Proper Jack Placement on Mazda 5

T

thampel

Member
I am the proud co-owner of a Black 2008 Mazda5. Living within the Snowbelt here in Canada (Ottawa Region) and getting some pretty crazy winter conditions, there is a definite need for snow tires on our vehicles. Needless to say that within the Province of Quebec (where I live), it has become mandatory to outfit your vehicule with snow tires effective next fall. I would never ride without so it does not change anything for me.

I spent some good coin on a set of Nokian HAKKAPELIITA 5's - OMG! What a tire it is!

http://www.nokiantires.com/en/tire_hakka5.aspx?season=winter

I will most likely outfit my 06 Impreza with these same tires next year (currently outfitted with Toyo Observe G-02's)

My real question is that although I was successful at changing to the winter tires - but I was not real comfortable with the Jack placement as it just did not seem obvious to me where to place. I kept it to locations under the frame itself - but was hoping someone had some suggestions or even images of where to place the Jack.

Just want to ensure I am ready for spring to get the OEM's back on!

Thanks
Trevor.
 
skyhawk said:
check out the tsb thread in the lounge. there is a link for the mz5 repair manual.
Click to expand...

I looked around and read through the TSB sticky but did not see the repair manual you are reffering to but I will keep browsing in the event my head cold is blocking the obvious from me :(
 
There is a picture on the jack that shows you where to put it. One is behind the front tire and one is in front of the back. Put it between the little notches or bumps in the rail under the car.
 
rweatherford said:
There is a picture on the jack that shows you where to put it. One is behind the front tire and one is in front of the back. Put it between the little notches or bumps in the rail under the car.
Click to expand...

We just bought our Mazda5 less than a month or so ago and I finally got the winter tires (HAKKAPELIITTA 5's - what an amazing tire) on just last weekend and I did start on the sills as you mentioned. But as soon as the care was making clearance, you could see the jack made an impression in the sill. I know it's reinforced but it does not seem right for metal sills to compress ever so slightly. After that first attempt, I jacked it up using the frame for both the front and rear but figured I would check with other's regardless. I downloaded the Manuals, and see that the sills are indeed the correct spot and have markings - just did not like seeing the sills scrunch a little.

BTW - I was not using the Factory Jack but rather a floor jack on rollers.

Trevor.
 
I guess life is a little easier without the side sill extensions. I can clearly see the indents for the factory jack. The floor jack works on those points, but it's not as solid as I would like to see. I will have to fabricate a jig out of 2x4s to put on the floor jack to spread out the load.

Also, my "sills" (what do you call a 5 without them?) groaned and crunched a little. Not a pleasant feeling...
 
You should not use a standard floor jack on the sills? (seam) unless you want to bend and collapse them. They make a special adapter to use on these cars. Basically just a square tube with a notch cut into it to fit around the metal seam.

You can make the same thing out of wood easily. I would never use a jack on the plastic extensions! EEK! ;)
 
rweatherford said:
You should not use a standard floor jack on the sills? (seam) unless you want to bend and collapse them. They make a special adapter to use on these cars. Basically just a square tube with a notch cut into it to fit around the metal seam.

You can make the same thing out of wood easily. I would never use a jack on the plastic extensions! EEK! ;)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the safety warning there! I may have not made it clear enough that my sport doesn't have side sills at all. It is unfortunate that there isn't really a solid place under the body to jack, basically requiring the car jack or an adapter on the 5.
 
You can put the jack under the lower a-arms and lift it. This is what I did with mine when putting on rear mudflaps. One wheel at a time. There may be some other good places. Don't use the trans or engine oil pans though. I have seen some people do that. Aluminum pans will break and steel ones dent and can cause the oil pick-ups to be bent or covered up.

Mine doesn't have side extensions either. I still have to install the factory front flaps.
 
I still have to get the mud flaps on. I think I'll go with the original plan and rip down a piece of 2x4 or 4x4 and fire up the 'ol router to notch it. Not exactly master craftsman work, but probably something that I can handle.
 
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