Heat Rave R

On my Prelude, the jack points on the sides of the car are these tabs formed by a seem. My 280Zx has a similar "tab" running the length of the side, but attempting to use it as a jack point tends to bend it. Where's some proper jacking points so as not to cave in the underside of the car's frame? I've already found tears/cuts in the protective undercoating from where it's been jacked by the frame before, and I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to be jacked that way.

RWilliKiwi

Don't jack on the sill. Look further under the car you will see a frame rail that runs the length of the underbody. This is where you jack if it's not to rusty
Good luck

Heat Rave R

Does anyone know what kinda stuff the factory uses to coat the underside of the body? I've used that spray rubberized undercoating from the store, but it's kinda thin and I can scrape it off with my fingernails. The factory stuff is like a few millimeters thick and kinda spongy and durable. Should I use that truck bedding stuff?

81 Black L28E

i want alot of that stuff to :doh: :headspin:

Rogue93TT

That herculiner stuff you can get at autozone is good but you need at least two coats of it. I have used that and another dupont undercoating on truck undercarriages and the both needed two coats instead of the manufacture suggested one.

icice9

if your using a floor jack the 2 best places toack up your car is the front cross memeber and in the rear jack it p on the rear diff ousing.. i wouldnt jack i up anywhere else...not even the frame rails.. theyre not as sturdy as ou mugt think... they can et crushed from the weight of the car...

Heat Rave R

Jacking it up by the diff. housing won't hurt it? Are any of the suspension components sturdy enough to be jacked by?

icice9

nope wonthurt it at all.. in fact itsprolly the best place to jack it p in the rear..

Bleach

The Factory Service manual says to jack up the rear by the differential and the front by the steering crossmember.

Put jack stands on both sides on the rear. About a foot in front of the diff there is a crosspiece. Right where it bolts to both main framerails is where it says to put the jackstands. In the front, it says to put the jackstands on the framrails. They have pics but I didnt' think to scan them when I was at home.

My front framerails have huge dents in them from jackstands although there appears to be no rust. I suggest you put a 2x4 against the frame and then the jack under that. That will dispurse the weight over a wider area and not damage your frame. Also, the factory scissor jack is used on the little lip near the outter edge of the car. Right behind the front wheel and in front of the rear wheel you'll see a little curved notch in the edge that sticks down. That is the suggested point to jack it up using the scissor jack. Never jack up under the center where the door is. The door sill is not a sturdy.

I've also used the lower radiator support for a jack point or to place jack stands. That part seems very sturdy.

icice9

ive seen a lot of bad things happen when you jack it up by the loer radiator support.. ive seen the car just deop and the jack go half way up the radiator... i dont recomend the lower radiator support.. but everything else that bleach says is all good...

Bleach

oops! ok, ya. That radiator support was just something I thought of. I'll make sure not to do that again though. I don't really want the floorjack-in-radiator mod.

Heat Rave R

Any of you ever see how they jack up JGTC cars? There's a nozzle on the front of the car that they stick an air hose into. The compressed air sends these jacks built into the bottom of car downwards, lifting the entire car off the ground a couple inches in order to change the tires. It's pretty trick to watch.