Hi OvloV13,

I'm new to this too. Unfortunately I don't have a camera.
I'm not sure that the point I used was correct, I just made a
wild guess and gave it a try. It would be a good idea if you
know a mechanic in your area to ask them, as the wrong location
for jack stands can be very dangerous and could damage your
car.
I don't want to tell you the wrong thing and have something bad
happen to you. Maybe some other forum users can give some
more information on this.

John

 

I went under my car Saturday to install an O2 sensor and noticed that the bottom of my car had what I felt was a lot of damage that I had not noticed before (while changing oil). It looked like I had ran over a tree or something. Even the rust proofing under the car was scrapped off.

Well, I went to pull my floor mat from the inside driver side and notice that the mat did not come right out, it was like the floor board was damaged, pushed in a little. So I looked under the car again and that is where some of the damage was under the car. So I have come to the conclusion that the place that I took the car for my tire balance & rotation placed their lift under the wrong spots. So I have damage under the car now. Not sure how many times they put the lift under the wrong spots but it looks like several. They had the car up on stands probably 4 or 5 times in 2 months.

 

Dude, that sucks. Are you going to bring it up to them? I mean, without some proof that they were in fact the ones that put the jack there they could just deny it, but still. WTF?

 

When in doubt, I put the jack/ jack stands under any part that supports the weight of the car...a load- bearing suspension member, or a structural member. In general, if it's capable of supporting the car via the wheels while driving on bumpy roads, it's capable of supporting it on a jack stand.

And ALWAYS use jack stands. Hydraulic jacks have NO mechanical lock supporting them... all that's holding the car up is a few CC's of light oil and a rubber band. (seal) One blown seal, and the car is sitting on your head. A few months ago, I was helping a neighbor with something on his car... he had just lifted it on the jack, and since he was only going to be a moment, didn't put jack stands under it. He went to take the handle out of the jack to use it as a lever, and in the process of removing the handle, he turned it, and the car came down with his hand between the rocker panel and the bolt that holds the handle in place. Made a nice 3/4" hole. Now, about 6 months later, he's starting to get feeling back in his hand.

 

Yes I am going to try to get them to fix the damage. The thing that sucks is that the car can be a collector and collectors don't like giving good value on a repaired car. I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

I think there is a lot of cars out there with damage under the car from being lifted in the wrong spot. From what I seen when I had an estimate done was that they had to back the car off the floor spot to get the front points linned up. The spots on the front are actually inside of the front wheels.

 

I've seen lots of cars with damage from being lifted or supported in the wrong places. Usually, it's a tell- tale hump in the rear floorboard. My S70 has them (grr) However, it being that I've long worked on European cars, I've ALSO seen plenty of older ones with damage from being lifted in the PROPER places... some Mercedes and older VWs love to rust out right at the lift spot, and from behind, so you'll attach a jack to what appears to be sound metal at the lift point, go to lift, and... crunch. I always tap at the lift points on cars that are prone to this before raising them to see how the metal is. I've never had trouble with 850s or 70 series, though

 

Others have already said it, but I'll say it again:
Always use jack stands!!!

My hydraulic jack tipped when I was painting my calipers. Thank God I wasn't under the car! It landed straight on the rotor, but because the jack was still under the car it didn't bend it (most of the weight of the car was still on the jack, even if it was sideways)

 

Are you saying that I should not go under my car while it is on ramps? I feel that ramps are safe.

Went back to the shop to meet with a company manager about the damage under my car. It turns out that they could not have done the damage. They use a lift that raises the entire rocker panels and only lifts the car up about 2 feet. High enough to get wheels off. I know that you only have to raise a car off the ground 1 inch to do damage, but they could not have done it.

So, that means that the damage was there for at lease 2 months and I just did not notice it. I guess I'm stuck because if you don't catch damage when it happens you sure will not get the shop to pay for it. The only other place that had this car in the air is the independant Volvo place that did the AC. Can't imagine they did is so it must have been the people that put the 1st set of tires on back in June. Dang.