This is on a 91 Firebird. I looked in the owners manual and found the supposed jack points. I see the little flimsy metal pieces and put the jack there and after the weight is on the jack those metal pieces slowly start bending. WTF!? I want to get my car completely suspended off the ground but am afraid to put jack stands anywhere because I don't want to bend up the bottom of the car. It's the same way on my other 91 Firebird. The metal tabs and even the front ones were bent up when I got the car. Are there any decent jacking/jackstands points on thirdgens?

 

back : axle
front : directly under the hole in the lower A arm works for me

 

there are 4 lips on my jack and insert one into the hole on the crossmember and put the jackstands under the swaybar mount and the rear just as you.

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1987 Black 305 TPI 5spd IROC, seems to be fully loaded, but can't find RPO codes.

AIM: IROC 5spd
http://www.geocities.com/chevy5spdiroc/87Roc.htm

 

oh yeah, and it was sitting like this for over 2 weeks while i installed my new 305 and rebuilt T-5

 

Stock locations:
Front: K-member under the oil pan. But since my car is lowered it requires a 2x4 under a tire first for clearance to get the jack under it. You also have to turn the wheel to get the jack handle enough clearance.
Rear: Center pumpkin of the axle.

Non-stock locations:
Side: Under the SFC's.

And use jack stands after jacking it up. Locations: Front under the hump on the A-arm. Rear on the LCA.

Good luck, Lon

 

Okay, I think I know where to put them now. How do you put it on the back axles though? The sway bar is directly under them. Unless you mean the middle under the diff. Where would be the best place to put jackstands for long periods of time. This car needs to be up in the air for a while. Oh, and to make things more difficult, it can't be on any part of the suspension or rearend.

 

My jack just clears between the housing and the sway bar. But lately I've jacked it on the Spohn adjustable torque arm. Less chance of damaging the differential cover then.

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90 RS Convertible
Owner: Top-Down Solutions
(626)369-0040

http://www.sc3gfb.org/members/lonsal.html
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I put the jack or lift on the rear control arm. not actually on the control arm, but where it hooks onto the frame.

 

WHOA NEVER put a jack under the oil pan thats a good way to really fudge your car up. center the jack under the K-member on the front then put jack stands under the bottem spring pads

 

Maybe I should have reworded it as "Front jacking point: The K-member, which is located below the oil pan". OK? I agree you don't want to put a jack on the pan itself.

 

Well, cross-member is no good for me either, lol. What I guess I'm getting at is I'm looking for points on the underbody itself to support the car on. The engine, suspension, rear, tranny, crossmember is all coming out.

 

Use the Frame Rails like they do on a lift

 

This comes up every once in a while...

My car has a sticker in the jack area that shows where you're supposed to put the car's jack. I'll see if I can remember to scan it. Basically, at the rear it's just in front of where the LCA attaches to the "frame"; and in the front, it's the "frame about a foot under the edge of the car, right behind the wheel opening.

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"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports

 

Frame rails are weak. They bend and dent. I can show you pictures of both my cars, both of where they have bent in where they are supposed to be jacked up.

 

When I suspended my car I did the following:

in the rear, jack up the hog (pumpkin) whatever you want to call it. You can place jack stands just in front of where your Control arms attach to the body. It is stout enough to handle the load.

In the front I Jack it up from the cross member and put jack stands in the crotch of where the A-frame meets the Crossmember. It is a tight fit to get the jack stands in there so you have to be careful to make sure you get the jack in the middle of the member.

OR, you can jack up the front of your car and slide in ramps. Take a block of wood and a C-clamp to make sure the front wheels do not roll off. (NOTE) do not try to drive up on ramps, they tend to slide out, and they are sometimes too high to drive up on for F-cars.


John

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G O D BLESS AMERICA
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[This message has been edited by okfoz (edited October 06, 2001).]

 

Soulbounder
You would not know the frame rails if they came out and Bit You. They are the main stucture of your car.

[This message has been edited by Z28DJP1987 (edited October 06, 2001).]

 

Hey now. I think I'd recognize them. Hell, they are even marked with those little metal pieces to show exactly where the jack is supposed to go, lol. And if that's not it, then post a picture. I'd really like to know.

 

the frame rails are the two big assed rails going from the near the front wheels to near the rear wheels... they're about 4"x4" and I constantly use them to jack the car up and put jackstands under them... in fact i was taught my by auto teacher that if you're not going to put the jackstands under the axle or the A-Arm, to put them under the frame rails. the piece your talking about that is flimsy and bends is the pinch weld, which is basically good for nothing when it comes to jacking up a car.

the frame rails are also what SFC's get welded/bolted to... if you look under your car its very easy to point out the passenger side front part of the frame rail... look at where your cat is, then look about 4-6" towards the center of the car... see that big assed square "rail" thats the frame rail... find the corresponding parts of the frame rails in the other 3 corners and put your car on those

[This message has been edited by Jason86Z28 (edited October 10, 2001).]

 

Well I see someone knows what a frame rails are, good explaination I still don't know what GM was pointing to, when it said these are the Jacking Points. I for one always used the Frame Rails. Maybe, everyone learns from this.

 

Well, okay, it makes more sense now. Just one more question. What the hell are though flemsy metal things just outside the framerails? Are they there to trick you or something, lol?

 

Gm's Engineering Dept. was having a bad hair
day when they wrote the location of the Jacking Points, its even worse on Fourth Gen
cars. What else can I say "Do Not Use those
Locations".

 

The picture shows points to jack your ride up only with the stock jack, (the one that came with the car) and only to change a tire. So never use them for any thing else. The engineers at G.M. considered that you would hopefully never need to use them, or the crappy jack, but in emergencies, this will work.

The best possible place for the jack or jack stands are the frame rails. If they are already bent up, it's becuase some one didn't know what they were doing.

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'82 Firebird, dead stock, 9 bolt disc rear, over 200,000 miles and still going strong, more to come...
http://www.spinfrenzy.com/stingerssx...easures.html#4

 

Those points still bend, even with the stock jack... I dunno what the hell GM was thinking... with a little work you can get the stock jack to lift the car by the frame rails... its even easier w/out GFX, but still do-able w/ GFX.

 

that cross member right under the oil pan, is that the K or A member? i started to jack up the car from there but its looks like when you lift the frame and all up, the tires stay down causeing stress on the "tie rods?" not sure what they are called, but they look important. should there be alot of stress on them guys? where else does everyone jack up the whole front end up at?

 

WOW it never updated my sig...LOL I wreaked that car..........

 

My best suggestion is to get a set of sub-frame connectors welded on. After I got my Global West connectors on it has made life much easier any time I wish to jack the car up. Oh, and I carry a short, 2 1/2 ton hydraulic jack so that if I do need to change a tire I can jack up directly under the A-arm or Axle itself. makes life much easier in that respect I think. Later

 

the newer 4th gens have the words "do not jack here" or something to that effect embossed underneath the rocker panel.

 

when i put my car on the lift i put either on the body seems or the subframes. either ones are fine.