Cwang

Hey guys, is anyone able to look just behind their front left wheel where the spare wheel jack goes? I was having a look at my shiny new tyres yesterday and noticed this.


It looks like the pinch weld is bent. Is anyone else's like that? Rust isn't a concern where I live but I hope it's only cosmetic? I can't quite tell but I worry that the floor has been pushed up a little, is it worth having repaired?

peasodos

iTrader: (1)

Get a pair of pliers or vice grips and straighten it out, only cosmetic. Some idiot jacked the car on the pinch weld without the hokey puck with slot or the adapter and mangled it up.

eddie420

I had the same exact issue. Inexperienced garage lifted the car up and pinched them. Makes no functional difference if you leave them that way.

Cwang

I have a set of the wide vice grips at work, that'll do the job. It doesn't need heat or anything like that? It's weird that the rears are perfect. I've never seen this on any car I've owned.

peasodos

iTrader: (1)

No heat needed that metal bends easily. I don't know why Lexus puts thin metal in the pinch weld, my last car Honda Civic had a much thicker stronger pinch weld for a jack stand, and didn't need the hockey puck or adapter, just put the jack straight to the pinch weld.

Hues10

I was checking my car out over the weekend and noticed the same thing, bent pinch welds. Didn't realize they are bendable back into place with vicegrips, so I will give it a try. I will need to jack the car up a little for the fog light replacement. There is no way a normal human can fit under our car even a little. I don't understand why anyone would/could lower these even more with lowering springs. What I don't understand is the jacking points under the car, seem to be way under the car. Who has a small enough jack to get way under there, then be able to pump it up without smashing the car with the handle? I understand we can jack up the frame rail in the front, and put a jack stand under the pinch weld, but in the back, I think the frame rail is hidden underneath the plastic shroud.

peasodos

iTrader: (1)

I use a hockey puck with a slot in it to jack it at the pinch weld, no direct pressure on the pinch weld itself, just on both sides of it. Otherwise you use the jack stand in the trunk.

E46CT

Yeah that's telltale sign of a mouth breather lifting your car. You should get a hockey puck jack pad adapter. get a rubber mallet and carefully tap it back into place.

Actually a jack pad adapter supplements pressure on the pinch seam itself with support from the sides. you want all three. not 2/3 (ideally) so the jack pad adapter is semi-soft and molds itself to the seam and surrounding area. Those kinds of bends happen when the technician uses a small lifting point and the car shifts to the side

ideally you'll want to use a hard point if you can like a front or rear hard point.

MX73

It seems to be a common thing on the 4th gen. Mine is also bent.

peasodos

iTrader: (1)

You need this to jack the car properly with a floor jack at the pinch weld jack points.

Hues10

So my question is, if you jack the car up at the pinch welds, where do you put the jack stands then? I want to change out my fog lights and lift the car a little to make some room, but not enough to take the tires off. Obviously don’t want to leave on jack while I am slightly underneath it.

charley95

Extreme caution needs to be taken when jacking with a hockey puck. The puck can slide off the base of the jack while jacking and destroy the undercarriage. Someone on here posted a video of a guy jacking up his GSF and did thousands in damage to his car. Does anyone have that video that they can post here?

peasodos

iTrader: (1)

That moron on youtube stacked two pucks on top of each other, that's why it slid off.

I have used the single puck many time and on my previous car and zero issues. There is a lip on the edge of the floor jack that prevents it from coming off and the pinch weld goes into the groove in the puck so it's not going anywhere.

jonathancl

Best to use a floor jack under a central jack point and then put jack stands beside the pinch welds.

peasodos

iTrader: (1)

I'll use the floorjack and puck when doing a brake job or oil change(I only jack up the driver side for an oil change with the floor jack and put a jackstand under the car just in case).

I've had the entire car on jackstands when I painted my calipers, 4 on the pinch weld jack points, one under the rear diff, and one under the front jack point, had no issues with the pinch welds. I just used car jacks from few other cars, floorjack, and a stand.