Evening all. Getting under the 5 this weekend and now have a new trolley jack and stands. Looking for advise on the best place to lift front and rear off the ground with Jack. Then best position for front and rear jack stands. There seems to be differing opinions on this! Thanks in advance.
Thank you 
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In general aside from the cills, where a suspension arm bolts on is always a strong place to jack or prop. At the rear I wouldn’t recommend jacking on the diff, it’s not a good place. It’s hung on rubber bushes which can tear easily. Either side of it is a squarish block where the susp arms are bolted to the subframe and that’s much better.
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Thank you
Mazda Recommend jacking on the diff!
WARNING:
- Improperly jacking a vehicle is dangerous. The vehicle can slip off the jack and cause serious injury. Use only the correct front and rear jacking points and block the wheels.
- Use safety stands to support the vehicle after it has been lifted.
Front
NOTE:
- To prevent obstruction between the jack body and front bumper when the jack body is inserted, use a low-floor type jack.
- Near the center of the front crossmember.
Rear
- At the center of the rear differential.
© 2009 Mazda North American Operations, U.S.A. I’ll accept your apology 
original page in the manual JACKING POSITIONS (ncmiata-servicemanual.com)
I wouldn’t have thought Mazda would recommend that and am quite surprised. I wouldn’t and here is why:
That’s one of the bushes the diff is hung from. I’m not saying jacking did that to it, but I wouldn’t want to encourage it by lifting the back of the car up on just two rubber bushes.
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Well I’m now in a dilemma as my 5’s tipped over 100k and will almost guarantee those diff bushings are original. So to be safe I don’t think I’ll use the diff as a lift point. Front seems fair enough though. Thanks for all the comments and here we go!!!
The Haynes workshop manual for Oct 2005 to July 2015 models says the jacking points when using a hydraulic trolley jack are: ‘the rear final drive casing and the front crossmember
Just to add, if your car is a Sport or lowered at all. you might struggle to get a jack underneath it.
Halfords sell an own brand, 2 tonne, low profile trolley jack which goes under my 30mm lowered NC, even with a flat tyre
Everything in print is not necessarily true. It is not ‘good practice’ to lift on the diff casing particularly when there are other better and stronger areas to use.
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I have just had my 2007 NC up on axle stands for the last month whilst overhauling my brakes, then getting my wheels resprayed. I used the recommended jacking points to get it in the air, then placed the axle stands under the sill jacking points, with a piece of thick cardboard between stand and sill, it felt pretty solid and secure.
I was under the car again yesterday to renew/bleed the clutch fluid ( forgot to do it during brake work) .
this time as i was jacking the front up, but also crawling underneath I went for 2 axle stands under the sills, 2 under beefy looking suspension to body mounts, and kept the jack in. I’d hate to get squished crawling under a car.
i used a pair of low level plastic ramps to raise the car to get my trolley jack under the front.
It is a Mazda Publication( Linked and quoted above), but what would Mazda know about jacking up there own product?
Now let me see…Mazda’s (the manufacturer’s) ‘print’ and Haynes Workshop Manual ‘print’ versus Mad_Malc’s ‘print’…mm…difficult choice or no-brainer?..mmm…I think I’ll go with Mazda / Haynes…
As always the choice is yours gentlemen.
I think some people would go jump in a river if the manual told them to.
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Did the saddle of your axle stands straddle the pinch weld or did you put the head immediately inside the pinch welds bearing on the corrugated reinforced areas there which is where the pads on a hoist / lift are placed?
My SG Jack stands give an advisory saying that the load should be placed on the centre of the saddle. I am loathe to use a pinch weld with an axle stand straddling it. I think that the SG warning is a bit misleading and should read something like ‘to avoid instability, ensure that the stands are placed such that the centreline of the load is vertically in line with the centreline of the axle saddle’. What do people think?