All the literature says to support the car from the tabs along the rocker panels.
I have always worried about these tabs, as on other cars they always seem to bend over at some point.

I lifted the car for the first time today to do an oil change and used the main frame rails as support points for the front of the car after raising the car on rhino ramps.

Is there any reason not to use these rails?, i.e. the car wont balance well??????

 

DO NOT use the frame rails. They'll just cave in.

 

What frame rails?
This car is a unibody

 

I used those rails when I removed my exhaust.

 

The metal flanges have a 6-8" section in the front and the back that are reinforced for jack stands.

 

it appears that there are 2 adjacent 4" tabs that can be used for jack stands, am i correct?

 

Not true, especially if you put the jackstand at the welds where the rails overlap. I have used them countless times, for dozens and dozens of service jobs. No problems whatsoever.

Also, it is impossible to place a jackstand under the front tab when you need to use the jack itself to elevate the car from the same tab. Using the rear jacking tab doesn't get the car up high enough to slide a stand underneath the front with most jacks......unless you have a nice/fancy aluminum jack.

AND

For the rear, I prefer to use the rear sub-frame (i.e. tubular steel sections running parallel to the exhaust. The notch in most jackstands fits the shape of the round steel frame tubing perfectly and allows you to jack up the car with the tabs and slide a jackstand for support without them interfering with one another.

Words of experience,
Hockey

 

i bent my unibody frame rail on my civic by using it and not the tabs, don't do it. they seem stronger, they aren't made for the "crown" points on the jack

 

I must be on the wrong forum

 

Am I doing it right?