Sorry for asking such an obvious question.
I drive a 1991 volvo 240 wagon. Oh... What a glorious car.
I'm a grad student. Maintaining the car is a good break from writing code.
I just bought a pair of axle stands with the intention of (first) doing some random odd jobs under the engine like tightening the fan belts and cleaning the starter motor contacts and then (second) replacing the rear wheel bearings.
So I had several long looks under the car today and several long browses online, and I'm still not entirely sure where to setup the axle stands. Bentley's service manual, the car's manual and the axle stand manual are very short on detail.
The obvious place to put them is the spot for the emergency tire jack. But I can't use that spot since that's where the jack goes. I would rather not buy a floor jack since I'll be moving some 3000K in a year's time.
The next most obvious place is either the cross brace just in front of the oil pan or one of the front to back beams. I'm worries about both of these though as there are brakelines bolted on the sides very close to the bottom.
So should I just pick what looks to be a strong point and lower the car gently until I'm confident with the spot?
As for the back of the car, the obvious spot is to use the axle. Strangely enough, none of the online forums (including this one) seems to recommend that. It's not mentioned at all. Perhaps as there aren't too many rear wheel drive cars?
Another good option looks like directly below the rear suspension where there's a 3/4'' bolt going through the wheel support.
Thanks!