New VX owner. Embarrassing question.

imawakenow · 08-19-2012, 03:32 PM

Hey guys, where do I jack up the car in the front? My CRX had a visible jack plate, but this car has the plastic covers and I don't want to tear them (or mess anything else up, punch through the radiator etc.) by jacking up the front of the car in the wrong place.

I'm doing this because I bought the car from a kid who put some crappy lowered suspension on it. I swapped out the rear struts for some stock ones and was about to do the same for the fronts when I discovered I don't know where to jack it up and the car is so low that it's not easy to get under there to see! Help a brother out?

**Jay2TheRescue** · 08-19-2012, 05:58 PM

Congrats on your new purchase, hope the kid didn't screw up the car to much. I don't have a VX, but have you checked the jacking instructions in the owner's manual?

GasSavers_Erik · 08-20-2012, 04:50 AM

My 87 Civic has a jacking point directly under the center of the radiator. It looks like a "bump". My 94 Accord has a similar feature, but a little behind teh radiator.

Be sure before you try to lift the car- you can really do a lot of damage while lifting from the wrong spot.

hondaguy72 · 08-20-2012, 06:50 AM

The points should be visible from the bottom, just in back of the wheel in the normal positions. If the chassis is rotten they may be gone.

imawakenow · 08-20-2012, 07:02 AM

Hey guys, thanks for the responses. I didn't get an owner's manual with the car, and the shop manuals I've found online reference a jacking spot that is probably covered up with plastic here. Part of the VX fuel-economy strategy is covering up a lot of the car's innards with plastic panels underneath to reduce drag, which is a great idea, but it means I can't see the jack plate.

I tried lifting it a bit yesterday from the center area just under the radiator/AC condenser, at the end of the front plastic panel, just before the second one starts, and it seems OK, but I didn't lift it up too far.

Any VX owners out there feel like chiming in?

imawakenow · 08-20-2012, 07:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hondaguy72

The points should be visible from the bottom, just in back of the wheel in the normal positions. If the chassis is rotten they may be gone.

Hey, thanks for the response. (I think our posts crossed in the netosphere.) It sounds like you're talking about the place to put the jack stands. Those are in good shape. I'm just talking about where to jack up the front of the car. In the back you're supposed to jack up from the tow hook, but in the front ???

Like I said, part of the problem is that the front of the car is lowered so much, so I can't really see under the car. Yesterday I put on stock shocks in the back, but the front is still lowered, so now the car sits like this: \

hondaguy72 · 08-20-2012, 01:50 PM

Even though the car is very light I would not recommend jacking the car from the core support. I don't believe there is a factory jacking point to lift both front wheels from one point. The bumper cover shrouds the core support anyhow.

imawakenow · 08-20-2012, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hondaguy72

I don't believe there is a factory jacking point to lift both front wheels from one point.

The 92-95 Civic shop manuals that I've seen all show a jack point in the front. No mention of an exception to that for the VX.

Anyway, I checked out the parts diagrams and it looks like there is a front crossmember (smaller than the one on the CRX!). It's actually hard to tell from underneath where it is, but it's there. I know it's safe to jack up the front of the car from there. I may call an independent Honda garage in town, guys I have dealt with before, and get their opinion. I'll report back what they say.