My last car was an SUV. It was easy getting under it to change the oil. With the xB, I will have to jack it up. Do you change the oil while its on the jack, or do you use a jack stand. If you use a jack stand, do you use one on each side? Whats the easiest way to do it and still be safe?

 

Never go under ANY car supported soley by a jack. Always use jack stands. Or you can get some ramps you drive onto if you are not too low.

FYI - If you are stock height, you actually dont need to raise the box at all.

 

Yeah, I remember my first autopsy. The guy was killed when the car fell on top of him while he was working underneath it. Don't know the entire details but I pretty sure that he wasn't using jack stands. As above - always use jack stands.

 

Yepyep, jack stands at the proper jacking points for your vehicle. I don't know about the xB but the tC has nice arrows molded into the sideskirts that tell you where to place the jackstands.

We had a fellow working on his truck with just a jack on some soft sand that managed to get himself run over in April. He survived but he's probably still feeling it.

ALWAYS use jack stands. Heck, keep the jack there too. $15 is a very small price to pay for safety.

 

Unless your car is lowered you should have no problem changing the oil without jacking it. Even then you only have to raise it a couple inches slightly on the pass side so no jack stands required cause no tires will leave the ground.

 

Actually you WANT to jack up the driver side until the front tire is almost off the ground or else all the oil will not drain out of the oil pan. You don't have to get under the front end, you should be able to lay down in front of the bumper and just reach under the engine to loosen the drain plug. The filter is a pain with the front skirt but reachable the same way or from the top if you have skinny arms. Remember to set the ebrake tight when jacking up the front end with the car jack because park/in gear will not hold when a front tire leaves the ground - using a floor jack is another matter.

 

I put my car on rhino ramps with a brick behind the rear tires. Also I have 2 jack stands under the frame just in case.

 

i have ramps and thats how i do oil changes on cars that arent too low...works like a charm!