I can hear you snorting from here – “Why the hell would you need an article on how to jack up the car?”  I get that, but as it’s the first step in many service steps, and there are a few DB9 specific tips to share, I figured I’d post a quick article and video in case it helps someone.

Some obvious stuff to start with that’s the same for jacking any car:

• Level ground (so the car won’t roll off the jack)
• Firm ground (so your jack doesn’t sink in)
• Be sure automatic transmission is in Park
• Set the hand brake
• Close the doors (helps keep the shell of the car as stiff as possible)
• Block the remaining wheels

I used a simple 2 ton trolley jack.

My first tip (that I really learned from a post on 6speedonline.com) is to use a hockey puck on the jack lifting point to avoid scratching the car.

There are four jacking points on the car.  These are the ONLY places you can put a jack.  A quick peak in your owner’s manual shows them as:

Another tip:  If you are going to be taking off the road wheel – I’d suggest cracking the wheel nuts loose before you lift the wheel off the ground.  It’s easier if the wheel isn’t free to rotate.

Warning from Aston:  NEVER jack the car by placing the jack under the lower suspension arms or mounting points!!  This will bend the suspension arm (for certain).  They aren’t designed to take nearly 2,000 pounds of point load sideways.   It says this clearly in the your owners manual.   [Observation – in the official Aston Martin DB9 Workshop Service Manual they have a typo omitting the word NEVER, and the consequences could be awful.   Here is a snip of the typo – Aston if you’re listening……]

Another warning from Aston:  They say to never use a single point jack to raise just one corner of the car if you have the central under tray/stiffener (tunnel shear panel) removed from the car.  My guess is that without the stiffener, you run the risk of twisting the car if lifting at a single point.   You’d need to be using a four point host lift in this case.

If you’d like to read the actual page from the Service Manual on Lifting and Jacking, you can find it here.

Here is a short YouTube video on the process:

If you plan on jacking the car at all four corners to put it up on jack stands, maybe you’ve realized the conundrum by now.   Whether you have or haven’t, please check out this other post on how to accomplish it.