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To make life easier changing winter wheels I invested in a trolley jack. However as always nothing is ****** simple.
The car has the usual pinch weld and points by each wheel.
The jack has a small round metal plate with a slight castle shape round the edge.
So stick this on the Weld- will that work or do I need some sort of pad adapter. The reviews for rubber pads seem variable at best.
Given almost all cars are lifted at a pinch weld I don’t understand why trolley jacks don’t have a suitable face Or maybe they do.
The pinch weld is for the factory jack.
Behind that on every car I've ever worked on (barring my land rover and my van but those are not really cars) there has been a flat jacking pad built into the monocoque
Those that I have not trusted jack ok Ng points due to rust (I've operated on some right shite) I just default to the wishbone or axle
Plenty of ice hockey pucks on Ebay that have been machined to fit around the pinch weld - usually for a few pounds. I keep one in the car for emergencies.
I'd use a pad, even a small wooden block would do between jack and pinch weld if that's your only option but I use a dedicated pad moulded to fit the box type jacking point on my E91. The car didn't come with a jack since the OE runflats have never been known to ever let anyone down so I bought a Merc A-Series jack on ebay for £20. It's got a 17mm hex so I just use an impact driver on it. Brrap brrap!
but I use a dedicated pad moulded to fit the box type jacking point on my E91.
Me too. I just wish that garages were as careful 🤬🤬
Two of mine need changing from where the car’s been lifted without the proper pads and damaged them.
I wouldn't use the factory jacking points (made of bent tin) with a trolley jack - pick something substantial, like a sub frame or radius arm mount. Bung a piece of wood on top of the jack to stop it digging into the paint / underseal - even a thin piece of ply will act as a cushion.
Just slide it further under onto something solid like lower wishbone mounts
I usually try and jack it under one of the suspension mounts or in the absence of an eBay hockey puck I use a large block of wood.
An odd scrap of wood between the jack and some part of the chassis works fine for me.
As above, subframe, or in the absence of that then a hockey pick with cutout..
Remember to think one step ahead: where will the axle stands go once it’s up in the air? Usually I like to rest a car on the factory jacking points, so it gets lifted on a suspension component. My T6 is so heavy though, that I prefer to lift it on the jacking point and rest it on one of the massive subframe tubes.
In terms of jack pads: good bit of hardwood, old carpet, chopped up bike tyre, knackered wetsuit, bike gloves, car washing chamois. All of these things have worked well for me in the past.
I noticed the other day that my giulia has special plastic pads bolted to the underside that protrude beneath the undertrays. These are disposable so I need not use a pad. Problem is that all the suspension and other suitable lifting points are also covered by the trays so I’ve nowhere to put a stand.
And don’t forget the axle stands as a back up. They cost next to nothing and take seconds to bung under there. Worth doing when you’re at home even if you’re just changing wheels!!
https://www.sgs-engineering.com/garage-equipment/axle-stands
The last two cars I've owned had Central having points rather than lifting under a side. Makes life so much easier. Try YouTube under having up insert car name
Agree with above, find the central jacking points. Your typical cheap trolley jack is no good but if you get a decent sized beast it will reach under to the sub frame behind the engine, our car has a cutout in the under tray. Clearance is low so I have to drive the car onto a couple of bits of timber so the jack will go under, but that's probably as it's a 4 ton jack for my van. Leaves all the jacking points clear for axle stands.
An obvious one but speaking from experience one wheel under the car helps in the event of something going wrong.