[bplesmid]

I just bought a 2002 GT and the manual says not to jack it up by the pumpkin. Is there any reason for that??? or is it just listed as a safety thing?

 

[Sully's Opus]

taking an educated guess, i would say that you would be putting undo stress on the seals and the rear axle by pushing up the car's weight by the "pumpkin". but that is just my opinion...i could be wrong.

 

[qwkstang97]

The reasoning behind that is the rear tires are set on a 1 degree negative camber and they say jacking it up can change that. I have jacked up mine at least 200 times and last week when we realigned my car I checked it and its still there.

Its not going to hurt anything if you jack off of the pumpkin.

BTW the dumbest question is the question that is not asked.

 

[carguy1985]

i lift the rear of my car always by there its quickest
i have had nothing to go wrong yet. actuall all cars that get worked on that are rear wheel drive get lifted up on there.

Just becareful to actually lift up the entire pumpkin not just the cover because you can make it leak then if you do that.

 

[GTPONY]

ahhh. whats a pumpkin? thanks in advance.

 

[carguy1985]

pumpkin is the part where the gears are in the rear axle. it has the cover that you can remove and change out gears or change oil.

 

[srsfunk]

Good point about making it leak, Last year at the track I was rushing and caught the cover a little. That thin aluminum cover bends and tears real easy. I have a girdle cover now so its no longer a problem.

I never saw that in the manual, I jacked mine there hunderds of times.

carguy1985, I ranked you high, check out mine some time, I wonder how many people here are on there, site is alot of fun, kind of like computor racing

 

[carguy1985]

great car you have there srs, i want to get the throttlebody plenum 75mm combo, along with VT stage one cams, aluminum driveshaft and some headers to complete my exhaust front to back.

ranked you high also

yea got stang is fun.

 

[Fiat Freak]

When you pick up the rear of the car by the centermost point, you create a pivot point. If both wheels are lifted off the ground in the process, you have severly reduced the safety factor of the car, the jack, and the work area.

What is to keep the vehicle on the jack if some joke-arse leans on the car while talking to you....while you're under the vehicle? Or, if you accidently lean into the vehicle while attempting to move around.....you could drop 25% of the car's weight on your leg.

Safety is no accident. It must be practiced at all times. Cut corners and invite trouble.

 

[tripleblack]

Jack Stands

I don't think using the rear diff for an initial jacking point is bad (if done correctly), but you should immediately slide 2 jack sands under the frame rails to take the weight if, as Fiat Freak so rightly points out, someone does something stupid.

Lets see, 25% of 3200 pounds would be 800 pounds, falling from a height of about 2 feet, um, yep.

The math works out to exactly...

Splat.

tripleblack

 

[93GT_RagTop]

put jack stands under the axle housing and lower it. using the pumkin to jack it up only makes it quicker when you plan on working under the rear of the car. AWAYS USE JACK STANDS. be safe
Jon :drink:

 

[BlueStreak03]

Let's not forget that you must chock the wheels that are still on the ground even when using jackstands. I've seen a car or two fall off jackstands because someone leaned on the end and it rolled forward, thankfully no one was underneath.

 

[Fiat Freak]

Accidents happen even when you are as safe as you possibly can be. Bad things happen to good people. Stupid things happen to stupid people.

Cars are heavy. If you do not want one on top of you, follow the directions for SAFE jack use, regardless of the "lucky" people who've done stupid things and gotten away with it.