Soon to be owner, few questions on jacking vehicle

[phoned]

Hi folks,

Soon to be a new owner of a GS AWD. I'm wondering if anyone has any specifics on what height of floor jack and jack stands I need to do anything useful. My current jack only goes up 14" so I suspect that is not high enough (18" should do it?). I normally jack my car to rotate tires, and will eventually be doing it for my oil (I know, should get ramps).

Also, most people seem to say to jack from the front cross member. Can anyone take a picture of it? Some CX7/9 owners say it's very thin and have bent it, so I suspect they have actually missed the cross member and went to the thin insulating piece behind it instead.

Any known issues/annoying things I should be aware of beyond that?

Thanks!,

 

[Chris_Top_Her]

I happened to take a picture of how I had it jacked the other day while removing my bumper. This jack goes from 7-5/8" to 15". Using the jack alone is not enough for me to remove the tire, but by sticking a 1/2 inch wood under it, I have enough room. The next size up jack would probably work, but I'm not sure if it's too tall or not. You won't be able to get both the jack and the jackstand within the pinch weld; you will have to compromise. A jack like this runs between $10-20 (you shouldn't pay more than $25) at harborfreight, walmart, online etc. You would probably need a 16" jack to do it by itself.

 

[phoned]

Hi Chris, using a bottle jack seems to be a good idea. Way easier to get them closer together than a jack and a jack stand (which I do on my little honda, the pinch weld is a bit beat up but works beautifully). With that being said, I probably will get a regular jack as well for doing tire changes as well, and so that I can jack up the whole rear if I need to. I normally swap tires quickly off the jack without using a stand since I wouldn't be doing under the vehicle.

I never really relied on the front cross member to jack the front of my vehicles (always jacked the pinch weld and then put a stand there as well). Is anyone here actually jacking the whole front on the cross member?

 

[MATR6]

I just tried with my 2.5 ton Craftsman jack, like the one pictured below.
It goes up to 14.5" & I was able to get the front wheel off the ground & a jack stand next to the jack within the pinch weld.

 

[phoned]

Hrm, so my 14" may just make it..

 

[howlin4you]

This thread made me curious so I looked it up. Here are the Mazda recommended jack points.

 

[SayNoToPistons]

I have a thread on exactly this. Search for it.

 

[Chris_Top_Her]

Hi Chris, using a bottle jack seems to be a good idea. Way easier to get them closer together than a jack and a jack stand (which I do on my little honda, the pinch weld is a bit beat up but works beautifully). With that being said, I probably will get a regular jack as well for doing tire changes as well, and so that I can jack up the whole rear if I need to. I normally swap tires quickly off the jack without using a stand since I wouldn't be doing under the vehicle.

I never really relied on the front cross member to jack the front of my vehicles (always jacked the pinch weld and then put a stand there as well). Is anyone here actually jacking the whole front on the cross member?

I did not take into consideration that I am lowered and also my wheel is taller. A 14" Bottle jack would probably work just fine.

 

[RedBaron]

I would REALLY not recommend anyone using a bottle jack. The contact/support area is way too small and so can easily slip and also applies too much pressure to the car over the small contact area. Also, the base area is also too small, making it very easy to topple over as the cars moves sideways while you jack it up, and again, applying too much pressure on the small ground contact patch (DEFINITELY, do NOT use on anything other than reinforced concrete, especially not tar/pavement or hard-pack).

Its just FAR safer to use a regular trolley jack that both spreads the load top and bottom, is more stable, and can move along with the car when you jack it up.

 

[xtrailman]

I only use the supplied scissor jack on the dedicated sill jack points.

I then use a trolley jack as back up, the trolley jack I interface with a wood block to spread the load.

 

[MikeM.]

Its just FAR safer to use a regular trolley jack that both spreads the load top and bottom, is more stable, and can move along with the car when you jack it up.

+1 ^

 

[IHeartGroceries]

Bottle jack...

Like lifting your vehicle onto a fulcrum. LOL!

As sated, SayNo has a good thread already. Perhaps it should be stickied, so we don't have tons of these threads cropping up.
But, FWIW, I have used the lifting points and jack points from the areas detailed in the .pdf file shared earlier in this thread.

 

[SayNoToPistons]

For the damn lazies.

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...ng-point-and-jack-stand-point-tips&highlight=

 

[Chris_Top_Her]

Edit I did not notice that the top of the jack could screw out for more clearance. A wood would not be needed but something to top it with more surface area as some mentioned would be a good idea. This is a low price jack so i'm guessing that is a somewhat standard feature.

 

[Bladecutter]

The wood is needed with that type of jack.
You put a slot in it that the thin rail you are currently jacking the car up with goes into the slot in the piece of wood, and then you jack up the car with the wood sandwiched between the jack and the car.

That will prevent you from damaging that thin frame rail.

BC.

 

[Chris_Top_Her]

The wood is needed with that type of jack.
You put a slot in it that the thin rail you are currently jacking the car up with goes into the slot in the piece of wood, and then you jack up the car with the wood sandwiched between the jack and the car.

That will prevent you from damaging that thin frame rail.

BC.

Oh i was talking about the block i put under it so it would extend high enough to remove the tire

 

[phoned]

I ended up buying a 3 ton jack that goes up to something like 24". I checked the front cross member that the service manual says you can use to jack on. It looks like an OK spot if you use a bigger piece of wood since it does seem pretty flimsy for a cross member. Some CX9 folks said they manage to bend theirs when using it as a jack point.

 

[jayhawkprotege]

This thread made me curious so I looked it up. Here are the Mazda recommended jack points.

Bringing this thread back from the dead because I haven't seen something as definitive as this diagram for the 2017 CX-5. Anybody have something? Oh how I wish car companies would all be like Honda, who made it so incredibly easy on the '09 Civic I worked on. Tow hook in the rear, engine cradle in the front. So simple and they explained it clearly in the owner's manual.