So I decided to jack my car up Nascar style today and put the jack under the from rail half way down the side of the car. As it got higher I crunched the rail. In short, did I do any really bad damage?

 

Eh, mines all fubared too, im just never jacking it up by there anymore...

 

doubt there is any real damage unless you can see it from the inside. i made the same mistake though i caught it before it make a bad dent

 

I did that on my old car. It kinda bent it out of shape. Where else would one jack it up at?

 

The damage is sort of stupid, but harmless.

There are reinforced sections of that rail which are strong enough for lifting - look closer to the wheels and use the 1-1/2" sections between the notches.

Dave

 

I jack up the car by the subframe or w/e that is, that connects to the control arm... mzmtg has the diagram for the jackpoints of the car.

 

I know - I jack my car up all the time the correct way but I just needed to swap my passenger side tires so I thought this might work. There is a slight hump under the passenger seat but its no big deal. I just wanted to make sure I didn't bend the frame (well, I guess I did) and have the car not track straight or something.

 

harmless, my 99 has the crunch spots too....

 

Welcome to the club.

 

So where the exact locations you are suppose to jack anyone wanna post it?

 

What actually makes it worse is when you have a large chunk from driving in the snow (the stuff that stays stuck behind the front wheel, just at the corner by the front door area) on a lowered max and you run over a speed bump, pay no repsect to the ice/bump contact, and the damage from the jack is multiplied by 100.

 

I always jack from the rear axle or the engine cross member. There is a nice nub on the front of the cross member that is great to put a jack under. There are also 2 jack points just in front of the rear wheels and 2 more just behind the front wheels. Look in your owner's manual for more info on these. Always take your time and make sure you are jacking in a safe place or you will end up like many of us in this thread.

Diagram as posted by Jime in another thread:

 

i did the same exact thing, also under the passenger seat.. it's been over a year, nothing bad's happened...

 

When my max was still in 4x4 mode (stock ride height), my wife somehow high-centered on the passenger rocker panel (tree stump?). No issues in a year+...

 

I have both of the front end crushed in. I just bent it back out using some vice grip and a lot of time. Nothing really bad.

 

y dont you guys just use the front part of the engine frame to jack the car up... and for god sake use a piece of 2x4 also...

 

Thats what I do NOW.

 

It hard to jack under the car once it lowered unless you buy a low profile jack