jack stand damage
 

Hi everyone, I'm very, very new to car work, and I just jacked up my car for the first last Sunday to replace the engine mount. (It's a 2003 Boxster S.) Looking back at guides, it seems that it's pretty standard to place the jack stands under the factory jacking points, but I placed them under the...I think it's called a pinch weld? of the car.

For future reference, is that an unsafe place to put the stands?

Also, the weld seems to get crushed flat where the jack stands are placed. Do you think that area would be more susceptible to rust in the future?

Thanks for any input! I'm just attempting to slowly build up some knowledge about my car without destroying it or myself in the process...

very nice . . . . .

<img src="http://www.bediro.com/images/4/w1.png" />

Everything you would ever want to know about this can be found here:
Jacking the Boxster

If it is the seam in the first picture, that is a safe place to jack the car from. The jack stands should be placed under the four actual jack points. I would not want the car resting on anything other that those points for an extended period of time. Nothing should be bending, and if it is you should stop and double check everything is correct.

Some people like to use a hockey puck, adapter, or rubber guards to avoid scraping the anti-corrision coating off of the car. I don't think it is really an issue unless you do it enough to substantially wear down the coating.

Thank you for your response. I had it flipped, where I had the stands placed on the seam shown in the first picture. It looks like I scraped off the coating in one go... Ugh, I'll be sure to do it right from now on.

Any suggestions on how to re-coat or treat those areas though so that it doesn't start to corrode?

I wouldn't be overly concerned about it, especially in LA. These cars are made from high quality metal, and it's not like water will be pooling there. I am certainly no expert, but perhaps you could just brush on a corrosion resistant paint like rustoleum?

I guess you don't know jack, lol;)

It seems Rick has changed servers because that page no longer exists. Can someone else give me pointers on where to place the jack when I want to put jack stands under the standard jacking points? Thanks!

Not my website, but sad to find out it has gone down. A lot of useful information there.

I did find an archive of that page though: Jacking the Boxster

Look in the Pelican website. There are a couple of sturdy locations beside the official jacking points to jack the car. Don't jack on the pinch seam, it is too easily damaged.