Changing Blown Tire / Jack Placement

[jeisensc]

I got screwed earlier tonight, and not in a good way.

I'm no stranger to changing my own tires, but took the time to read the owners manual before replacing the the rear passenger tire with the spare.

I noticed the jack had a slot in it, ostensibly for the frame to sit on. When it came time to jack up the car, it looked to me like every bit of metal on the frame was wrapped in plastic. The only spot I could find to jack the car from appeared to be part of the rear suspension (the metal was rounded):

The owners manual just showed some diagrams, said to place jack under the frame closest to the tire being raised. Any input on where it should actually be placed? Or did I miss the frame in all that plastic wrap?

 

[Bopper]

You missed it. The jack points are the pinch welds, approximately 10" behind the fronts, and infront of the rears, also about 6" in from the molding. The jack sits in the small groove between the 2 marks (V V) on the pinch welds.

I just noticed the CXFAIL, funny, but that may be car Karma.

 

[DougNuts]

 

[Seminole]

You thought the best place to jack up a 3,000lb+ vehicle was on a component that is designed to move? You're lucky that taking the wheel off didn't cause the suspension to move and then the jack to slip out.

 

[SayNoToPistons]

Sounds like owner fail...

 

[jeisensc]

You missed it. The jack points are the pinch welds, approximately 10" behind the fronts, and infront of the rears, also about 6" in from the molding. The jack sits in the small groove between the 2 marks (V V) on the pinch welds.

Thanks. I have changed my share of tires, and knew what I was looking for, but have not been under the CX-5 yet and could not believe how much of the underbody was shielded in plastic. Where I was stopped, I couldn't get my 4-cell maglight under the car, I put a smaller flashlight in the glovebox this morning.

 

[MikeM.]

have not been under the CX-5 yet and could not believe how much of the underbody was shielded in plastic.

Why did you find it surprising that Mazda uses state of the art shielding to improve aerodynamics? Plastic can't rust or dent - it's the best material for the job. In any case, all that shielding makes it pretty obvious where the jack must go. I'm glad you didn't hurt yourself or the car by jacking on the A-arm - I've seen much less happy results from such a mistake.

Where I was stopped, I couldn't get my 4-cell maglight under the car, I put a smaller flashlight in the glovebox this morning.

The jack points are conveniently located very close to the edge of the vehicle - it is unnecessary for the light to fit under the car to locate the jack points.

The location of your puncture is not conducive to plugging and this is problematic since you have an AWD and it is best for all 4 tires to have the same diameter. Bad Karma.

Somehow I think the cosmic consciousness is sending a strong message and you should consider dumping this CX-5 lease at a big loss and getting something that makes you happy - although I'm not sure what that might be.

 

[IHeartGroceries]

Whew! Glad you managed. Not a great jack point. lol!

 

[mikeee2]

You got lucky on that one for sure. If you had your share of changing spares, shouldn't you looked at the metal thingy to begin with? Every car that I have own or worked on have them.

 

[placcy]

you are crazy man... you got lucky this time. i somehow question that you are no stranger to changing tires.

i changed my spare last night.. and it took me 5 seconds to find the correct spot. Then again, I been working on my cars over 20 years.

 

[slippin3]

So the OP has a blog called CXfail.com, yet he can hardly change a tire correctly?? Thumbs WAY up!

 

[madar]

Owners manual doesn't say to put the jack "under the frame"...says:

5. Place the jack under the jack-up
position closest to the tire being
changed with the jack head squarely
under the jack-up point.

...with a decent diagram.
Anyway, you took a jack designed for pinch welds and stuck it under a control arm? Something had to look like it didn't quite match up..

 

[fdew]

Ok he put the jack in the wrong place. But it isn't a crazy place. At the wheel that arm will take 1/4 the weight of the car to deflect to the normal position. Where he placed the jack it will deflect a lot less. He is almost at the pivot point. Not the best but ok.

 

[madar]

Ok he put the jack in the wrong place. But it isn't a crazy place. At the wheel that arm will take 1/4 the weight of the car to deflect to the normal position. Where he placed the jack it will deflect a lot less. He is almost at the pivot point. Not the best but ok.

It's not a secure place to put that type of jack, weight isn't the issue.

 

[minnesotaart]

Lighten up peeps! We all pull bonehead stunts on occasion. He has been chastised...now let's move on.

 

[nXt]

I had to check my tire pressure because reminder showed up, I decided to look for the jack mount area.
And yeah, wow, that's a lot of plastic down there! Took me more than a few seconds to find the jack mount area.
Picture attached for reference to those who haven't seen. (rear)

 

[MikeM.]

Lighten up peeps! We all pull bonehead stunts on occasion. He has been chastised...now let's move on.

It's not about chastising the original poster (although anyone who thought that was a secure and safe way to change a tire deserved the criticism).

But when later posters continue to make the claim that the pictured jack setup is "O.K." it's not out of line to let others know that is bad advice.

It may seem hard to believe but there are people out there who actually believe bad advice like this "because they read it on the Internet".