rear jacking point

[danwheeler]

oh man, i am full of questions. thanks to everyone who has responded. hopefully i'll come up to speed soon and then can start helping the newbies.

question: can i jack the rear up under the axle with a floor jack?

thanks,
dan

[69shelby]

I have, but would use the frame rails on the sides.

[danwheeler]

man, i am just completely lost. the owner's manual says "find the jack notch next to the door of the tire you are changing" but i dont see any notch. they're not talking about the pinch seem are they?

I see what looks like a frame rail (about 2" wide) extending from the front control arm (sorry if thats the wrong term) should I use that?

sorry, i'm used to trucks and ladder frames - dont know anything about this unibody stuff.

thanks,
dan

[69shelby]

Yes, the pinch seam is the jacking point with the supplied jack. I use my regular jack under the sub-frame. I think a reg jack will bend the seam.

[Guest]

I usually jack up the rear 1 side at a time using the tie down brackets with a floor jack. If you need both sides up at the same time, use jack stands in front of each rear wheel.

[Safety Guy]

I've used the "boxed frame rails" for a long time.

To help prevent damage to the undercoating and avoid putting unseemly dents into the underbody, I also use a piece of thin wood between the jack or jackstand and the car.

Lately I've used a longer piece of wood (about 1/4" to 1/2" thick plywood scrap does the trick) under the jack, with most of the wood stickin out where the jackstand will go. That way I only have to fool with the wood once per side.

I've used the rear axles to jack up the car. I didn't notice any damage but I'm wondering. Obviously, if you're working on the axles themselves (like for removal during a suspension swap) that won't do.

What I WOULDN'T DO is to use one jack to raise the middle of the rear axle beam. I'm afraid that might bend the axle! I could be wrong but I ain't chancing it!

Be sure to put the front jackstands up as far FRONT as you can, since these cars have so much weight up front. I'm paranoid about the rear of the car not having enough weight to "balance out" the front!

Karl

[danwheeler]

well this is kind of a bummer - i guess there's no easy way to pop the whole back end up. I didn't even realize the "rear axle" wasn't a rear axle... just a piece of angle iron basically. definitely dont want to risk bending that.

i really dont like jacking up cars in quarter sections. it's pretty dangerous.

[4cylDreadnaught]

jack a side up, put a cinderblock(w/ one or more 2x4s ontop) under the seam, jack the other side up & do the same. worked just fine when I replaced the ball joints /arms. it should work just peachy for the back end.

alt method, get a 2nd Festiva jack. although I recomend the cinderblock/2x4 combo since it's more stable

[danwheeler]

thanks for the idea

i wonder if i could use a floor jack with a long 2x4 across the whole seam to lift the side up then let the 2x4 down onto 2 cinder blocks by each wheel. that way i could have the floor jack evenly between the two wheels

[4cylDreadnaught]

thanks for the idea

i wonder if i could use a floor jack with a long 2x4 across the whole seam to lift the side up then let the 2x4 down onto 2 cinder blocks by each wheel. that way i could have the floor jack evenly between the two wheels

possible, but I'ld still recomend jacking up one side at a time.

[FB71]

Yes, the pinch seam is the jacking point with the supplied jack. I use my regular jack under the sub-frame. I think a reg jack will bend the seam.

other way around. The seam is significantly stronger than the "frame rail" (its only 14ga sheet metal). The rail will easily crush if the car is lifted by it. The seam is 3 to 4 layers of 14ga and 20 ga sheetmetal. look for a very shallow notch in the bottom of the seam.

[hellraiser6919]

jack a side up, put a cinderblock(w/ one or more 2x4s ontop) under the seam, jack the other side up & do the same. worked just fine when I replaced the ball joints /arms. it should work just peachy for the back end.

alt method, get a 2nd Festiva jack. although I recomend the cinderblock/2x4 combo since it's more stable

ever heard of a jack stand?

[Marc's fesDiva]

this is slightly off topic, but i've been having a heck of a time getting the lugs off the front wheels. they just won't go, i've even tried with a 5 foot pipe extending off the lug wrench, and they won't come off. any hints?

[4cylDreadnaught]

this is slightly off topic, but i've been having a heck of a time getting the lugs off the front wheels. they just won't go, i've even tried with a 5 foot pipe extending off the lug wrench, and they won't come off. any hints?

soak it with penetrating oil, and give a few good taps with an 8oz ballpeen. Make sure to use an anti-seize compound when you put them back on

[Marc's fesDiva]

merci beaucoup!