Safe to lift by pinch welds?

[arabbit]

Hey guys, I brought this up in another recent thread but I would like to go ahead and ask anyway: is it normal to lift our cars on a 4 point lift using only the pinch welds to support it? I had an oil change at the dealership yesterday and I noticed they had all 4 flat lift points sitting under the pinch welds/side skirts on the four corners of my car. While looking at it, I noticed that my side skirts each have vertical indentations (facing on the outside) spaced every 12ish inches. I figured maybe they had some pressure on them from the lift, but I looked tonight and they are still like that. Not sure if that's what caused it or if that is normal for our cars, but I never noticed it before. So..is it normal for these cars to be lifted by the pinch welds? I would think there's a better way to lift them.

 

[F.D. Sako]

If they placed the pads on the pinch points, they should've have touched the side skirts. Also, it's fine to lift the car by the pinch welds, as long as they don't crush your side-pipes!

I also jack the car up using the punch welds - by placing a block of wood between the jack and car.

 

[Flyboygsxr]

I personally do not use the pinch welds…with how much I lift my car I should install jacking plates. I lift the car with a rubber pad on a large aluminum jack and it doesn't leave a mark on the bottom of the car. I lift on the frame in front of the side pipes in the rear and I believe where the K-member attaches to the body in the front.

 

[arabbit]

I would think that putting the lift under beefier places would be better? But they just put all 4 flat metal arm ends right under the pinch welds. I mean kudos to them for not crushing the side exhaust but I just wasn't sure that it was normal to lift that way. Maybe next time I should bring some sort of pinch weld pad and ask them to use them.

 

[F.D. Sako]

the OEM jacks (that do not come with the boss) use the pinch welds for tire changing. As for pads, buy 4 hockey pucks and hand it to them.

 

[VoodooBoss]

The pinch welds are the designated spot for lifting our cars. I had Kenny Brown jacking rails installed on my car but that was before Mike made his bolt on jacking plates. Check with 06mach1 to see if he has any available.

 

[arabbit]

So follow up question, does anyone else have these vertical indentations on the sides of your side skirts? You can't see them unless you see the car at a certain angle, with light reflecting off the surface (like if you're looking for a dent). I'd love to know if that's normal, or what happened to make them like that.

 

[F.D. Sako]

So follow up question, does anyone else have these vertical indentations on the sides of your side skirts? You can't see them unless you see the car at a certain angle, with light reflecting off the surface (like if you're looking for a dent). I'd love to know if that's normal, or what happened to make them like that.

Could you take a picture?
The only thing i've noticed on the side of the side skirts is 2 molded arrows. Don't remember there being any indentations.

 

[arabbit]

I went to a dealership today and looked at some other Mustangs. They all had the same thing! Guess it's just how our cars are made, I would never have even noticed except I saw it on the lift at just the right angle and just the right light. If you look at the very surface of the side skirt, you can see like 6 vertical lines that are disturbances in the clearcoat. I'd guess it's where there is slight pressure from where the pins hold it to the body.