I watched Rev's excellent video on jacking, but my 2005 seems to have some kind of extended plastic valance under the car which completely masks the crossmembers I could use to jack up the front.

Can I just use the side 'slots' under the sills and rest the car on axle stands, or is there an alternative allowing you to lift the entire front half of the car from one central point?

 

First of all... NICE FLOOR!

Do you see that little lip that sticks down? I'm 99% sure that's where the cross-member goes. It's rather hard to see in the picture. On my car that lip was rubber, and it just compressed under the jack head. It was starting to come off anyway, so I just took a razor blade and sliced it off.

Do you have any ramps you could drive up on to look under the car and locate the cross member?

 

Thanks, Rev.

Here are another couple of photos of what the underside of the car looks like. I found the arrowed crossmember (shaped like a ] )which looks very sturdy but is way further back towards the front axle than the one you show in your video just a few inches from the radiators. Don't know if it's usable as a jacking point...

 

NOOOOO!!!!! Don't use that one. It's not strong enough to support the weight of your car and it will totally mess up your alignment.

The cross-member you're looking for is directly under the radiator. And I mean DIRECTLY. I believe the radiator is positioned at that location so that it gets the most protection. That cross member is strong, like bull.

 

And in the future, let's refer to the video as "Rev's video on lifting the car" or something like that. "Rev's video on Jacking" just doesn't sound right.

 

Made me laugh

 

Originally posted by Rev
"FUNNY"Rev we can all use a lesson in that.

 

Lol @ jacking I can see the crossmember you are referring to directly beneath the radiator through my front grill. The problem is, as I said, that on my 2005 the big flat plastic cover thing under the engine goes way back almost half way to the front axle. I guess I will just have to unbolt it

 

If you look on the undertray it is held on by 3 phillips screws, these screws go into the cross member you need to 'raise the car on'.
It is a good 75mm wide and the screws are located in the middle of the cross member so you can't be too far out and you do not need to remove the tray to do this.
I actually have a piece of wood fixed to my trolley jack

 

Ah ha, so that's the way to do it. Many thanks