How do YOU jack up the rear end of you Mustang?

soctty7676

New Member
Apr 4, 2005
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I saw the jack points from other threads that show where to put the jack when jacking up the rear end. But, this only does one side. What do you guys do when you want to bring the whole rear end up (for example to change out rear end fluid). I have been jacking one side up, putting a jackstand under, then going over to the other side and jacking it up. But this just seems to take forever and twists the crap out of the car! It's a convertible so it really concerns me when I do this.

Just looking for ideas.

Thanks!
 
The reason you jack it up on the sides is to avoid altering the pinion angle of the rearend. Ford states to not lift the car on the pumpkin due to this..

Best thing to do is jack it up one side at a time as you are doing, if you're afraid of twisting the chassis (which you probably are, especially if you notice the doors shut differently when its off the ground) go order a set of maximum motorsports full length subframe connectors. Must-have mod for any convertible.

It may be acceptible to jack the car up on the 'dogbone' thats on the rear end, but still not really advisable.
 
Get Steeda weight jacker aluminum lower control arms.
They are the anwser to your question.
The adjustable spring seat allows you to raise or lower the rear of your
Mustang up to one inch with just the turn of a standard one half inch
ratchet.They are durable and only weight seven pounds each.
I am considering them in the future.
 
Pennywise2 said:
Get Steeda weight jacker aluminum lower control arms.
They are the anwser to your question.
The adjustable spring seat allows you to raise or lower the rear of your
Mustang up to one inch with just the turn of a standard one half inch
ratchet.They are durable and only weight seven pounds each.
I am considering them in the future.

He means jacking the car up... dont think thats what ur talking about

either way. I jack my car up from the pumkin/diff (like you're not supposed to) however in my 5 years of doing this on trucks, my stangs, etc, i have never had a problem what-so-ever. However I jack the diff up and put jack stands on the axel housings right away and then remove the jack from the diff. I dont leave the jack on the diff for long at all.... just to initially get it up
 
SteedaGTJ22 said:
He means jacking the car up... dont think thats what ur talking about

either way. I jack my car up from the pumkin/diff (like you're not supposed to) however in my 5 years of doing this on trucks, my stangs, etc, i have never had a problem what-so-ever. However I jack the diff up and put jack stands on the axel housings right away and then remove the jack from the diff. I dont leave the jack on the diff for long at all.... just to initially get it up

I work at a tire shop and thats how we jack up the back on all RWD cars. Never had any problems with it!
 
SteedaGTJ22 said:
He means jacking the car up... dont think thats what ur talking about

either way. I jack my car up from the pumkin/diff (like you're not supposed to) however in my 5 years of doing this on trucks, my stangs, etc, i have never had a problem what-so-ever. However I jack the diff up and put jack stands on the axel housings right away and then remove the jack from the diff. I dont leave the jack on the diff for long at all.... just to initially get it up

+1 to this method. I've been doing it that way for as long as I can remember. I wouldn't jack it up by the Mott bar however, as mine had soft bushings, and could pivot slightly while lifting. I say 'had' because I ripped that SOB off of there. +1 to weight reduction.
 
triggz said:
It may be acceptible to jack the car up on the 'dogbone' thats on the rear end, but still not really advisable.

NOOOOOOOOOOO

jack up 3500+lb on chunk of iron which is attached to the small flap of cast iron via two 1/4"Dia. bolts? Thats No No:nono:
 
SteedaGTJ22 said:
He means jacking the car up... dont think thats what ur talking about

either way. I jack my car up from the pumkin/diff (like you're not supposed to) however in my 5 years of doing this on trucks, my stangs, etc, i have never had a problem what-so-ever. However I jack the diff up and put jack stands on the axel housings right away and then remove the jack from the diff. I dont leave the jack on the diff for long at all.... just to initially get it up

+1 i do the same
 
Jacking001.jpg


NOTE: Many people will use a floor jack under the differential to lift the entire back of the car up at once, even though the manuals expressly says NOT to do this. People of have done it this way for years with no ill effects. But here is the reason why they tell you not to.



The rear axle is not perfectly straight. To allow the rear end to track correctly, there is about a 1 degree negative camber built into the rear axle. Basically what that means is that instead of axle being parallel with the ground, the differential is a little lower than the center line and the the top of the wheels tilt slightly towards the vehicle.If you lift the vehicle from the differential, you are putting stress on both left and right axle housings where they meet the differential, at the same time. They were not designed to perform in this manner. Although you may not break anything, you do not want to stress this area or slightly tweak it and remove or reduce this 1 degree negative camber.




NOTE: If you use the wide flat area of the front of the Kframe as a jacking point, be careful. If the jacking plate of your jack is not flat then you run the risk of denting this area. Doubtful it will cause any complications, but you will hate your self for it later.
 
whats harder is when you have a roush stage3 kit and c-springs, and you have to create your own plywood ramps so you can get enough clearance for the low-profile floor jacks to slide under.

i would just do it side by side. you may *Think* youre damaging it, but it was designed well enough that you are not, unless you jack from the wrong spot.
 
thomas91169 said:
whats harder is when you have a roush stage3 kit and c-springs, and you have to create your own plywood ramps so you can get enough clearance for the low-profile floor jacks to slide under.

i would just do it side by side. you may *Think* youre damaging it, but it was designed well enough that you are not, unless you jack from the wrong spot.

ya.... i have done many interesting things to get car up in the air in the past..
 
The biggest reason Ford says not to jack up the Mustang with the differential is because the axle tubes are just pressed into the center housing section. Continued jacking can and sometimes will make these tubes shift within their counterbored seats. This causes unwanted Camber to be put into the rear. Worst case is that the axle tubes will become loose and can leak and possible come out.

Now, a fix for this is having the axle tubes welded and a possible gusset added just to be sure. This also helps keeping everything intack during hard launches so it's a double plus.

Myself, when jacking up the Mustang, I will use 2 floor jacks, putting a foot long or so 2" x" 4" piece of wood in the jacks cradle, and place each one under the rear control arms and jack them up together until I get the car high enough to put the jack stands under it.
 
NOTE: Many people will use a floor jack under the differential to lift the entire back of the car up at once, even though the manuals expressly says NOT to do this. People of have done it this way for years with no ill effects. But here is the reason why they tell you not to.



The rear axle is not perfectly straight. To allow the rear end to track correctly, there is about a 1 degree negative camber built into the rear axle. Basically what that means is that instead of axle being parallel with the ground, the differential is a little lower than the center line and the the top of the wheels tilt slightly towards the vehicle.If you lift the vehicle from the differential, you are putting stress on both left and right axle housings where they meet the differential, at the same time. They were not designed to perform in this manner. Although you may not break anything, you do not want to stress this area or slightly tweak it and remove or reduce this 1 degree negative camber.



NOTE: If you use the wide flat area of the front of the Kframe as a jacking point, be careful. If the jacking plate of your jack is not flat then you run the risk of denting this area. Doubtful it will cause any complications, but you will hate your self for it later.

©2006 BULLITT Archive
 
Wow, I got a lot of great feedback here! My car is a '98 that I purchased in 2004 or 05 with 84,000 miles. More than likely the car has been jacked up by the diff by previous owners or shops. Heck it could even be the cause of my 60+mph shake I have...whole other story, replaced wheels, tires, driveshaft and still can't get rid of the shakes. It shakes back and forth and up and down from 60 to 65.

Anyways, I'm thinking, if I took tie downs straps and wrapped around the axles and tightned them up tight with something like the upper spring mount. This should allow me to jack it up by the diff right? The tie downs would hold the ends of the axles up and take all the pressure off the ends of the axle housings pulling down while bringing the car off the ground. Pretty much just keeping the housings from flexing up and down while jacking the car up and down. What do you think?