The pinch welds on my WRX seem to be somewhat weaker or less well designed than those on other cars I've worked on. The factory service manual recommends the pinch welds as the shop lift and jack stand points (there are separate front and rear jacking point for lifting the car one end at a time). In addition, the spots you're supposed to use are clearly marked by some indicators molded into the rocker panel covers.
Well, twice now I've put the car up on stands, and I don't like what's happening to the rails. I didn't like it the first time but I thought I'd change the stand positioning a little and give it another try -- same result. They're made up of 3 layers of metal that aren't quite level with each other, and it seems like the way the force gets distributed ends up pushing them apart from each other a little. Here's a pic - the topmost "layer" in the picture is the plastic rocker panel cover, the other 3 layers are the rail.
I've heard of "pinch weld adapters" for jack stands (as opposed to jacks) but never seen any in real life, and in any case it seems like they'd have to be custom fit to whatever type of jack stand they're used with. If I could find some kind of adapter, or even some stands that would "fit" better with this shape, I'd buy them if I could be sure they'd work.
Any advice? Anyone familiar with Subarus know if this is a common design issue (no problem with my previous Honda or my wife's Mazda, albeit those cars are both lighter by a few hundred pounds).
I'm debating putting the stands on the "frame rails", at least in the front. The back of the car is lighter and doesn't seem to have this problem nearly as bad. Or maybe I'm being obsessive and would be better off just ignoring it given I'm not in the rust belt?
Well, twice now I've put the car up on stands, and I don't like what's happening to the rails. I didn't like it the first time but I thought I'd change the stand positioning a little and give it another try -- same result. They're made up of 3 layers of metal that aren't quite level with each other, and it seems like the way the force gets distributed ends up pushing them apart from each other a little. Here's a pic - the topmost "layer" in the picture is the plastic rocker panel cover, the other 3 layers are the rail.
I've heard of "pinch weld adapters" for jack stands (as opposed to jacks) but never seen any in real life, and in any case it seems like they'd have to be custom fit to whatever type of jack stand they're used with. If I could find some kind of adapter, or even some stands that would "fit" better with this shape, I'd buy them if I could be sure they'd work.
Any advice? Anyone familiar with Subarus know if this is a common design issue (no problem with my previous Honda or my wife's Mazda, albeit those cars are both lighter by a few hundred pounds).
I'm debating putting the stands on the "frame rails", at least in the front. The back of the car is lighter and doesn't seem to have this problem nearly as bad. Or maybe I'm being obsessive and would be better off just ignoring it given I'm not in the rust belt?
