On the  front, middle jacking point is that cross bar that the spare tire
holder hinges on.
On manual transmission vanagons, the rear middle jacking point is the front
transmission mount.
On automatic trans vanagons you 'can' jack there, but it puts direct stress
on the trans mount. I put together a thing made out of 2 X 6's that will
span across there to the frame rails outboard of the front trans mount, and
it's double thickness out at the end. 

OR ...i also jack them by the bottom of the rear trailing arms.  Need to be
careful, it can slip off the jack there. Of course that's only one side at a
time. IF I were going to want to do the rear that way, I'd do the rear end
FIRST, then the front end.

You need to ALWAYS be careful jacking the second end up, since the floor
jack pad doesn't travel straight up, but moves in a curve. So the jack MUST
be able to roll freely on a hard floor, or, you risk pulling the van off the
jack stands one is already sitting on. ( insert the famous comment - ask me
how I know, here ) .  

For jack stand points, at the rear, they hook very, very well into the outer
edge of the trailing arm, diagonally positioned.  This REALLY is a stable
deal.  At the front, use the stock jacking points, but as you can
see......if the van were to move a bit fore-aft, it could slip off the jack
stand.  Just be  careful and you'll be fine, very careful. 

It's very normal for the 4 points to not be exactly equal.  I sometimes have
to put a one inch wood pad on a rear jackstand to keep the van from rocking.

I ALWAYS take my wheels and tires for mounting, I never give 'em the whole
van. 
Scott 
www.turbovans.com 

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Allan Streib
Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2007 1:50 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: removing all wheels, where to lift and place jack stands

Need to take all the wheels off my '91 GL to get new tires.  The tires
on there now are completely incorrect, passenger tires and the fronts
are smaller than the rears.  To get to the tire shop I need to
traverse some twisty roads and a stretch of highway and I'd just
rather take the wheels to the shop in another vehicle since that is in
no way inconvenient.

Can I lift the entire front or rear using a floor jack in the center?
Or should I raise it side-to-side?

Should I put the jack stands under the normal jack points, or
somewhere else?

Allan