Jacking Up The Gen 5

Yes, there are ones that fit onto the cradle most jack stands have.

 

I got a set of these AL jack stands and I have looked high and low, but I cannot find any pads that fit these ...

 

The best way to find out is by having a 5th gen on hand. What I've used on m 3rd gen:

Rear: Look for the oblong openings (roughly 1'x2", usually with rubber caps) on a exposed and heavy gauge "hump", just inboard of the rear scissor jack location. Those openings are for locator pins I think, and have extra, heavy gauge layers. I've been putting my jackstands longitudinally at the low point of those.

Front: Look for longitudinal "beams" (roughly 1.5" square cross-section thickenings of the floor pan). I've been placing my jackstand cradles transversely at the frontmost end of those.

Visual aid, but again, this is third gen:



Bare jackstand cradles work well with these points, since they're wide, rounded. I did spray my jackstand cradles with multi-layers of plasti-dip, many years back, but they're pretty chewed up now.

With 5th gen (sim to 4th and 2nd), the front jacking point is waaaay back, which is problematic. One workaround is to initially roll the front wheels up onto low-rise ramps, not only just so the jack can fit under there, but to provide enough clearance to operate the handle, get the lift started. If you're shopping floor jack, one that starts lifting with just a slight amount of up/down is crucial. Project Farm has a review (link starts at relevant point in video) that test this.

I've got a venerable Samona 3 ton floor jack that thankfully works well. When doing our son's Mazda CX-5, low rise ramps for the front jacking point (way back, sim to 5th gen) really help.

 

Thanks. Any idea with the car in your photo why that shop lifted the car by using the pinch weld spots in the rear and the front suspension in the front instead of the spots that you suggest?

 

No clue, don't care.

The front points I garnered from a past member here, "Hobbit" IIRC. He recommended them for 2nd gen. I looked on our 3rd gen, saw similar structure, so used them.

I've had the whole car on jackstands thus, twice yearly, for tire swaps, so over 30 times now, for that alone. The front end at least an additional 30 times for oil changes and various other services, and maybe another 10~15 times, front or rear, for rustprooofing forays, brakes, what have you..