A question that seems to come up occasionally is where are the best spots on the car to place jackstands so that the car will not A) fall on the owner and, B) not be damaged by it's own weight. The best location at the rear of the car is the rear axle housing. Lift the rear of the car by putting the jack under the middle part of the rear axle housing and then place two jackstands on the tube part of the axle housing on the inboard side of the shackle plates that hold the leaf springs onto the axles. 
The best location at the front of the car is not so obvious. The strongest spot for the jackstand is on the frame rail, right behind where the torque box is on a convertible. The coupes and fastbacks don't have the torque box on the 65/66 cars, but, the location for the jackstand is the there. Here is that area, boxed in red, on a convertible.
If you intend to lift the entire car up on jackstands, do the front first, one side at a time, and then do the back. If you raise the back of the car first, and then start lifting one side of the car on the front, this will also lift the car off of one of the jackstands in the back, causing the car to slide off the jackstands and land pretty much on it's side. Not such a good thing to have happen. When you are taking the car off of the jackstands, lower the back first, then do the front one side at a time.
Most folks have enough sense to figure out that they shouldn't try to put a car on jackstands in their yard, or any other place that is dirt or grass. It is not immediately obvious that you also shouldn't do this on asphalt. Do NOT place your car on jackstands on an asphalt surface, like the one you find on many parking lots and streets. The feet of the jackstand will pierce the asphalt, slowly sink in for a little bit, and then drop the car on you. Don't be 'That Guy' that people tell the story of.
2 comments:
Nice reminder of how to properly put a 'Stang on the stands. Two other suggestions. 1. If you're going to be taking the tires/wheels off the car, loosen the lug nuts but do not remove the tires until the car is on the stands securely. If it does come off the stands, it will land on the tires and not the suspension or body. 2. When jacking up the front, put the jack on the frame rail about 4" behind the location where the jack stands will go. FWIW...
Hello Veronica, love your blog. it was one of the first things i found after i got my 65 FB. the fuse box blog info was put to use not long after :-).
in regards to jacking points and jack-stand positions information. it was something i had only recently been searching for, far and wide to get correct info! many people have conflicting opinions or simply relate what works for them, which is fair enough as some of old cars may have a bit of rust or some people are just used to doing things a certain way.
. however i did find the mustang worksop manual had some specific information, that is very helpful. positions for floor jacks , positions for fork lifts (as used on tow trucks) and rail type lifts such those found to use with drive over pits or 4 post drive on lifts, or similar to some fancy floor jacks you can get that have a horizontal bar with two lift points spread apart instead of the standard one point at the front of a trolly jack .
it does not recommend using a floor jack on the front frame rail as you do, however that is the recommended lift point if using a hoist, provident at least 12 square inch is supported. obviously the rubber blocks they use or such to spread the load, many people use wooden blocks successfully however it should be mentioned they are deemed unsafe by the experts (and lifting as a single point with a wooden block may prove to very dangerous) and OHS authorities .
for lifting either side several correct floor jacking points on the front are mentioned, centre of lower control arm if using a rail or beam jack, also a single jack placed near the lower arm strut connection among them .
they dont mention a single jacking point for the rear except the points in the owners manual with wind up jack to change tyres. they only appear to suggest to use a beam/rail jack with adaptors (to fit over axle) for fit over the axle each side of the diff housing .
they dont mention jacking up using the diff housing even though it has been done by millions of us. i dont know why exactly except i have heard that placing jacks on some diffs, especially modern but even some found in these old ponies runs the risk of causing a leak in the seal. the ford manual also makes a point not raise or suspend the rear by the axle further than one inch from the circumference welds near the diff housing. i have heard this same point made by others (qualified people) and they suggest the reason is they are just thin(ish) tubes and you run the risk of serious damage the further out to try and raise or suspended the vehicle on them.
rear lift point using a hoist or it would seem to me perfectly suitable position to settle on jack stands on if a suitable load spreader was used between stand and body (not to use as a single jacking point though) are indicated as a large flat area just in front of the rear leaf spring , the load should be spread over a wide area.
there are some pictures in the workshop manual. and i notice in another of your blog notes that you have some 'shop tips' editions. if you look in volume 3 Jan-Dec 1965 number 6, Sep, page 25 i think it is it has a condensed and similar information. all the best
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