Jack stands

I'm pretty sure that there is a solid rail connecting the left and right rear suspension, and I would jack from the center of the rail, with the jack stands placed where the rail meets the suspension or just inboard of the pinch weld where the underbody is formed like a box.

I'm not trying to be funny or cute, but until you are fully informed about where to place the jack stands, UNDER the car is the last place I'd want you to be. ( : -0(

Very true. When I was in high school, pumping gas part time, the station owner had a friend who'd visit wearing his wheel chair.

The cause was wrongly-placed jack stands.

On the Camry there are a couple of notches in the ridges running along the bottom of the rocker panels on each side. I've seen documentation

that says this is where you support from. These are the same notches you would use to jack a single corner at a time for a roadside tire change. The floor jack points are between the rear wheels and under the front frame (I think you need to remove the panel under the front bumber/radiator area to see it). I intend to try this out myself the next oil change/tire rotation on my '07 as I was not overly impressed by dealer practices on my initial oil change.

Raven, what was it that you didn't like about the way your dealer handled your oil change?

Well, for a rotation, I guess you can raise the car one corner at a time using the floor jack while the jack is attached between the 2 notches found near the rocker panels and wheels like you said, and then attach the jack stands directly inwards from the floor jack. I guess this means the stands will not actually be contacting the vehicle between the

2 notches.

Unfortunatley, my '06 Camry manual doesn't show the locations Ray O is talking about, so I guess I'll go by the notches. I don't want to attach the stands to the wrong crossbar! [chuckle]

You seem to have an interest in learning how to service your car yourself. You should look into local trade schools, community colleges, and high school districts to see if they have auto shop classes. Those classes should be good to gain a basic understanding of how to service your car.

To whom ever it was who said I shouldn't be under a car until I find out where to put the jackstand, he's right. Now, funny guy just where do you put it? Where do you put it so the weight of the car doesn't bend something, when you lower the car onto it.

I would place the jack stands directly inwards of the notches, since you can't place the stands between the notches if the floor jack is occupying that spot.

Ray's answer is the correct one according to my Avalon's owner's manual. jor

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By the way, if all you're doing is an oil change, just roll the car onto ramps, available at Walmart for $35.

Dale, I just found the alternate jacking points on the '06 Camry. It's on Page 304 of the manual. At the front, the point is in the middle of the car some distance in from the bumper. It's hard to tell from the diagram if the plastic protective skirt covers over the jack point or not, as someone suggested it might, and that you might have to remove a panel to get to it.

At the rear of the car, the jack point is also in the middle as you would expect, and once again it is in some distance from the bumper. The diagram shows the jack point to be between two crossbars that traverse the vehicle from left side to right side. The jack point is located close to and directly inwards from the exhaust pipe.

The diagrams look harry to me, and the jack points are too far underneath the car for my liking. If you want to rotate the tires, I would just use the easy side-rail notches method, also described in the manual (on P. 273 in the repair-a-flat-tire section).

For rotating all 4 tires, the easily found side-rail notches method does require you to raise the vehicle with the floor jack 4 separate times, instead of just

2 times if using Ray's method, but the notches are easily seen.

Although Ray and a local mechanic in town both mentioned that you could use some kind of crossbar near the suspension, the manual mentions nothing about connecting the jack to any crossbar. So we'll leave that method for the pros :-) There's lots of crossbars underneath the car. Novices like us wouldn't want to pick the wrong one.

Some quotes from the manual to keep in mind when jacking up the car:

"Stop the vehicle on a level firm ground, firmly set the parking brake and put the transmission in "P" (automatic) or reverse (manual)."

"Make sure to set the jack properly in the jack point. Raising the vehicle with jack improperly positioned will damage the vehicle or may allow the vehicle to fall off the jack and cause personal injury."

And, of course, always use jack stands when rotating tires.

So, for novices like us, I would just raise the car four times from each of the 4 double notches found along the bottom side rails.

- Built_Well

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Tom418, what manual are you quoting from? My '06 Camry manual does not mention the words "rear axle beam," though I'm guessing, since you're probably very knowledgeable, that's what the arrow in the manual's picture is pointing to.

The manual just shows a poorly drawn picture and says [Quote]:

"When jacking up your vehicle with the jack, position the jack correctly as shown in the illustrations." [End quote]

I guess the manual is lacking in this department, though the manual does do a good job describing and showing the set of 4 double notches along the side rails. So for novices, I would use the side rails when jacking up the car to rotate the tires.

This all brings up a good question about rotating tires. I guess most floor jacks with a lifting range of about

5 to 19 inches are designed to lift cars from the center of the front and rear axles found deep behind the bumpers.

But if you're doing a tire rotation, and you use the floor jacks to raise the car at the double notches found along the side rails by each tire, can you still safely lift the car to the maximum floor jack lifting height of 19 inches, or would you only lift to 15 inches or so?

Also, when using the double notches found near each wheel would you lift both passenger-side wheels first, then the driver-side? This would tip the car sideways, and I'd be worried about a roll-over. Would it be better to lift both front-side notches first, then move to both rear-side notches?

By the way, when my Toyota dealer lifts the Camry, their machine lifts at the 4 sets of notches found on the side rails by each wheel ;-)

I do not intend this as an insult, but don't you think it might be a good idea to have at least done one oil change before giving out advice on how to jack up a car or place jack stands? If the advice is incorrect, it is more than a wrecked engine - someone could be seriously injured or die.

There are several different safe ways to jack and support the car.

For the rear of the vehicle, place the jack stands under the lower control arm of the rear suspension, or better yet, under the steel beam that runs between the left and right rear suspension. To reach this area, you do have to reach underneath the vehicle. Keep your head out from under the vehicle and push it in place with your arm, leg, or broom stick.

For the front of the vehicle, place the jack stands under the engine support cradle. The engine support cradle is H-shaped, and you want to place the jack stands under the cradle.

It is a good idea to lift the vehicle only high enough for the particular task. The higher you lift the vehicle, the greater the chance of a problem.

I don't like lifting from the notches with a floor jack because the jack lifts from the center of the pinch weld instead of distributing the weight on each side of the weld. Lifting from the center of the pinch weld tends to bend the seam.

Lift from the engine or suspension cradles.

Also, put the engine in park, set the parking brake, and chock the opposite wheel before lifting.