Jacking Point

O

Obadiah

New member
Okay, I'm a bit exasperated. I just turned 30k on my 04' Runner and did all the maintenance, sans changing the oil in the gear boxes and the tire rotation. Now, I may not be the shapest tool in the box, but I could NOT figure out how to jack up the front end of my Runner.

I spent about an hour monkeying with it to no avail. The manual says the front jack point is on the frame slightly in back of the tire. Well, first, the bottle jack doesn't even go high enough to lift the tire off the ground. I happen to have a hydrolic jack and even adding 2x4s it could barely raise the tire off the ground at the frame point recommended in the manual. Then I go to the other side and the vehicle to jack it up and it starts to slide slightly on my jack stand. What gives? If I'm having this much trouble jacking my tire off the ground in my garage - in the summer - I can't imagine what it would be like on the side of a snowy road in January!

What am I doing wrong? Where - exactly - is the proper jack point on this thing? Yes, I tried to jack it on the cross arm right next to the tire, but I became concerned that this might not be wise and could screw up the alignment or not sustain the weight.

Any ideas?
 
Register to hide this ad
You mentioned bottle jack. No good. Get a floor jack for doing maintenance. I have an SUV one (like 20" of lift) that I use to jack it up on the side rails behind the tires. No problems with alignment doing that, that's where the jackstands would be placed anyway. The recommended jacking point for a floor jack is on the front cross-rail. Or, you could jack on the front control arms, the strongest part of the front end suspension
If your super concerned, go to Toyota's technical page and download manual pages ($10/day for unlimited downloads), I know there's one in there about jacking. I'll see if I can find it.
 
Anywhere on the side of the main lader frame is fine. The beauty of truck on the frame is that frame is strong enough.
 
Yes, I do have a floor jack. According to "The Blue Wave" it's okay to lift it on the front cross-rail. Okay, that's what I'll do.

I am aware that the frame is plenty strong enough to handle the weight of the vehicle, the problem is that the frame lift point is too high to raise the tire off the ground without the use of 2x4s and a floor jack.

The included bottle jack is totally useless so I still don't understand how you could change a tire on the side of the road in an emergency with the bottle jack at the lifting point Toyota recommends.
 
The actual lift point in the front is the cross member that's above the skid plate behind the opening for the oil pan drain plug. I no longer have the PDF from TIS that shows the location (HD crash). I tried using that location once, but before the vehicle even started to lift off the ground the skid plate was starting to bend (I think there's a pretty decent gap between the frame and the cross member).

Right now, I place the jack on one side of the 4Runner (for tire rotations) behind front wheels where the frame rails level out and begins to go parallel (flat) along the body and ground towards the rear of the truck. My 4Runner is stock height and my aluminum jack can lift it off the ground adequately.

I posted this question before and some members have raised the 4Runner by the lower control arms. My jack is too wide and comes in contact with the tires before I can position the jack saddle to the flat part of the lower control arm.
 
Thanks, Uneek. I actually did a search before I posted and I saw your thread. I was still confused so I reposted. I may invest in a better floor jack and try again this weekend, but if you do recover that pdf file please ping me.
 
Uneek said:
The actual lift point in the front is the cross member that's above the skid plate behind the opening for the oil pan drain plug. I no longer have the PDF from TIS that shows the location (HD crash). I tried using that location once, but before the vehicle even started to lift off the ground the skid plate was starting to bend (I think there's a pretty decent gap between the frame and the cross member).
Click to expand...

The front skid plate is reinforced at the contact to the cross-member at the proper location. The bottle jack works there and under the rear pumpkin.
See the attached:
 

Attachments

Sweet. Oh man, that's perfect. Many thanks Kmvreter. I will try the area in the skid plate. I still maintain that the frame points are too high to use without 2x4 spacers or unless you have a really capable floor jack. The supplied bottle jack is totally useless on those points, it simply is not sufficient to raise the tire off the ground at those points. I am surprised that no one has really raised this as an issue.

Thanks again.
 
Last edited:
my bottle jack works fine at all specified locations and I have never had the troubles that you seem to be experiencing. I even have oversize tires, so I am not sure why you are having such troubles. My flood jack is nothing special and it will life the whole side off the ground from the side frame rail.
 
meatball said:
my bottle jack works fine at all specified locations and I have never had the troubles that you seem to be experiencing. I even have oversize tires, so I am not sure why you are having such troubles. My flood jack is nothing special and it will life the whole side off the ground from the side frame rail.
Click to expand...

The Jack the car-sales idiot gave me when I bought my 94 4runner doesnt go anywhere near the so called jack points as pictured on the jack (ie, the ones on the chassis just behind the front wheels and just before the back wheels).

Not even with five 2x6 blocks of wood.

Think I might need to buy a bigger Jack!! Can anyone recommend a good Jack that will still fit in the back side compartments of my truck?

Or should I try one of the other Jack points on the Car?
 
I have used cheap bottle jacks but you need blocks of wood for spacers. If your bottle jack, however, doesn't have the stroke length to clear the tire off the ground then you need to work with two bottle jacks -- but this is a real pain.

I use a cheapy (probably China made) floor jack bought from Sears -- need one or two wood blocks cut from a 2X4 to meet the frame.

Place a jack stand if you get under the vehicle.
 
TheBlueWave said:
Or, you could jack on the front control arms, the strongest part of the front end suspension.
Click to expand...

I looked over the above PDF of the jack points and see that the lower control arms are not labeled as jack points. I'm wondering if it's safe to jack up the tire off the ground to inspect the ball joints and tie rods, I believe it is, but I'm looking for a confirmation that not only is it safe but it won't impact the alignment. I know there's an adjustment bolt near the lower control arm, but I haven't located a diagram showing what exactly each of the alignment bolts adjust (caster, camber, toe). I found some videos online saying that you should jack the tire off the ground from the lower control arm (A arm) to unload the strut to properly check ball joints and tie rods.
 
Last edited:
I confirmed for myself yesterday (I posted about this before) that the flimsy-looking front undercover IS reinforced enough to support the weight of the entire front end of the truck. I used a piece of 2x4 on the jack saddle to not deform the front undercover.
 
The point on the skid can support the weight of the 4Runner, but it's still pretty weak. The protruding bump on mine has caved in and flatten itself after two using it 2-3 times.
 
Jacking 03 4runner

I have a 2-post floor lift. It fits fine on the frame of my 03 4runner but won't reach back to the rear axle. Can anyone tell me if, when raised from the frame, will the rear axle sag down far enough to damage anything (hoses/wires). If I can't find out from someone who's done it, I'll use chains to support the rear axle and keep it from hanging too low, but it's an inconvenience. Thanks for any advice.
Bill in Oregon
 
I had a hard time locating the place for my factory jack to work initially as well. It is odd, but there is an indented place on one of the crossing braces where the jack tip fits nicely. That is for the front wheels. That worked. I also looked at the manual before hand too. That helped just enough. The manual is not really clear though.
 
chopper1 said:
I have a 2-post floor lift. It fits fine on the frame of my 03 4runner but won't reach back to the rear axle. Can anyone tell me if, when raised from the frame, will the rear axle sag down far enough to damage anything (hoses/wires). If I can't find out from someone who's done it, I'll use chains to support the rear axle and keep it from hanging too low, but it's an inconvenience. Thanks for any advice.
Bill in Oregon
Click to expand...

It's fine. I do it all the time. The shocks limit the axle droop, as designed. No wires or hoses will be damaged. If you bring your 4runner into any Toyota dealer for undercar service, the first thing they'll do is lift it by the frame with a 2/4 post lift just as you want to do. Same at most tire shops. The manual specifies the fore and aft side rails as lift points, and says nothing about supporting the axles, because it's unnecessary.

Keep in mind also that those of us who offroad extend the rear axles to full droop routinely. The 4runner wouldn't be much of an offroad vehicle if the brake lines got damaged every time that happened.

Now, if you want to change your rear shocks, you need to be a bit more careful. Once the shocks are disconnected, the axle can droop far enough to stretch the brake lines.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 395 (members: 4, guests: 391)

Forum statistics

Threads
278,305
Messages
3,554,042
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Share this page

Trending content

Back
Top