Jacks and jack stands
 

Anybody use a floor jack with the RX8? Where are your lift points? Looking at the points that I think are them, once they car is up, where do you put the jack stands?
Also, the front is a little low for my jack, but I can work around it, I think, by putting the front wheels up on a 1x piece of wood, thenrolling the jack under.
I looked in DIY, if I missed it, please point me to the thread, and I'll suffer the abuse.
thanks

Here ya go.

Stands.....
 

I put the stands under the joint where the front suspension meets the body - nice and solid. The wood trick works if you want to jack on the center support, just ahead of the oil pan, (don't miss!) or under the differential, for the rear.

S

great info - many thanks.
Just for info, I went back to the dealer and asked the jack points - he looked under the car and guessed the suspension mount point on both sides - was not aware of the center lift points. That's why I love this forum. :rock:

When jacking the 8 to put it up on stands, does it make any difference whether you take the front or the rear up first?

Thanks,
Tim

I just change to winter tires for the first time and used the jacking points for jacking and placed the stand as close as I could besides the jacking point. It seems to work ok for the short time I need to change tires. Does anyone know if this is ok for longer period as I'll be painting the calipers next spring. Thanks..

Supposedly, the jacking points on the sides of the car are reinforced, so I wouldn't put a jack stand where I think you are saying.

When I use stands on the side jacking points I go through an involved process where I jack up the left front of the car with a floor jack on the side point, remove the wheel, put a jack stand temporarily under a hefty suspension point, let the corner of the car down on that, remove the floor jack from the side jacking point and run it under the car to the center jacking point. Then I jack up the front of the car with the floor jack and put jack stands on both sides of the car. The floor jack fits under the rear of the car so I just use the floor jack on the differential with a block of wood on top of the jack foot to raise the rear high enough to insert the stands on both side jacking points.

Thanks Go48. Just want to be clear. You mention using the suspension point only temporarily..why? If it's not suitable isn't there another permanent point I can access before going to the other side? I'm also confused when you mention "jacking points on the sides of the car are reinforced, so I wouldn't put a jack stand" but in the end, your setup seems to use these side jacking point for stand support. I'm so easily confused.....
Thanks

I use the point directly under the tie rod end temporarily, but I suppose you could use that instead of the side points. For me it's just a matter of how long the car is going to be supported by the jack stands. If it's gonna be there for more than an hour or so, I prefer to use the side points. On my RX-7 I sometimes use the box-like "frame" member just inside of the side points. However, I heard from one owner that after several weeks of the stands at those points the "frame" developed a slight sag.

In your original post you indicated that you jack the car up at the side points and place a stand adjacent to that point. The side jacking points are not "long" enough for a jack and a stand. Look closely at the side jacking points and you will note two bulges about 3.5-4 inches apart that deliniate the reinforced part. The rest of it is not reinforced.

Thanks! It's all clear now. The jacking points ARE the points you'd want to put your stands so some temporary support points are required. Having said that, I've seen some photos of people's painted calipers with the stand somewhere on the suspension arm.

I would think you would want to jack the front up first so that you can use the emergency brake. The front wheels aren't under lock when the emergency brake is on only the back wheels. For safety reasons.

Besides the front cross member and the rear diff, are there any easy jacking points?

The area around the standard jacking points was rusting so I had a bodyshop remove it and they took the jacking points off too...
I just need to put on my summer rims, so I don't need to get under the car or anything.

EDIT:
Ok the jacking points weren't removed (just checked)... but in the rear they're a bit rusty and dented in. I can keep using them, but they're not as strong as I'd have hoped. rather than being thicker metal (which would rust slowly), its just thin strips of metal pressed together.