Can I jack from this part of the frame?
 

Check out the cool mosquito I caught on candid camera too. Crappy pic I know, but I'm changing transmission/differential fluid and want to know if this place is safe to jack. When I was doing work on the front I used a hydraulic jack on a straight column that seems to go down both sides which the crossmember connects to. Then I would let it down onto jack stands in the factory jack positions on the metal lip. Is it safe to jack up the car via this column?

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It seems to be solid metal. The mechanic that lifted my car once briefly said it looked ok to do, but since you guys are the experts I just want to double check. I hear a slight cracking noise when I jack it up. But I know thats normal when you lift up cars because your stressing different parts/bending blah blah. Anyways, any advice would be great. I would lift by the crossmember but lifting the whole front of the vehicle by that skinny piece of metal scared me a bit. i did not want to break it.

Thanks a ton!

Yes, that beam is pretty solid, it's where I always jack and use that frame bolt for my jackstand.

I wouldn't as it is only formed sheet metal.

I've seen dents in that structure from jacks.

Yes you can jack from there. It's stronger than the pinchweld and wont bend over like some cars I've seen.

Skimmed your post the first time and didn't catch you mention the mosquito.. wasn't sure if you were even aware of it being there lol. It's a rather nice picture of a mosquito.

rofl

Lol, that's pretty good catch in the pic.

my jack cant fit that far under the car lol

Well, it's time for a new car.

Looks sturdy...yes.

yeah just kind of as an update for any one who is wondering:

Yeah it seems to work good. I get a little nervous though because when I jack it up I can hear a bit of a crunch sometimes when pumping the jack. It may be because there is some kind of covering over it that is semi-soft. Plus this piece has intermintent holes in it down the bottom. Since my specific jack tends to start looking like its at an angle once it gets high enough, I dont want to use a 2x4 piece between them due to the risk of it slipping. Instead I am using this toughER piece of foam (kind of like that of a boogie board? did i spell that right?) between the two. Has worked pretty great while jacking up the front. In the back the column seems to stop so I just jack it up with the oem jack and lay it on a jack stand. Takes more time but I feel a bit safer doing it that way. Same thing with the jack stands, a bit of foam inbetween.

And for those who are wondering if that metal lip is going to bend: Well, I dont think so. I have a 2005 so its near the older models. Yesterday when lowering the front onto jack stands with my jack, I made a bit of a mistake. For some reason my big red jack just does not like to lower things slowly. I twist that safety screw or whatever its called as SLOWLY as possible as i can, but regardless, this thing rockets down. And yesterday was the worst. I heard the lip slam down on the jack stand =/. Regardless though, the lip didnt bend at all! I was very very very surprised. Nothing was injured (including me =D). anyways, thanks for the info guys!