Jack locations

[RUGER 2.2L]

Well I couldn't really decide where to ask this, and it just didn't seem like it would belong in the OT so I put it here.

This may be a really simple question but I am wondering where do you place jack stands if you are lifting the rear of the vehicle up? The only suitable place I could find was the jack location for the scissor jack that came with the car (the metal lip that sticks out a bit and has an arrow pointing to it). But I obviously cannot put the jack and a jack stand in the same place.

I ran into this problem last night when I was bleeding my brakes. I planned on jacking up both the driver and passenger rear wheels at the same time (thus the need for jack stands). While I wasn't happy about it, I decided to just jack one wheel up at a time and leave it on the jack with a jack stand in a sorta-ok-looking support/fall position along with some wheel chocks for good measure The only reason I did this was because no part of my body was actually going to be under the car.

For future reference I would really like to know this, and I apologize if this is a really dumb and obvious question.

[Nurega]

I don't know where the rear jack point is, but a word of advice:

I needed to jack up the rear of my car recently, and when I couldn't find help on the forum, I made a gross miscalculation and ended up applying all jack pressure underneath the spare tire area. In short, I now have a bent spare tire and spare-tire well.

My point? Make sure you don't jack up the rear in the wrong place. There are two frame rails on either end of the rear; one is damn near the muffler. I ended up using these rails after destroying my spare tire. This seemed to work fine for me, although if I were you, I'd still wait for an answer from a more experienced member first.

[Tishock]

Guys you need to learn how to use the search feature and to download the Helms Service Manual.

But here is the info your asking for

[RUGER 2.2L]

Guys you need to learn how to use the search feature and to download the Helms Service Manual.

I did search before I posted this. I do searches all the time especially when I am considering starting a new thread. And I have not downloaded that manual because I don't really think that it is a legal download. But thank you for the info. I know exactly where that front one is from looking at the picture, but the one for the back is a bit hard to decipher. Is that the bar that looks like a frame rail near the rear wheels??

[Tishock]

.

[wed3k]

if you have a good jack, you can put it under the front and just lift the entire side up.

[batever]

Those listed front and rear jack locations are ok in that they are certainly strong enough and they are easy to reach with a jack, but I think the way I (batever) describe in the thread link below, is much more useful because it gives you a higher lift on the car with a standard 21 inch lift floor jack. Basically, use a 2-foot or so section of 2x4s on the rocker panel rails right next to the pinchwell area to spread out the lifting load, then place your jackstands where the factory scissor jack would normally go.

As a rule of thumb, if you aren't sure from experience that a piece of metal is strong enough to lift the car from, either watch it like a hawk to look for deformation while lifting, or, if you know it isn't strong enough, spread the weight out with a 2x4 length.

Besides this method, you can also use the frame rail that is like one and a half feet in from the side of the car as a bare lifting point. The guy who does my car's yearly inspection always uses that, but I don't normally just because i have to crouch down really far to locate the jack head under there accurately. Simpler to just use the 2x4 method as far as i'm concerned.

If you are lifting only the rear of the car, I suggest taking jamming the brake pedal in closed position with a length of 2x4 against the driver's seat to fully engage the front brake calipers, in addition to hammering chocks into the front wheels.

Actually, these days if I'm going to be under the car and not just working from the side, I often put the whole car up level on 4 jackstands, carefully making sure that each jackstand is well balanced on its feet and that the load is centered on the jackstand head. I actually go around and hit the base of the jackstand with a 2x4 or just kick it to make sure it is holding the load equally across its feet.

If I don't put the car up on 4 stands, then I always make sure I have two wheel chocks well in place, plus engage the car's braking system for those wheels that are on the ground.

Other locations I have used: the area where the lower control arms mount to the body.

On some cars (87 Corolla comes to mind) I have jacked the car or put stands under the lower control arms themselves, depending on the kind of work I needed to do. But I've never needed to do that on my CB7.




2x4 method:


http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthre...light=jack+2x4

[RUGER 2.2L]

Thank you all for the good info. It looks like I actually have a few different places to choose from. When I originally tried it, I started to use the the thing that looked like a frame rail going between the two rear wheels. But before I got it off the ground I stopped because I didn't actually know what the piece was. I would hate to bend some vital part of my suspension just trying to jack the car up.

[batever]

Thank you all for the good info. It looks like I actually have a few different places to choose from. When I originally tried it, I started to use the the thing that looked like a frame rail going between the two rear wheels. But before I got it off the ground I stopped because I didn't actually know what the piece was. I would hate to bend some vital part of my suspension just trying to jack the car up.

That transverse frame rail, which the lower control arms mount onto, is definitely strong enough that you can use it to jack the car with.

[RUGER 2.2L]

That transverse frame rail, which the lower control arms mount onto, is definitely strong enough that you can use it to jack the car with.

Oh nice dude, that makes me feel better, I guess it wasn't that stupid of an idea after all Thanks for the help!