That's what it does for a living.

The other way is to(EDIT Take out ball) tilt the PF up, pull out the bottom, and rest it against the backbox.

I never liked the one side rod thingie either.

Typically I found a small piece of wood or something like that and used it as a prop that I could locate somewhere in the center of the Playfield. It also allowed me to set the desired angle assuming my prop was the right size. I’d just rest the bottom solidly in the cabinet.

Safe? I think as far as safety goes, it's just fine. It's not like the playfield will suddenly come conking down on your head if you properly secure the end of the rod in one of the two divots under the playfield. That being said, there are some who don't care for the torsional force it puts on the playfield. I don't think there's any danger of warping the playfield unless you leave it that way for a month, but some think it stresses the artwork on the playfield and can cause stress cracks or other damage. Me, I don't buy it.

If I don't lean the playfield back. I use an automotive hood prop.

Set to what height you want, more than sturdy enough for a playfield. I secure the end on ball trough, flipper base plate, or other metal bracket near the center of the playfield.

And less likely to twist or bend the playfield. And a lot harder to accidentally hit and have the playfield come down and nail your head.

LTG : )

For wide body games make sure to use a prop on the left side as well. A lot of twisting if on one side...

I like the metal playfield prop rod a lot better than those hood shocks for automobiles some idiot decided to start using back in the 80s.

I always said whoever designed that system should have one rammed up his ass.

There has been talk in the past that it may cause top coat/ paint issues by flexing the playfield.

Personally I don't worry about it. If you are worried you can make a prop stick to put in the middle of the playfield from the bottom of the cabinet.

"Clays guide" has a good video and mostly uses the prop rod but demonstrates putting the playfield in "service mode" about four and a half minutes in ...

Tim Arnold said years ago he does NOT like using them:

http://www.zaccaria-pinball.com/misc/arnold.html (scroll down to #27).

I never use it for the already mentioned reasons. These games wasnt constructed to last 30 years, obviously they didnt take such things in consideration when designing the prop stick solution.