    litesong Active Member

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    I have to brag about the 12Volt electric car jack I bought for $10 at a garage sale. With my bad back, the jack is better than a doctor, keeping my body glued together.
     
    #22 litesong, Jan 29, 2019
    Last edited: Jan 30, 2019
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  3. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Is your electric jack hydraulic type? There are electric jacks that look like air pillows which supposed to work in any terrain even off-road. No need to look for a perfect jackpoint. In fact, this one in the video doesn't even need a 12v battery. However, it will not work on BEV without a tailpipe. lol
     
    #23 Salamander_King, Jan 30, 2019
  4. Mark57

    Mark57 2021 Tesla Model 3 LR AWD

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    It requires the SO (significant other) Ver 2.1 add-on module. :p
     
    #24 Mark57, Jan 30, 2019
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  5. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    OK, I had my PRIME serviced at a dealer today. I asked them if they could show me where the floor jack points are on this car. Well, first the service manager and tech told me that there are no central floor jack points on this car. Too much plastic was their reason. They said you have to rise from the side with TWO jacks. Then I told them there are diagrams in the manual showing the central front and rear jack points as shown on my #1 and @Mendel Leisk 's #2 comment.

    After showing the rear jack point which is a prominent protrusion, they concurred that can be used for jacking, but for the front central jack point, they weren't sure if it is strong enough.

    Here is the pic of my PRIME hoisted up showing the front jack point area shown in the owner's manual (bottom of the pic is the front of the car).

    Is it OK to put a floor jack at this point? I took my summer tires on wheels with me to have them changed in lieu of the tire rotation. It was free. I don't have to do the next tire change (coincide with tire rotation) till fall for winter change over, but it would be good to know for sure where the front central floor jack point is before that time.

    The same area on Gen4 is shown on the pic by Mendel on his comment Please show me where the floor jack suppose to go! | PriusChat

    IMG_20190330_081720.jpg
     
    #25 Salamander_King, Mar 30, 2019
    Last edited: Mar 30, 2019
  6. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Witness Leader

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    Go for it. That's the main front beam, similar story as 3rd gen. Our son's Mazda CX-5 is similar story: front jacking point is a "vague" area, in the middle of heavy steel component.

    Toyota spells it out in Owner's Manual, and I get the sense that dealership does very little floor jack lifting, so are unfamiliar with it.

    The body will flex some, front to rear, but that's not unusual.

    The Jack handle might have limited travel till its raised a bit, looks like the bearing point is pretty far back.
     
    #26 Mendel Leisk, Mar 30, 2019
    Last edited: Mar 30, 2019
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  7. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Thanks Mendel. I will try it next time. It is waaaay back coming from the front. The first time I do this, I will have to make sure my floor jack can actually reach that point and still be able to pump the handle.
     
    #27 Salamander_King, Mar 30, 2019
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  8. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    It looks WAAAAAAAAAAY back there:cool:.

    Soon I’ll be joining the ranks and I’ll scope it out ;).

    But there definitely is a place(y).
     
    #28 Raytheeagle, Mar 30, 2019
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  9. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Just for reference. Here is the picture of my PRIME's rear jack point.
    The top of the pic is the rear of the car. This one is much easier to get to.

    IMG_20190330_081703.jpg
     
    #29 Salamander_King, Mar 30, 2019
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  10. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    Looks right;).

    But definitely the underside resembles a salt belt car:eek:.
     
    #30 Raytheeagle, Mar 30, 2019
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  11. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Only two New England winters, it is far better than my decommissioned Sienna after 12 winters.

    IMG_20180113_102736.jpg
     
    #31 Salamander_King, Mar 30, 2019
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  12. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Witness Leader

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    Look for safety stand points while you're at it. If you put the scissor jack at the proscribed jacking points, I think you'll find it's not actually bearing on that knife edge, but on the body directly behind. And probably dimpling it...

    Possible front safety stand points:

    upload_2019-3-30_19-23-2.png

    And rear safety stand points, in vicinity of the oval openings with black rubber plugs. Those are heavy plate, reinforced for locking pins during shipping I think.

    upload_2019-3-30_19-30-1.png

    Looks like an artificial reef, delightful.
     
    #32 Mendel Leisk, Mar 30, 2019
    Last edited: Mar 30, 2019
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  13. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    :eek:.

    I won’t show you the underside of our Prius that has seen 9 “winters”. But let’s just say there is a drastic difference ;).

    Rust doesn’t retire cars out here, the daily grind does:cautious:.
     
    #33 Raytheeagle, Mar 30, 2019
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  14. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Rust does not discriminate. 50 grand luxury sedan or 10 grand economy compact, spend enough winters here, they will go. My experience has been 15 years is top, but they can go any time after 10 years.
     
    #34 Salamander_King, Mar 30, 2019
  15. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    You’ll appreciate this then:).

    From 1989 it’s my brother in law’s girlfriend ride:

    A8A6738E-1254-44F2-AEA9-024BAECDEBA6.jpeg

    Only 100k miles too(y).
     
    #35 Raytheeagle, Mar 30, 2019
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  16. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Yeah, I hear about those legendary Toyota that runs forever, but I suspect they only exist outside of the snow belt. I was in the used car market recently. Around here, very high mileage less than 10 years old cars are good for sale, but very old low mileage cars are no good unless came from the south.
     
    #36 Salamander_King, Mar 30, 2019
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  17. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    You ever need one, they are prevalent out here:).

    @m.wynn is trying to talk me in to one :whistle:.

    But I’m Prime to resist(y).
     
    #37 Raytheeagle, Mar 30, 2019
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  18. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Witness Leader

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    Our Toyota's suspension components, bolts, minor retaining screws, all seem to rust like crazy, if left to their own devices. Much more and faster than our past Hondas. I'm not sure what it is: cavalier attitude to rust prevention, better coatings now banned, both?

    @tvpierce turned me onto boiled linseed oil: I put some on about a year back and it's held up well. Also, any small bolts on the underside, I just back them out and oil-soak them.
     
    #38 Mendel Leisk, Mar 31, 2019
  19. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    I have not kept all the makes of cars I owned in the past long enough to compare, but my old Civic which I kept for 15 years had rear fender rust problem well know for this model. It was too costly to replace but perforated fender needed to be fixed in order to pass the inspection. I did the annual repair to fill the holes with BONDO, but in the end, I got rid of the car when the exhaust components fell off from rusting. As for rust prevention, I had a dealer apply very expensive underbody coating once, but not sure of the effectiveness once the car passed 10 years of age.

    Then I read good reviews on Fluid Film which is lanolin based rust inhibitor. I used it on two cars in the past, but both I did not keep the cars long enough to see the effectiveness. One car was HCH and the other was Gen3 Prius. I did not start Fluid Film on HCH till 5 years old, Gen3 from the start. I traded Gen3 only after 3 years, so I don't know its effectiveness for the long term. HCH was not treated for the first 5 years. I don't know if that had an adverse effect, but at 10 years when it was totaled it did not have the rust problem. I wanted to treat PRIME with Fluid Film before the first winter, but when I took the car to the shop, the tech told me the underside is almost completely covered by plastic, and it does not need any rust protection. To treat metal components, they would have to remove all of the underbody plastic shields on this car. which makes it very unrealistic for annual re-application. I decided not to treat the PRIME. Now I know how to put a floor jack under PRIME, I may try rising it and see how hard it is to remove and re-install the plastic shields. If easy enough, I am going to try applying fluid film DIY.

    Here is a good video clip on the effectiveness of Fluid Film .
     
    #39 Salamander_King, Mar 31, 2019
    Last edited: Mar 31, 2019
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  20. m8547

    m8547 Senior Member

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    I sprayed Fluid Film on my winter wheels last fall, to protect the exposed lug nuts, studs, and axle ends. It was still sticky and hard to remove when I took the wheels off last week, and that's with probably a couple automatic car washes throughout the winter.

    I've found that parts that don't see much road spray don't really rust that much. So it's probably not worth the time to take off the plastic panels. I sprayed some of the exposed unpainted metal parts on mine, but there wasn't much to spray.
     
    #40 m8547, Apr 3, 2019
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