Soon I’ll be doing a brake flush and putting the winter tires on our 2016 Explorer. We just got this vehicle in the summer so I haven’t done any real work on it yet. I know there are jack points near each of the 4 wheels, but that’s where the jack stands go… can’t jack and support at the same spot. Where else can I raise the vehicle from? Other forums have given a number of suggestions with no real answer. Surprising given how common this vehicle is! Some suggest jacking from the “body bolts”, haven’t looked myself to see what those are. Any suggestions?
Alternate jacking points on 2011-2019 Explorer
- Thread starter Klutch9
- Start date
Jack it up under the lower control arms or the frame.
You need this style of jack stand,
but if you're not really under the car, at least not your whole body for very long, I would just use the jack and do one at a time. Stuff the spare tire under the body if it makes you feel better.
but if you're not really under the car, at least not your whole body for very long, I would just use the jack and do one at a time. Stuff the spare tire under the body if it makes you feel better.
Used on my Explorer,
Agreed - I'm quite careful when it comes to getting under a raised vehicle, but if I'm swapping wheels and/or anything else that doesn't include reefing on major components, a hydraulic floor jack bearing the weight of one vehicle corner and a jack stand positioned just under a structural component like a subframe mount or A-arm pivot seems prudent. This is in addition to setting the parking brake and chocking the wheels.
I do like the idea of the jack stand style posted by @atikovi . I wasn't quite sure how I was going to safely get to the oil drain plug on our new vehicle, and this seems like it might be the ticket. Use this style of jack stand under the recommended jacking points, and use a combination of jack stands and hydraulic jack under other hard points for redundancy. Time to do some jack stand shopping.
Be careful not to place a jack or a stand directly under the fender where it bolts to the rocker pinch weld. It hangs down a little bit below the rest of the pinch weld and folds easily then causing the fender to be out of alignment to the door. I see a lot of them come through the shop like that because no one pays attention.
You can place stands on the lower arms, right behind the knuckle (not on the ball joint), or if your stands are compatible with the pinch welds (won't crush them) areas circled below, and you have a standard floor jack with a saddle (not a small-contact-point, bottle jack) you can jack under the lower arms and put the stands in the OEM designated areas. I can't see your jack and stands to judge so that is your call, usually better to have the jack stands on the pinch weld area rather than the irregularly shaped lower control arms. There are adapters to go on the standard A-frame style jack stands to more evenly apply weight distribution on the pinch weld areas. IIRC, Amazon among others, sells them.
Personally, even if not under the vehicle, I would not rely on only the jack itself, not even with a wheel under the vehicle as a supposed-backup. Get jack stands and use them. Leave the jack in place also, if/when you can. If you can't leave the jack in place because of suspension work or whatever, then I'd at least move it to the subframe, just jacked till it makes contact but does not take significant weight off the jack stand(s).
Personally, even if not under the vehicle, I would not rely on only the jack itself, not even with a wheel under the vehicle as a supposed-backup. Get jack stands and use them. Leave the jack in place also, if/when you can. If you can't leave the jack in place because of suspension work or whatever, then I'd at least move it to the subframe, just jacked till it makes contact but does not take significant weight off the jack stand(s).
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