Jacking rear of the car help

[FirstCarFirstYaris]

Hi guys, after buying my mk1 Yaris a month and a half ago I've done a few things to it and done a write up about changing the windscreen washer pump. I've also detailed the car so if anyone is interested I could also do a write up on that. My question is how do you guys jack up the rear of the car to get axle stands under it to take off the wheels? I did the front fine but the jacking point on the rear is too high off the ground to be able to lift the car with it being on the underside of the bumper.

[lani100]

Get a proper jack, those small ones will destroy the sills / jacking points if you jack it up from the side.

[FirstCarFirstYaris]

2 hours ago, lani100 said:

Get a proper jack, those small ones will destroy the sills / jacking points if you jack it up from the side.

Yeah I've been using a hydraulic jack but the jacking point is too high

[Catlover]

The jacking point is ok, it’s your jack that is too short.!  Easily resolved, put some blocks under your jack.  Got to be stable and strong, like concrete blocks ie large pieces of paving slabs.

[paul9]

I had to buy a higher lift trolley jack for the Freelander. You could use a hockey puck a trolley jack to protect the sills, and get a small amount of extra lift to insert the axle stands. It seems to be a common thing, but research it to see if there are problems with that. A bottle jack will generally screw out before you lift with it to give extra range of lift.

[mrpj]

10 hours ago, paul9 said:

You could use a hockey puck a trolley jack to protect the sills

Yes, works very well. It's better if there's a groove cut out across the centre to accomodate the pinch seam. I cut out my own but they are available precut. Not expensive either.

That dedicated lifting point, centre rear, is silly, far too high and there's no way I will position a jack on anything which raises it off the ground! I don't have multiple paving slabs lying around anyway. I have two fairly high lift trolley jacks and at full height they just about reach but not enough to raise the rear. The "official" front centre jacking point is good but I have to raise one side to even gain access to it with a trolley jack, low height version too!

[Madasafish]

I jack the rear under the rear suspension arms...

[FirstCarFirstYaris]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I didn't have any big concrete slabs laying around so that wasn't an option. I did however use the hockey puck idea buly cutting slots into bits of wood. I ended up jacking one side up and putting on the spare wheel then jacking the other side up and just leaving it on the jack

[Bernard Foy]

6 hours ago, FirstCarFirstYaris said:

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I didn't have any big concrete slabs laying around so that wasn't an option. I did however use the hockey puck idea buly cutting slots into bits of wood. I ended up jacking one side up and putting on the spare wheel then jacking the other side up and just leaving it on the jack

Glad you didn’t have concrete blocks or slabs to put under your jack. They can crack and break up causing the jack to slide of its jacking point and resulting  in damages to the vehicle  and injury to the person. A block of wood with slots in it which sits securely on the top of the jack is much much safer, until you can support your vehicle safely. I have seen it happen to me.

[FirstCarFirstYaris]

18 minutes ago, Bernard Foy said:

Glad you didn’t have concrete blocks or slabs to put under your jack. They can crack and break up causing the jack to slide of its jacking point and resulting  in damages to the vehicle  and injury to the person. A block of wood with slots in it which sits securely on the top of the jack is much much safer, until you can support your vehicle safely. I have seen it happen to me.

Sorry to hear that hope it didn't injure you too badly. If only Toyota made the jacking point closer to the ground!

[Bernard Foy]

30 minutes ago, FirstCarFirstYaris said:

Sorry to hear that hope it didn't injure you too badly. If only Toyota made the jacking point closer to the ground!

Thank goodness I wasn’t injured, my reactions were much quicker in those days. But I learned a valuable lesson, never to use concrete blocks, under anything where pressure is going to be applied, they are too brittle and liable to cracking 😡

[Catlover]

18 hours ago, Bernard Foy said:

Thank goodness I wasn’t injured, my reactions were much quicker in those days. But I learned a valuable lesson, never to use concrete blocks, under anything where pressure is going to be applied, they are too brittle and liable to cracking 😡

I’ve had concrete slabs under my car for years........ they called paving flags. Four wheels resting on four different paving flags and not one broken. Of course they need a good base to start with.

[Stivino]

I have no qualms about using concrete slabs for jacking.  Concrete has very good strength under compression.  It's tensile strength is it's weak point.

[Bernard Foy]

32 minutes ago, Catlover said:

I’ve had concrete slabs under my car for years........ they called paving flags. Four wheels resting on four different paving flags and not one broken. Of course they need a good base to start with.

Yes Joe you’re correct, with a good solid base there shouldn’t be a problem, however if loose gravel or a soil base I have seen 4” inch concrete blocks crack.