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Ok ive had my 80 rx7 for like 4 months and still dont know where the jacking points are. Ive been using the diff and this cross member thing in the front that has little debts in it now. All over the sides are more dents from previous owners also not knowing where the points are. Can someone please show me a picture or explain where the actuall proper points are?
Half the problem is that the points specified in the owners manual and factory service manual are rubbish and aren't strong enough to adequately support the vehicle/
In the rear: diff, lower control arm mounts
In the front: engine crossmember, reinforced section towards the front of the chassis rails, just behind the front wheels - you'll see there's extra steel bracing there.
At the front, my preferred are the radius arm rod mounts - these are hefty, tied directly to the frame, and have a bottom edge just the right size to fit a jack head on them between the notches to avoid slippage.
At the rear, I tend to use the bottoms of the shock mounts on the axle housing. Over time, the bottoms will get a little peened toward the center, but it's a solid mount point and the shape allows it to fit into the concave jack head - again avoiding slippage.
I also tend to use a lot of wood blocks when jacking anywhere else. Given that the metal body isn't really very thick on these cars, it's easy to dent and ding underbody panels not meant for jacking.
I use the rear diff and the front radius arm to jack it up. My cars low so I cant use the front
crossmember easily without rolling up on wood. Once up in the air I put the rear jack stands
under the lower control armmount point, its heavily reionforced. Then I place the fronts under
the front frame rails just after the bend down where its doubled up with the floor rail. This is
just after the front wheels about 6 inches in. Also I jack and place the jack stands on the rear
first, its more stable that way.
When I rebuilt the engine and redid the suspension and steering, I first jacked the crossmember centered, then used floor jacks on the tension rod brackets.
When raising the front wheels with the car already up, I used a point on the LCR just to the inside.
Half the problem is that the points specified in the owners manual and factory service manual are rubbish and aren't strong enough to adequately support the vehicle/
In the rear: diff, lower control arm mounts
In the front: engine crossmember, reinforced section towards the front of the chassis rails, just behind the front wheels - you'll see there's extra steel bracing there.
I could have sworn I saw a diagram with the jack point being where the drip rail is at the bottom of front guard (behind the front wheel). It's been a long time since I looked so I can't remember whether it was the owner's manual or Haynes manual. Maybe my memory is failing completely and I'm completely wrong lol
Yep, the factory jackpoints on the rocker panels are way too weak with a standard jack. And
even with the OEM jack they can give. If you look at the OEM jack it has swuare tube with a
slit in the top that goes between the indents on the rocker. Its supposed to work but it will
bend the rocker. With these cars being 30+ years old, the rockers ain't what they used to be.
Hi, thanks for the guidance. I'm still a bit lost as to the best jack points on my RX7 (SA22C). I've drawn a diagram (attached) as to where I think I should be jacking and supporting the car but I think I'm wrong. Any further pointers would be appreciated, thanks. Jack points on RX7 SA22C
Originally Posted by KYPREO
Half the problem is that the points specified in the owners manual and factory service manual are rubbish and aren't strong enough to adequately support the vehicle/
In the rear: diff, lower control arm mounts
In the front: engine crossmember, reinforced section towards the front of the chassis rails, just behind the front wheels - you'll see there's extra steel bracing there.
I use the front cradle (be mindful of the oil pan) and the rear diff. Jack stands are placed where you have the front jack points listed and in the rear just forward of the frame rail where there is a seam.
I use the front cradle (be mindful of the oil pan) and the rear diff. Jack stands are placed where you have the front jack points listed and in the rear just forward of the frame rail where there is a seam.
I would never use a floor jack on the frame rail.
Is this the front cradle? Hopefully you can see the jack's saddle contacting what I think is the front cradle. The oil sump screw marking the location of the oil pan.
where u have the jack is a steering component and will bent if u try to lift the car. the cradle, or cross member, is that part that's bolted to the frame rails and where the front of the engine mount bolts to.
Here, I used the photos from the recent Bringatrailer aution
I've used the front and rear jacking points
Long time ago I tried the one to the left of the starter in the illustration and it dented inward. The jack had a small contact point and I did not use sufficient bracing to spread the weight (3/4" plywood or solid wood).
I've used the front and rear jacking points
Long time ago I tried the one to the left of the starter in the illustration and it dented inward. The jack had a small contact point and I did not use sufficient bracing to spread the weight (3/4" plywood or solid wood).
Directly left of the starter? I can see that happening since it looks like just one layer of metal there.
Where the lift pad is further back there's 2 layers of overlapping metal.
Thanks for the pointers and lucky for me and my RX I didn't jack from the point shown in my previous photo.
Photo of where I jacked from below. It seems to have turned out well, as there are no indentations after raising and lowering. Support stands placed on the parallel cross members.
A better jack point
I now need to raise the rear of the car. As I understand it from the photos shared, the saddle of the jack should contact the housing of the differential. But how would I stop the front wheels from rolling forward in the event of the car rolling forward? Place bricks / dumbbells in front of the front wheels?
Make sure that when you raise the car (front or rear, but especially that front jack point) that the jack and the car move appropriately as you raise lower the car, keeping the jack's contact point consistently on correct spot on the fame or pumpkin. If the jack can't roll (pebbles on the floor or whatever) the car could slip and even drop mid jacking.
For example, if you are raising the front and the ebrake is on or maybe the rear is up on jack stands already, then the jack wants to move more toward the rear when raising the car and toward the front when lowering it.
Just to echo Toruki's warning -- I was recently using a floor jack to raise the rear end of my Rx7 and I had a large sheet of cardboard under the car. The car was sitting on the cardboard so I couldn't just move it, so I just rolled the floor jack over it. This was a bad idea! The cardboard between the jack's wheels and the concrete floor was enough to keep the jack from shifting while raising the car. I didn't really notice anything while jacking the car up, but when I was trying to lower it back down onto jack stands it became apparent that the car was rocking (because the jack couldn't) and when lowing the car it was shifting back and tying to topple the jack stands (which were also on the cardboard). I noticed what was happening before anything collapsed, but it could have been a bad scene. Long story, but again, just be sure your floor jack can adjust itself while going up/down.
Directly left of the starter? I can see that happening since it looks like just one layer of metal there.
Where the lift pad is further back there's 2 layers of overlapping metal.
It is rated at 1000 pounds, so I only lift one wheel. Nice wide top/bottom area with 4 layers of carpet between jack and frame.
I wouldn't trust working under the car with only a motorcycle scissor jack for support.
Hauling the 40 pound hydraulic jack up/down a flight of stairs equals the same effort as lifting/lowering the screw jack twice. It is like a good weight lifting session. I don't want to do anything two days afterwards.
use a rachet with extender
Last edited by midnight mechanic; 09-13-21 at 05:46 PM.
This doesn’t really help you guys with street cars, but anyone thinking about building a race car with a cage, one of the best modifications I made to my car was to add jacking bars tied into the roll cage. This way I can jack front and back up from the side, it makes life so much easier.
06-28-16, 09:47 PM
