Jack stands question

Don't know if there's any "official" diagram of where to put them. What I do know is that the factory jacking points, at least on the 86-93 Fox, may not be the best place to support the car. They were on the unibody where the metal was thinner than on the frame rails. What do I do? On the rear, I use jackstands that have a round cutout on the top that pretty much matches the tube of the axle housing. That lets me place the stand anywhere from the center section, on outboard to the brake backing plate. Supporting it under the axle tube seems about as secure as you can get. The front is a little more of a problem. I go for the frame rails near where they turn upwards to follow the floorboards up to the firewall, obviously on the flat part, and not where it turns upwards. The problem here is that no good jackstands I have seen actually fit flush on the frame rails. I just aim to get as much jackstand under as much frame rail as I can. That's about all I can tell you.
 
Someone has posted a diagram of the proper jack points before - it might have been Don.

I always wondered what the recess in the mating surface of jack stands was made to meet with - it has not fit anything I have ever put a stand under very well at all. :rlaugh:

Sam, as usual, has the right idea with how to possibly help that. Just make sure it is a secure junction.
 
I like to place the jack stands as far out as I can get them on the A-arms up front so that I have all the room I need to work on the bottom of the motor.

Never use jacks on the factory jack points unless you have the area reinforced with some angle iron or sheet metal that will distribute the load. Using the jacking points will cause the floor pan to buckle and pinch your door shut! (NOT FUN!)
 
When you put the stands on the frame rails, doesn't the front (from the rails forward) seem to sag down though? Like the engine/front end have too much weight out front of the stands. I put them under the rails once and got a bit nervous that I was bending up the car! I swear the nose sagged a good few inches once I let the car down on the stands.