CX-5 Jack points, Pinchweld Heights, Bottlejacks and Pucks

[Mazdiod2]

I've got some of those plastic rhino ramps and the rubber grips on the bottom don't really hold them in place very well. I should figure out some way to stabilize them.

 

[N7turbo]

Over 10 years ago, I was a complete dummy and drove my CX-5 over a set of Rhino Ramps. I pressed the gas and the car crept halfway up the ramps. Movement stalled so I applied more pressure to the gas pedal. The ramps shot out from under the front wheels and I was immediately humbled.

1) I wasn’t applying the parking brake correctly.
2) I had the ramps on a slick concrete floor.
3) I didn’t see the risk and thought I knew what I was doing at the time XD

I’ve come a long way as a DIY’er over the last ten years. I would much prefer your wood ramps to Rhino ramps.

My Rhino ramps have rubber feet on the bottom and I would use them over wood any day. They haven't moved on me.

That said, you should still be very gentle with the gas as best practice. I use them for oil changes.

 

[ruthrj]

My Rhino ramps have rubber feet on the bottom and I would use them over wood any day. They haven't moved on me.

That said, you should still be very gentle with the gas as best practice. I use them for oil changes.

Mine had the rubber feet too. Again, chalk it up to bad technique. I’ll never get that squeal/shriek sound out of my memory: plastic and rubber feet shooting across concrete like Clark Griswold going downhill on snow on that greased up saucer.

 

[ruthrj]

I've got some of those plastic rhino ramps and the rubber grips on the bottom don't really hold them in place very well. I should figure out some way to stabilize them.

I used them only a couple more times after my boneheaded incident. When I did, I placed the bottom of the ramps against the concrete lip between my garage floor and the driveway. There was no way for the ramps to slide backwards with the wheels spinning if that makes sense. The 1/2” bump from garage to driveway secured the ramps.

 

[ruthrj]

I am an IDIOT!!! Zl1 FAIL. Raceramp FAIL.

youtu.be

Hah, here’s a video of the rear wheel risk I think N7 was referring to. Found a couple videos of what I did with FWD, but I’ve never had a RWD vehicle to attempt this.

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

I've got some of those plastic rhino ramps and the rubber grips on the bottom don't really hold them in place very well. I should figure out some way to stabilize them.

I’ve put some thin cheap rubber floor mats under my Rhino ramps when I have had them slide from time to time on my concrete garage floor. It will keep them in place. My ramps have the rubber feet.

I also put my CX-5 in 2nd gear start when climbing ramps so I can far easier modulate throttle climbing the ramps

 

[Conrad 16.5]

Over 10 years ago, I was a complete dummy and drove my CX-5 over a set of Rhino Ramps. I pressed the gas and the car crept halfway up the ramps. Movement stalled so I applied more pressure to the gas pedal. The ramps shot out from under the front wheels and I was immediately humbled.

1) I wasn’t applying the parking brake correctly.
2) I had the ramps on a slick concrete floor.
3) I didn’t see the risk and thought I knew what I was doing at the time XD

I’ve come a long way as a DIY’er over the last ten years. I would much prefer your wood ramps to Rhino ramps.

Yikes!!!!

What was the damage?

Back in the day, I had a set of metal ramps. I always worried that I was going to drive off the front when I used them cuz they didn't have anything much to stop the car once at the top.

 

[Conrad 16.5]

I am an IDIOT!!! Zl1 FAIL. Raceramp FAIL.

youtu.be

Hah, here’s a video of the rear wheel risk I think N7 was referring to. Found a couple videos of what I did with FWD, but I’ve never had a RWD vehicle to attempt this.

Had he been paying attention to what he was doing, instead of yacking to the camera/us, maybe he wouldn't have messed up so badly.

If he's married, I would have loved to see his wife's face and hear her comments.

 

[ruthrj]

Yikes!!!!

What was the damage?

Back in the day, I had a set of metal ramps. I always worried that I was going to drive off the front when I used them cuz they didn't have anything much to stop the car once at the top.

Mostly wounded pride, lol! My ride on lawn mower was in front of the car, so I did get a small wheel shaped gouge in the front bumper. Thank god nothing worse than that.

 

[Jmaz]

Never had a set of ramps so can't speak from experience. But in the last few years just casually researching them, there were two things (IIRC) that I remember regarding Rhino ramps. One was that the advertised load capacity was the vehicle weight and not the weight capacity of the ramps which would be less since only one end of the vehicle is being supported. The other was of ramp owners mentioning that the newer versions had less reinforcing cross latticing/honeycombing compared to older sets. Those things combined with them being 'plastic' (even though structural foam can be quite strong) had me put those on the back burner for the time being. However a lot of older users seemed to be satisfied with their performance but regarding me buying them the jury is out for now.

 

[N7turbo]

Mine are from ~2005 and seem bulletproof.

 

[Conrad 16.5]

Never had a set of ramps so can't speak from experience. But in the last few years just casually researching them, there were two things (IIRC) that I remember regarding Rhino ramps. One was that the advertised load capacity was the vehicle weight and not the weight capacity of the ramps which would be less since only one end of the vehicle is being supported. The other was of ramp owners mentioning that the newer versions had less reinforcing cross latticing/honeycombing compared to older sets. Those things combined with them being 'plastic' (even though structural foam can be quite strong) had me put those on the back burner for the time being. However a lot of older users seemed to be satisfied with their performance but regarding me buying them the jury is out for now.

And that's why I constructed my own ramps.

 

[Jmaz]

And that's why I constructed my own ramps.

I can fully understand that. Check out this video. Regardless of exact reason for this failure, I'm not particularly wild about the construction of this style of Rhino ramps.

Rhino Ramp Catastrophic Failure!!

This unplanned video shows a catastrophic failure of a Rhino Ramp used in several other DIY car repair videos. Somehow, one ramp used on the driver's side br...

www.youtube.com

 

[table5511]

I have an assortment of hockey pucks. For pinchweld lift just carve out a channel in a hockey puck. Easy.

 

[N7turbo]

I have an assortment of hockey pucks. For pinchweld lift just carve out a channel in a hockey puck. Easy.

The Mazda is especially deep; it wouldn't leave much left. You'd need to do what someone here did and glue two together. Great if it works but it was too sketchy for me, structurally speaking.

 

[SWCX5R]

Recently lost a tire and had to rely on the stock scissor jack in 95 degree weather. Yikes. Later on I tried a 20 ton bottle jack too with a 15" lift which could barely get the tire off the ground. Wound up getting an over kill sized jack so this will be much easier in the future.

The results are pretty good on amazon when you search universal pinch weld adapter. I like that Pro Eagle makes their own adapter for their jacks to do this. But then I only jack the car for flats. Let someone else do all the other tasks.

 

[200955]

My last few SUV vehicles/trucks had many places to jack and support. Front crossmember, pumpkin, flat spots on frame and even the control arms.

The Mazda CX-5 is not very great for jacking.

Floor jack(with puck) under the
1.) front crossmember or
2.) pumpkin in the garage...

but emergency use or when you feel like fiddling around in the yard means your stuck with the stupid pinch-welds.

Planning to get a small 4 ton bottle jack for emergency use instead of the scissor jack.

Below is what I've found if anyone can confirm:
1.) Front pinch-weld height : 9.75 to 10 inch
2.) Rear pinch-weld height: 10.25 inch
3.) Wheel off the ground by 3/4 inch so 14.25 inch jack height needed for flat to spare switch.
4.) Flat tire(zero pressure) - 5.75 inches off ground start point.

So a 4 ton bottle jack that has min height 7.25 to max 14 inches would work for non-flat maintenance scenarios with the bottle jack on a OSB base with possibly a hockey puck.

However you need a fast portable air compressor to pump up the flat tire while fit bottle jack under vehicle pinch welds. Bottle jack under the pumpkin is a no go...due to the small contact area.

Back to the pinch welds...
The scissor jack only contacts and supports the inner weld/frame and does not touch the outer weld/frame nor the pinch weld itself.

While I trust my puck on my floor jack under the pumpkin, a hockey puck on a bottle jack does not seem safe. To jack at the pinch-weld, the puck would need slit almost 3/4 inches to make contact with the inner weld, leaving only 1/4 inch of solid puck.

Trying not to bend or damage the pinch welds to prevent them rusting away.

Any comments or suggestions?

EDIT: Posted in wrong forum, would you please move to CX-5 forum? Thank you.

I have owned this particular jack for four years now and if asked I would give it 5 out or 5 stars. It has a large foot for stability, two drop in ends for the top and can be an "on the go" life saver should you get a flat pretty much anywhere. I have made a pinch weld adapter using 5 inches of 1 1/2 square tube with a slit down the middle for pinch weld use. I can actually lift one A-arm at a time when doing brakes or the entire front or rear of my Mazda. The slightly offset foot allows it to fit in close to the inside of tires. This is one of the best shop tools I have ever purchased as it works great in tight spaces.

VEVOR Electric Car Jack Kit, 3 Ton 6600 LBS Electric Scissor Jack, 4.7\"-17.7\" Lift Range, Automatic 12V for Car Sedan and SUV, with Hand Crank for Tire Change Replacement | VEVOR CA

Shop VEVOR Electric Car Jack Kit, 3 Ton 6600 LBS Electric Scissor Jack, 4.7\"-17.7\" Lift Range, Automatic 12V for Car Sedan and SUV, with Hand Crank for Tire Change Replacement at lowest price, 2-day delivery, 30-day returns. Shop now at VEVOR.

www.vevor.ca

 

[Chin00kman]

I just did a 4 wheel changover from OEM Toyo 225/55/R19 to Firestone Winterforce 2 225/65/R17 here in Alaska following 2 full days of snow. The Firestone are on their own steel wheels as I'm switching 19" down to 17" of course. Had my impact sockets, Milwaukee impact drill, trolley jack all ready and this "not super car guy" discovers I'm dealing with pinch welds. Lovely. So I did all 4 with the supplied scissor jack. It worked perfectly but LOTS of turning. I chocked the wheels for safety.

Got me researching for Spring and possibly oil changes I do myself, measuring with calipers. the pinch weld on my 2022 CX5 S Carbon Edition (I'm sure the same for us all). They are exactly 27.18mm/1.07 inch in the frront and 25.42mm/1.000" inch in the rear. So for all purposes the length of the pinch weld is EXACTLY 1" below the flats on either side that the notch in the supplied scissor jack sits on.

I will be ordering a pad and modifying if necessary for the 1" notch depth needed for the trolley jack. So far, this one is looking best for me to modify with a deeper notch. It has a total height of 1.5" and the inset at the bottom is designed for the style trolley I have with a 45mm saddle cap. I think they term this style "Normal".

https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)

 

[Chin00kman]

I have owned this particular jack for four years now and if asked I would give it 5 out or 5 stars. It has a large foot for stability, two drop in ends for the top and can be an "on the go" life saver should you get a flat pretty much anywhere. I have made a pinch weld adapter using 5 inches of 1 1/2 square tube with a slit down the middle for pinch weld use. I can actually lift one A-arm at a time when doing brakes or the entire front or rear of my Mazda. The slightly offset foot allows it to fit in close to the inside of tires. This is one of the best shop tools I have ever purchased as it works great in tight spaces.

VEVOR Electric Car Jack Kit, 3 Ton 6600 LBS Electric Scissor Jack, 4.7\"-17.7\" Lift Range, Automatic 12V for Car Sedan and SUV, with Hand Crank for Tire Change Replacement | VEVOR CA

Shop VEVOR Electric Car Jack Kit, 3 Ton 6600 LBS Electric Scissor Jack, 4.7\"-17.7\" Lift Range, Automatic 12V for Car Sedan and SUV, with Hand Crank for Tire Change Replacement at lowest price, 2-day delivery, 30-day returns. Shop now at VEVOR.

www.vevor.ca

Thanks for this lead. Vevor brands some ridiculously good stuff for the money. I've used in industrial and commercial kitchen settings. I'll probably pick one of these up. Here's the U.S. Amazon link if anyone is interested. $59.00

https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)

$76 gets you an "electric wrench" with a claimed 450 nm torque which is 332 foot pounds, well beyond any reasonable torque of a lug nut. I've never used an electric wrench, only impact drivers. Maybe someone can chime in if this upcharge is worth it/useful or just carry a cheater bar instead.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)

 

[N7turbo]

I ordered a couple of different rubber adapters with the idea that I would modify them but I sent them back and got aluminum.