I am definitely not Joe Mechanic! But all of the simple crap I do myself (Oil, tire rotate, plugs, electronics, etc), but it occured to me yesterday when changing my oil, that I'm more clueless than I thought. What is the proper way to use jack stands, and is there somewhere else to put them besides where you lift the car? Up until now I have been putting one 4000 lb jack stand under the front frame part where you would connect if you were towing it from the front, but I don't know if this is a good idea?
Thanks,
Clueless

 

Definitely used jack stands. It is never a good idea to rely solely on the jack!

You can put the jacks stand on each side of the car, just behind the front wheels (when lifting the front), and just in front of the rear wheels (when lifting the back).

There should be arrows moulded into the side skirts showing where there is a metal plate (normally used as the location for jacking up the car) where you can fit it into the jack stands.

Just this past Saturday, while changing springs, we forgot to set the parking brake (which I automatically do hundreds of time--but forgot this time) and the car began to drift. Without the jack stands, things could have gotten ugly (crushed under car; car crashing to the ground)!