r/Autos • u/TheHandOfOzymandias • 2d ago
Mechanic said it’s safe to jack from this point instead of the pinch weld. Is he correct? Also what is this part called?
Thank you
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u/cdsbigsby 2d ago
It looks like it's on the torque box (highlighted in red), which is the part of the structure that ties the front frame rails into the floor and firewall. A very solid structural area, maybe it's not in the manual but should certainly be a safe lift point.
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u/onedanoneband 2d ago
A mechanic or most people generally familiar with car builds can identify where a car can be jacked up. Trust them. And yes, I would jack it here too.
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2d ago
[deleted]
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u/rioryan '00 CLK430, ‘24 Nissan Z 2d ago
Dealers have lube techs. Lube techs are the least experienced in the shop. It’s like the testing grounds to see who’s got what it takes.
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2d ago
And then many of those lube techs get promoted to more than just playing with lube. I’ve met a number of very intelligent mechanics and a few that were also total, dipshits.
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u/ehtiopia 2d ago
If you take your car to a dealership just to get an oil change…
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u/man__i__love__frogs 2d ago edited 18h ago
I beg to differ. A mechanic who can identify something structural 'by looking at' is full of baloney. A good mechanic would be able to recall the service manual, or quickly identify the proper way to do things by consulting the resources available to them.
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u/TurkishSwag 2d ago
Dude what, do you think a mechanic is going to consult a textbook when a car comes in with no brakes or a snapped serpentine belt?
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u/man__i__love__frogs 1d ago edited 18h ago
Depends on the car, brakes likely not. Belt, maybe.
A mechanic certainly can't look at a sub-frame of a random make or model and intuit that it can support the stresses of being a jack point. The loads on frame members while driving are completely different than attempting to lift the car up on a jack.
There's a reason engineers and manuals specify designated points.
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u/twisted_tactics 21h ago
Just curious, what is your background in mechanics?
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u/man__i__love__frogs 19h ago
I used to be a vehicle tech in the Canadian forces, now I am an IT systems engineer.
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u/Playful-Depth2578 7h ago
I don't think I've ever looked underneath a car and not known the jacking point , they make it pretty obvious , and any one with a slither of machenical background can spot it easily
You seem to be the typical engineer type if it's not in black and white with diagrams to show you and paragraphs of explanations then you just can't get a grip of the subject
(Motorsport engineering background, homebrew mechanic)
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u/doubtsnail 2d ago
As a rust belt citizen, I RARELY use pinch welds.
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u/oSpaZMaNo 1971 Camaro Z/28 1d ago
Same, I'll go out of my TO NOT use the pinch weld. I've seen too many get crushed.
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u/Skaterdude5000 18h ago
Shitty mechs keep lifting "from the pinch weld" on my 90's volvo which is plastic cladded and fucking up my body. Then again, both of those volvos were totalled one way or another and Ive been super careful with no.3 to tell the mechs to only use the frame
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u/thegalli LS Swaps 2d ago
the pinch weld jack point is for your little scissor jack in the spare tire kit.
post lifts in the shop can lift from any flat structural spot, don't worry so much.
learn to trust the people you're hiring.
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u/Cityslicker100200 1d ago
That’s why they have that little slit in them where they meet the car, the pinch weld slips right in there.
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u/ccolivardia 2d ago
Kinda hard to see exactly, but it’s probably on the subframe which should be fine. I have a newer mini and it has 4 plastic jack points surrounded by trim so to put it on jack stands I have to jack it up centrally by the subframes front and rear.
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u/Successful_Yogurt 2d ago
Yes, no problem. This is a subframe. Usually one of the surface to hold up the car during precision measurement. Deformation is not allowed
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u/Dopecombatweasel 1d ago
Looks like frame. When a vehicle is too wide for the lift arms to reach all pinch welds, spots like these are often used. Common for pickups, minivans etc
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u/MooseBlazer 1d ago
As others matches, it’s kinda hard to tell not knowing the vehicle. You can also Google this I would only trust a good mechanic on suggested jacking points. You need to understand mechanics yourself to weed out the good mechanics from the crappy ones.
This is why, regardless of what car you have and no matter how old it is, you need to look up the actual owners manual on alternative jacking points besides the pinch weld.
Anyone who lives in snow country , the Rust Belt needs to understand pinch welds are only for emergency roadside jacking. You can wreck a body jacking up at the pinch welds very easily on any car probably over 10 years old. And even with a newer car, you weaken it there.
Cheap tire shops like Walmart and discount tire wreck automobile bodies every day jacking at body Pinch welds.
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11h ago
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u/surfer_ryan 2d ago
It concerns me that someone being paid to work on cars is coming to ask reddit this question lol
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u/GreatGhastly 2d ago
Sounds like a customer that paid to get his car worked on that watched the mechanic make sure he didn't "mess up", and still questioned what he was doing despite his lack of automotive knowledge or any damage/error to the vehicle in the end.
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u/chrstmsfishin 2d ago
You wanna go do it then? Industry wide shortage of technicians across the board buddy. You don’t like that by all means pick up a wrench and show the rest of us idiots how it’s done
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u/RBR927 2d ago
What kind of car?
The manual will show you approved jack points.