The thread about the jack being too short got me thinking about the possibility of having to change a flat, especially since we replaced the baby spare with a full size tire. When we had the truck into the dealer on Friday I had them put up on the rack so I could take some photos of the undercarriage and I asked the tech to point out where we set the jack. He looked in the manual to make sure he got it right and then pointed out the front and back welds.
The best way to find their location before you get down on your knees is to follow the front line of the front door and the back line of the back door. If you point down on those lines you're going to be very close to seeing them.
With running boards on you have to look up from underneath it or feel for the back on. The front one is about 3/4s visible, just between the back of the splash guards and the front edge of the running board.
I'm posting front weld photos here. 1st has the running board partly hiding the back part of the weld. 2nd is looking at it from underneath. The 3rd is from a BLUE on the lot that didn't have the running boards and it's also from the passenger door's side. 4th is a more close up photo of the same weld from a lower angle looking up at it.
Here are the back tire welds. They look a bit different from the front welds. On the front it's quite clear that the weld area is a thicker fold of metal. On the back the welds are a wavy attachment between two distinct notches.
I tried photographing them on the black truck but you couldn't tell what I was trying to show you. Besides, I'm partial to the BLUE, but no one knows that by now, do they?
1st is the back passenger side of the BLUE with no running boards. 2nd is the back of our truck looking up from the running board area. 3rd is the wavy metal of the welded area.
These are exactly the kinds of things we should know about before they are actually necessary.
This is a good reminder to all of us to periodically find our jacking points and tow points on bright sunny days, just to make them that much easier to find on dark rainy nights when we have to change a tire. Thanks again.
Never been afraid to get her dirty and I'd rather show you how dirty she gets. My truck is the splattered one. The clean photos come from the BLUE RTX at the dealer.
Yes, this is good information. I got stranded one night in the rain while it was dark and had to try to find the jack points under these conditions. Nice to know this up front. And while it may sound a bit extreme, it's not a bad idea to take the jack out once just to see how everything gets loose and ready to go. When you find yourself w/ a flat, the last thing you want to have to hassle with is getting the jack out, finding the jack points, etc.
So the question that comes to mind is, did you try using your jack at these correct jacking points and was there enough clearance to effectively remove the tire?
Nah, that sounds like work. I know we need to get it out and see what it looks like, but the weather's just turned nasty here and that won't be happening this weekend.
I'm just planning that any flats we have will be changed by our auto rescue service, not us. (Like you can plan for that, huh? Especially with the backroads we love to explore)
Thanks for the pics. I had just tried out the jack yesterday to make sure there's enough clearance to remove a full size tire. Your pictures came in handy. The jack worked - but it sure seems like a lot of work.
Yeah, it's been buried a long time. Some of the old threads need to resurface once in a while. Keep that in mind when you're doing searches for things you're interested in. Bump the good ones to the top for some air.
Great post, found a 3 ton floor jack to use instead of the insufficent OEM jack. Got some new rims from a ROC member few weeks ago, so I can't chance the OEM jack to mount the rims...
After struggling trying to rotate my tires, I looked in the service manual and found the front and rear jack points, jacking on those points sure makes it easy to rotate your tires.
Here's a shot of the central rear jack point. I didn't feel like cranking the truck up to move it so I could get a shot of the front central jack point tonight. I'll do it later.
Seems to me that if you have a couple of jack stands and a floor jack, you can jack up either end at the central jack point and use the stands under the side jack points, then move the floor jack to the other central jack point and you'll have all 4 wheels safely off the ground.
Here's a shot of the central rear jack point. I didn't feel like cranking the truck up to move it so I could get a shot of the front central jack point tonight. I'll do it later.
Agreed - at least that's what I've done with other vehicles. I don't know if my small-ish jack has enough travel for the Ridge, though. I might have to upgrade
Ever notice certain members that have to comment on every topic, but never really say anything. Just one-line quips of nonsense that everyone has to weed through, just to get to the members who are posting useful responses.
Ok back to the post. Thanks for posting the pics of the central jack points. I recently upgraded my tires and wheels and discovered how "puney" the jack was. I purchased a 3 ton floor jack and found the central points to be far superior to the posted honda recommended weld points. Thanks again for the informative pics and post.
Why not take a moment to hit all 4 Jack points with a splash of Red or Yellow Spray Paint? - Might prove kinda usefull on a dark, wet, remote country road !....Just Sayin'