A friend bent the diff cover & made it leak when he jacked it useing diff.

 

An ordinary floor jack's "platen" almost always results in edge-on-edge,
high-specific load interface when applied at those jacking-point pinches.

I use a small block of semi-hard wood, one-half to three-quarters-inch thick and
cut to fit in the floor jack's pad well. It spreads the stress over the entire pinch if
jacking just one side, and over the bottom of the "pumpkin" when jacking both
rear wheels at once.

It's been effective and habitual for decades. Only problem I've had with the Mustang
is getting the dern jack under the edges after fitting lowering springs (Steeda Sport,
an inch and an inch-and-a-quarter drop). Since then, I drive the appropriate axle up on
a taper-cut mini-ramp section of 4x6. Sometimes that's enough lift, but when more
height is required, the jack-plus-block slips under there OK.

The Owner's Manual instructions are risk-management driven, a compromise between
useful information and Cover Our *** just in case, on the part of manufacturers. Most
of what they have to say is reasonable and correct; a few cautionary words about the
pumpkin or axles as jacking points is cheap in comparison to potential liability if they
leave it out and face paying for the consequences of inappropriate use by reckless jackers.

They wouldn't, for instance, be obligated to state, "Don't try to jack up your Mustang by
placing the jack under any part of the Panhard Rod itself", or "Avoid driving your Mustang
up a power pole guy wire". Pictures of which I saw on one forum or another.

 

if you set the jack correctly, and for short periods of time, such as getting the car onto jackstands, you really should never have a problem.

 

Man the underside of Tacobills car makes me want to puke! You could eat off that undercarriage.

I jacked my car probably 200 times by the rear end and no problems yet.

 

Use a block of wood. I do this every time I swap my slicks on and have never had a problem.

 

I have my car on jackstands and noticed a leak at the differential cover, no doubt due to lifting there.
I've never had this kind of problem before, but the block of wood method ahead of the cover would have prevented this.
No worrys though, I've got an aluminum cover ready to go on, so I was planning to drain and replace anyways.

 

I have have jacked my car by the diff. for about 5 years now never a problem.... Just be sure to get it seated under there properly so you don't chew your diff. cover up, it'd be pretty hard to get it right on the end of diff. like that without noticing though...

 

This...ALWAYS use a piece of wood and you should be good.

 

Ford 8.8 is a stout axle.. I'm a Jeeper by heart.. Exploder 8.8s are popular swaps for major beatings..

You will NOT hurt the axle tubes by pumpkin jacking. You CAN jack up the cover.. as I found out the hard way...

 

Personally wouldn't do it unless I had to.. It's only a few extra minutes to jack up each side and place stands..