I did similar to Garco. Grooved a piece of 1" thick UHMW, 3"x4". Groove is approx 1/4" wide by 3/4" deep. Fits around pinch weld and sets in floor jack pocket.

 

 

So where exactly should you jack up the car without using the pinch rails, besides the cross member and rear diff? The flat area in front of the pinch rails? What is considered the reinforced "frame" area?

 

Using a front cross member can be done. Hell i've done it on my other car to change the oil. BUT, it's not advisable. The car could slip off the jack and it can punch the radiator or whatever else it may be in the way as the car falls down. Or if the jack goes sideways and only one corner comes down, possibly twisting the frame. The cross member on some cars also may not be that beefy and could possibly bend.

 

Not advisable? have you ever even looked at the workshop manual? It states, in plain english, that the front crossmember is the PROPER place to jack the car up... for the rear it's the differential.

You are only supposed to have the jack supporting the car long enough to get stands under it, if you feel/see the car start to slip (I've never had this happen to me) then you should stop what you are doing and lower the jack. At that point it would be 100% operator error, nothing to do with where you were jacking up the car.

 

^^ Not our thread to get into an argument.

 

What I meant is I don't think you should be using the cross member if you don't know how to do it correctly. I'm sorry for not saying it that way.

 

Correctly? Jack goes in the middle, there is an obvious protrusion that creates a nice flat surface, that's where the jack goes. I suppose if someone tried putting the jack elsewhere that could lead to disaster, but if they don't know what they are doing then it's operator error.

I suppose I came off a bit snotty, was not my intention I apologize, just pointing out the FSM clearly states that is the spot to use when lifting an FD rx7, so I'd imagine it's far safer than many other places.

 

He's right. Crossmember or diff IS the ideal jacking spot, but it can be a pain to get to sometimes. It's also the safest.

Jacking it from one side, putting a stand in, then doing the same for the other can load the jack stands unevenly and cause them to **** to one side if you're working on a less than optimal surface. It also depends on the kind of jack you use.

When I jack on the sides, I always lift it from the crossmember afterwards, which allows the stands to settle, then let it back down on them.

I like these cars alot, but I don't want to die under one.

 

made these up to fit over the pinch welds.
http://www.snapdrive.net/files/103405/IMG_0549.JPG

 

The shoe or plate for my jack is a flat plate with two parallel pieces of steel welded on that are the width of the reinforced pinch rail .It can not slip off .The slot in the stock jack can be cut wider to fit the wider reinforced pinch rail . I am to lazy to remove the unneeded reinforce parts so I can use the frame rails . And I thought life was eazy .

 

Life was easy, then you discovered internet forums...

 

I'd reinforce my pinch welds and do it that way, but I've got a nice low pro jack that can get to the cross member no problem, and it takes a lot less time to just jack it up there and toss a couple stands under it, than it does going from side to side (how I did it originally)...

Eventually I want to run air jacks on all 4 corners, laziness at it's best!