CivicN3wb

I'm trying to jack up the rear end of my Civic in an attempt to figure out why the brakes are making a noise and I'm having some trouble. I have a 15" jack, which I have used to jack up the front end of the car, but for whatever reason (I guess the tow hook is higher than the front support?) the jack doesn't come close to getting the tires off the ground. I think it needs to go several more inches.

I thought about trying to use the jack points on the side of the car, but I can't fit the jack and stands under the jack point at the same time.

I really don't want to buy another jack, so what are my options? Could I try putting something on the top of the jack, or set the jack on something?

MindBomber

There are jacking points under the rear of the car. Look in your owners manual, it shows them IIRC.

CivicN3wb

Well, the manual didn't show any rear jacking point (it showed the ones on the side of the car, but that was it), but I ended up putting the jack under some part of the frame. At least, I think it was the frame; it was a metal bar thing that connected the wheels to the car. Anyway, it seemed to work OK

Thanks!

MindBomber

That's the trailing arm, don't jack up the car off the trailing arm.

04 Honda Civic

iTrader: (2)

Put a piece of wood on the jack and jack from the rear tow hook. Then use the jackstands on both sides where you would normally jack it from. Simple..ooooorr get a better/bigger jack lol.

Dont just jack from random spots, you may break/bend something.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

i use the frame for the rear arms, right in the middle where the sway bar is

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

i tried jacking from the tow hook once but it wouldnt go high enough to use stands. jack maxed out and i couldnt do it. strange cause the front works fine this way. make sure car is in gear or P before jacking the rear.

L82theGame

A little ingenuity and you can figure out any problem. I had this issue the other day when I put my car up on 4 stands for the first time. I used a paver block under the floor jack and was able to take the stands all the way up using various points on the car. Hope you find a safe solution!!

04 Honda Civic

iTrader: (2)

Yea you need a pretty big jack to jack the rear.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

oh, my god, you got an unicorn as avatar too...

scooty

Yes. this is the easiest and safest point to jack the rear of the car.

For those of you not familiar, it's right in center of the car between the rear wheels under the structural (semi) boxed frame that the rear control arms bolt to. A small floor jack should be able to easily jack the car up from there to where jack stands under the rocker panel as shown in the manual can be placed.

I wouldn't trust the tow hook to support the car. Might bend the unibody. It's pretty thin in that area.

04 Honda Civic

iTrader: (2)

lol, lets just say I wasnt the one who did it.

MindBomber

Remember to always use jack stands as well.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

sl33py wanted company? felt alone? :P

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

this is how we roll brah

electric130

iTrader: (44)

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

buh... buh... buh... bwaaaaaaahahahahaahahahahaaaahaahaha!

04 Honda Civic

iTrader: (2)

Trolling up in this mans thread..

danwat12345

Does Honda say a valid jack point is at the rear tow hook?
I've always used the places right in front of the back wheels to jack the car up and the places right behind the front tires for the front of the car, and/or lift from bottom of auto tranny.

04 Honda Civic

iTrader: (2)

Bad idea to lift from the tranny.

Problem is you cant put a jackstand at the same point you lift, thus you use the rear tow hook.

danwat12345

That's why I jack up from the transmission and then use jacks at right behind the front wheels. No dents in the transmission yet, don't know how happy mounts are but meh

04 Honda Civic

iTrader: (2)

Instead of using the tranny use the front jack point. Like the rear tow hook-if you look under the car past the radiator there is a place to jack it.

Looks like this http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&b...9,r:2,s:0,i:77

CGaud

I had same problem earlier... 3 ton floor jack w/ a wood block placed on the tow hook barely got jack stands under the car. I debated using the subframe but was too lazy and a little too chicken

lazlong

Then just do 1 side at a time.

scooty

Why are you guys jacking from the tow hook? You know that hook is just there so they have something to attach chains to when transporting the cars from the factory to the dealers right? It was never intended to actually 'tow' the car with, much less support the car's weight.

It's too high for a good jack point any way. Just push the jack a little further under the middle of the rear 'axle' and jack from there. I was able to get the rear high enough for jack stands using just a little 1.5 ton floor jack.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

owners manual says to use the tow hook

electric130

iTrader: (44)

04 Honda Civic

iTrader: (2)

I believe that is what they use to tow up a flatbad as well. Its perfectly safe to jack from ive been using it for years.

CGaud

Good 2 know. I was just told that was the rear jack spot and that jacking on the mid frame could cause damage to it. Myth busted??? I might just use a piece of wood to evenly distribute the weight.