I wanted to get a trolley jack and a pair of axle stands so I can do work under the car. It has pinch welds all along the sills, and looking at the Ford manual and the Haynes book, that is where I should be jacking and supporting it. The Haynes manual says to use a block of wood with a slot in it to locate on the weld.

But my question as a person new to this, is where should I be putting the weight, ie. is it right for a block to be fitting around the weld and lifting by putting the stress on the main structure either side of it? Especially as the integrity of the metal is probably ok but might be slightly questionable.

The original scissor jack is in a U shape, with the outside part of the U lower. It fits perfectly around the pinch weld, with the inner part touching the metal, and the outside not quite touching.

I see a lot of videos of people using hockey pucks with slots in them. Some don't even have a slot and just lift on the weld itself. Not this exact car, but still on a pinch weld. I'm worried how much rubber or wood might deform or split, especially as a slot would need to be a good 2cm or more deep, so you end up with two tall sides with only a small flat bit connecting them at the bottom.

And axle stands are shaped unlike the jack saddle, so how would you make sure that wood or a rubber puck stays safely in place on them?

Edit:

Thank you for you help. I guess I am settling on jacking either end at the pinch weld with a slotted block of wood (cut across the grain!), or a rubber adapter. According to the Haynes book and websites the front axle stands can be placed at the rear of the control arms so it appears fine to go with that.

At the rear I was leaning towards putting the stands on the crossmember, however unlike the recommendations on this page, and various videos about how to raise most unibody vehicles, the Haynes manual makes me worried by saying "do not jack the vehicle under any other part of the sill, engine sump, floor pan, subframe, or directly under any of the steering or suspension components" and does not mention it as a suitable point for either jacking or support.

Isn't it also logical to have stands spread as far apart sideways as possible, which the crossmember wouldn't allow? But if this is all correct, then surely you are supposed to place a jack and a stand within the same few centimetres of rocker panel, so how is that possible?

I haven't bought anything yet, so here are images of the factory jack and how it fits:

And this is what the jack and stands I was probably going to go for are like:

I wanted to get a trolley jack and a pair of axle stands so I can do work under the car. It has pinch welds all along the sills, and looking at the Ford manual and the Haynes book, that is where I should be jacking and supporting it. The Haynes manual says to use a block of wood with a slot in it to locate on the weld.

But my question as a person new to this, is where should I be putting the weight, ie. is it right for a block to be fitting around the weld and lifting by putting the stress on the main structure either side of it? Especially as the integrity of the metal is probably ok but might be slightly questionable.

The original scissor jack is in a U shape, with the outside part of the U lower. It fits perfectly around the pinch weld, with the inner part touching the metal, and the outside not quite touching.

I see a lot of videos of people using hockey pucks with slots in them. Some don't even have a slot and just lift on the weld itself. Not this exact car, but still on a pinch weld. I'm worried how much rubber or wood might deform or split, especially as a slot would need to be a good 2cm or more deep, so you end up with two tall sides with only a small flat bit connecting them at the bottom.

And axle stands are shaped unlike the jack saddle, so how would you make sure that wood or a rubber puck stays safely in place on them?

I haven't bought anything yet, so here are images of the factory jack and how it fits:

And this is what the jack and stands I was probably going to go for are like:

I wanted to get a trolley jack and a pair of axle stands so I can do work under the car. It has pinch welds all along the sills, and looking at the Ford manual and the Haynes book, that is where I should be jacking and supporting it. The Haynes manual says to use a block of wood with a slot in it to locate on the weld.

But my question as a person new to this, is where should I be putting the weight, ie. is it right for a block to be fitting around the weld and lifting by putting the stress on the main structure either side of it? Especially as the integrity of the metal is probably ok but might be slightly questionable.

The original scissor jack is in a U shape, with the outside part of the U lower. It fits perfectly around the pinch weld, with the inner part touching the metal, and the outside not quite touching.

I see a lot of videos of people using hockey pucks with slots in them. Some don't even have a slot and just lift on the weld itself. Not this exact car, but still on a pinch weld. I'm worried how much rubber or wood might deform or split, especially as a slot would need to be a good 2cm or more deep, so you end up with two tall sides with only a small flat bit connecting them at the bottom.

And axle stands are shaped unlike the jack saddle, so how would you make sure that wood or a rubber puck stays safely in place on them?

I haven't bought anything yet, so here are images of the factory jack and how it fits:

And this is what the jack and stands I was probably going to go for are like:

I wanted to get a trolley jack and a pair of axle stands so I can do work under the car. It has pinch welds all along the sills, and looking at the Ford manual and the Haynes book, that is where I should be jacking and supporting it. The Haynes manual says to use a block of wood with a slot in it to locate on the weld.

But my question as a person new to this, is where should I be putting the weight, ie. is it right for a block to be fitting around the weld and lifting by putting the stress on the main structure either side of it? Especially as the integrity of the metal is probably ok but might be slightly questionable.

The original scissor jack is in a U shape, with the outside part of the U lower. It fits perfectly around the pinch weld, with the inner part touching the metal, and the outside not quite touching.

I see a lot of videos of people using hockey pucks with slots in them. Some don't even have a slot and just lift on the weld itself. Not this exact car, but still on a pinch weld. I'm worried how much rubber or wood might deform or split, especially as a slot would need to be a good 2cm or more deep, so you end up with two tall sides with only a small flat bit connecting them at the bottom.

And axle stands are shaped unlike the jack saddle, so how would you make sure that wood or a rubber puck stays safely in place on them?

Edit:

Thank you for you help. I guess I am settling on jacking either end at the pinch weld with a slotted block of wood (cut across the grain!), or a rubber adapter. According to the Haynes book and websites the front axle stands can be placed at the rear of the control arms so it appears fine to go with that.

At the rear I was leaning towards putting the stands on the crossmember, however unlike the recommendations on this page, and various videos about how to raise most unibody vehicles, the Haynes manual makes me worried by saying "do not jack the vehicle under any other part of the sill, engine sump, floor pan, subframe, or directly under any of the steering or suspension components" and does not mention it as a suitable point for either jacking or support.

Isn't it also logical to have stands spread as far apart sideways as possible, which the crossmember wouldn't allow? But if this is all correct, then surely you are supposed to place a jack and a stand within the same few centimetres of rocker panel, so how is that possible?

I haven't bought anything yet, so here are images of the factory jack and how it fits:

And this is what the jack and stands I was probably going to go for are like: