Was wondering if anyone had a diagram to show the hydraulic jacking points and locations for jack stands on a second generation RX. I do see in the manual a section on "positioning the jack" to lift the car but no mention of jack stand locations. Any help would be much appreciated!

 

Look where this jack is:

http://i769.photobucket.com/albums/x...IY-004copy.jpg

There are grooves under the side skirts behind the front tires and in front of the rear tires. Put your stands here. Another view is in my thread on changing wheel studs...search for it. Although its on a gs most vehicles havecthese same grooves. Check google image search that will help too

 

Other than the ones shown above, the front has a jack location just clear of the front dam cover. You can see it. The rear does not have one.

storms71 welcome to CL.

 

I have to disagree, Mandyfig, the rear has one as well. It is located centrally between the spare tire and the rear diff - looks like the one on front. To better locate it, put the portable car jack under one of the sideskirt locations towards the rear and get under the rear of the car to better visualize the spot. Once you know where it is at, lower the portable jack and car and roll the floor jack under the proper spot and lift the car as needed.

 

Thanks for the feedback guys, really appreciated it! I looked under my RX last night and found both lift points, one near the differential and one under the engine. I will lift my car soon and see how well my jack stands conform to the jacking points just under the side skirts behind the front wheels and in front of the rear wheels. Just a little worried about laying the grooved body seem over and/or scratching/damaging that area with my jack stands. I have read about people who have used a shop rag folded a few times to help cushion the contact area prevent scratching. Any other ideas other than a piece of wood or a hockey puck? (which don't sound the safest to me)

 

You will have to get a hydraulic jack which can reach at least 22 inches (designed for SUV's). That's the safest way.

Good luck with your RX car projects. Stay safe.

 

I've used my old heavy-duty rubberized glove that fits well (like a glove) laying flat on my new 2.5 to jack from Harbour Freight. You can use any chunk of rubber to avoid scratching the jack points surface. I guess a thick towel or a shop rag would work fine as well - nothing wrong with that.
As far as jack stands go, they sell rubber protectors (jack condoms) that will help to preserve your rocker panels.
Just wanted to clarify that you use the hydraulic jack on the central jack points and can use a shop rag to cushion between the jack and car body jacking point; the jack stands will sit on the 2 rear, 2 front, or all 4 corners under the rocker/side panels for main weight bearing.

Good luck!

 

Yeah, I've seen the jack condoms but they don't look like they will fit my jack stands very well. I like the idea of a heavy rubberized glove though, may give that a try! Thanks!


Yes, this is exactly the plan. Yes, lifting with a hydraulic jack under the rocker/side panels would definitely not be good for the grooved body seam. The hydraulic jack should be used only on one of the two central jack points.

 

Finally, a use for those NBC gloves I had left after leaving the military

 

Again thanks for all the advice on this issue. This weekend I jacked up the front end of my RX and tried to position the jack stands. See the attached pictures. If I put the jack stands the way I feel they should be (picture 1) the body seam is sure to get rolled over (imho). Alternatively I can rotate the stands 90 degrees (picture 2) so they can support the car just outside the body seam, but not sure this is the right way, and it puts excessive force on one side of the claw of the jack stand due to the angle of the car. Not sure of the proper way to do this... Comments/Help Please!

 

Storms,
no offense, but I think you need different jack stands. The blue ones you have a great for a boat or a canoe. You need the ones with a deeper groove and a slit in the middle to accommodate the ridge of the body to the rocker panel is equally supported on the inside and outside.

 

In the first pic....... I have stands with a 'v' notch and place it where the seam is, hasn't done anything to it so far. You could always place a small block of wood or a glove as suggested.

 

I cut a half inch groove in mine with an angle grinder. Hasn't failed me yet.

For jacking, toss the round "plate" aside and buy an adapter made from unibody pinch welds such as this


Bending pinch welds can crack the underbody paint and introduce rust to a place you REALLY don't want it.

 

what did you eventually do?
How did you jack up and where did you place stands? Any pics?

 

I always use wood blocks on my jack and jack stands. I have an old oak 2x4 that I picked up and cut in into several blocks. It is tough enough that it won't crack in half (like a piece of pine), but it won't hurt any metal jack points.