In typical schizophrenic manner the Canadian weather quickly turned warm and we're now in +18C/65F ranges, at least for the next week. I opted to swap out my X-Ice snows for the OEMs, and wanted to try the jacking points that I've researched this winter. My mileage was slipping slightly as the weather warmed up, possibly because of the snow tires. I don't know.

Prep: Put my manual car into reverse, full parking brake, chocked the front wheels
Tools: chalk to mark the wheels, torque wrench, 19mm socket, hydraulic jack
Tools from Car: scissor jack, tire wrench, long round bar with "question mark" end

Front: Damn car is too low. It was hard to find the front jack point. My floor jack is 5.5" and it was hard to clear the bottom of the front. I did find the front jack point after wriggling on the ground. I found out my jack stands are 13" high and too high for the Fit. What to do?

https://i.imgur.com/KWkxvsT.jpg



Honda Fit/Jazz jacking Points


For the front I had to resort to using the scissor jack for each front tire. Do I need to buy a special jack to fit under the Fit that is less than 5.5" high? The jacking point is also really deep into the front, further rear than the front tires, making it hard to jack up the hydraulic jack.


The Rear: This was much easier. After tapping to ensure a solid piece of metal I first tried area #1, but it was too slanted for my floor jack. I then tried area 2 but it looked like the metal was denting, so backed off. The tow hook was the last and best place, fitting nicely into my floor jack. It was pretty easy to jack up the rear. As my jack stands were a good 3" too high I opted to use the Honda scissor jack and an extra scissor jack on the standard sidewall jack points.




2016 Honda Fit rear jack point


Overall, non-eventful, thankfully. Torqued the bolts to 80 foot pounds. I've yet to reinstall the wheel covers.

What to do with the front? I'd like to jack up the front from the front jack point, as the scissor jack makes the process laborious. Any tips for the process? I swap tires twice a year.

 

If you just need an inch or two, drive over a 2x4. That should lift the front enough to get a jack under?

 

X2 to driving onto wooden planks. We do that when we need to jack up our low-slung sports car.


Is the scissors jack on the GK used on the F&R center points as well? On our GD, there is a reinforced area on the rocker panel for the jack. The front one will lift both F&R tires in one shot. (As you can tell, we just fitted our own summer tires yesterday...)

 

I have some wooden ramps I made for oil changes. Drive the car on the ramps first then jack up the car.

 

there are also low-profile floor jacks available. i have an aluminum, super light and easy to move around.

 

I did not use the scissor jack for the center jack points, just a hydraulic jack. The GK does seem to have a reinforced area in the front. The 2016 Fit Owners Manual does not even mention the center jack points, on the ones on the side rails.

Thanks all for the wooden plank idea. I'll be making some for sure. Then I would be able to get my jack underneath the front.

 

Is there a pic floating somewhere detailing the exact point to jack up the front end?

Seems like the general consensus is that the rear tow hook is the rear jacking point, but still seems kinda iffy to me. Perhaps I'm wrong.

 

I tried to get a good pic of the front jack point but there's less than 5.5" from the ground to the jack point, so taking a pic was not so easy. The jack point is also more rearward than the front wheels. I'll try again.

This is the only pic I found that was close to the front jack point http://imgur.com/KWkxvsT:


I had read that for the rear jack point there was a place just a little inward from the tow hook, but when I tried to find it I could not. The one flat place I found, my hydraulic jack had started to dent the metal, so I backed off. The tow hook worked just fine.

 

I guess I'm missing something here. If the objective is simply to change wheels from summer to winter or vice versa, why not place the jack under the factory jack point on the pinch weld just behind the front wheel, then raise the entire side of the car? Change those two wheels, then do the same on the other side.

Done carefully, you may not need a pinch weld adapter on your jack, as the Honda uses a very nice flat plate on those jack points. If you have sufficient clearance with your jack, you could always buy one of those "hockey puck" pinch weld adapters on Amazon.

This seems way easier than all the other options.

 

There are 4 jack points as outlined by the owner's manual, each near one of the wheels. I think you are suggesting to use the right front wheel jack point and jack up the car sufficiently to raise the right front and rear wheels off the ground. Alternately to use the front left jack point to raise the left front and rear wheels off the ground.

Nowhere in the 2016 Fit user manual or in any Honda Fit/Jazz manual has suggested this method. I also do not believe the side rails are sufficiently strong enough to support half the car's weight. I can see using the front right jack point to raise only the front right wheel, as in the owner's manual. In other Honda manuals around the world there are specific steel reinforced jack points at the front and rear middle of the vehicle designed for jacking up the vehicle.

I'm not looking to damage my car and your jacking method looks dangerous. Is this how you jack up your Fit? How about you try it first, take some pics and post them to this forum.

 

Ramps or similar to raise the tires a bit before jacking are a good solution.

On my 2012, a Harbor Freight non-low-profile jack just barely fits underneath without using ramps. It's somewhat of a pain because the jack handle can only move a little bit so it takes many itsy-bitsy strokes to lift the car, but it works. To rotate tires, I usually jack up the front of the car with the floor jack and center jacking point, put it on jack stands under the two side jacking points, and then move the floor jack to lift the rear.

The key dimension for a floor jack is the height of the back part where the handle attaches since it needs to slide in so deeply under the Fit's front. Some low-profile floor jacks are only low profile in front of this hump, but not any lower at the hump than "normal" floor jacks, and that's fairly useless for the Fit's front center jack location.

 

Thanks on the tip for the itsy-bitsy strokes. I was wondering how I would pump because the floor jack because the jack is so deep under the car.

 

So is the front jack point circled in red in that picture? Just got a 2016 EX and would like to be sure of where I can jack up the front end from for my first oil change. I hate that I can't really jack the car up from the jack points behind the front wheels and then place a jack stand there at the same time..

 

Yes, the front jack point is squared in red in the photo. You'll see it on your car if you put your ear to the ground, it is so low and is behind the front wheels. There is barely 5.5" under there.

 

Then do it YOUR way, though it sure sounds like a lot of work for a very simple task. I've done this for many years with light cars like the Fit, and there is NO damage whatever on any of these. These are the jack points used with the car's supplied jack. Honda doesn't install weak jack points, since that's what you'll use if you have a flat tire on the road.

Jeez . . .

 

This method works (jacking the car up on one side). I've done this with all of my cars, some which have seen track days. No issues or damage to chassis. And it works for the Fit.

 

OK, found a photo using my floor jack, with a pinch weld adapter. You can see that both wheels are off the floor.



Fit Lifted from Side

 

Isn't it suggested to do a cross pattern for FWD cars?

 

It depends on the tires. some tires are directional, some not. I rotate the OEM Firestones in a cross pattern, but my General Altimax Arctic snow tires are directional, so I rotate them front to back.


A very long time ago, back when radial tires first started appearing in the U.S., I remember being told they could ONLY be rotated front to back, because the tires "wore in" being run in one direction. Dire consequences were supposed to happen if a radial tire was run in "reverse".


The owner's manual for the Fit recommends cross rotation if the tires allow for it.

 

Thank you for your photo. I am a relative newby to cars so I have much more to learn. I apologize for any hurt feelings and appreciate your input. This is the first and only time I've heard of jacking the whole side of a car from one pinch weld. Your method would be easier as you don't have to get the jack under the center of the Fit. I'll look into getting a Honda pinch weld adapter.

I'm all for the easiest way to change my tires. I'll try your way in the autumn.