Trolley jack bending sill

[dieseluser07]

As reccomended ive used my new trolley jack on the sill on my car where you would usually use the scissor jack.

Unfortunately its caused it to split slightly, whats a bettet way to raise the car to get it on axle stands? Ive used the rubber puck which wasent too bad but it was compressing by the jack and looked like it could split at any time, bit risky really.

[TooMany2cvs]

Put the trolley under somewhere more solid - a suspension arm or mount, usually.

[Berkshire bred]

I tend to go under the car on a flat bit or preferably part of the chassis. I always use a flat price of wood aproximately 6×6 to spread the load. On my mx5 I used to use this technique to Jack of the rear diff and that always worked alright.

[dieseluser07]

TooMany2cvs said:

Put the trolley under somewhere more solid - a suspension arm or mount, usually.

Thats where i put the axle stands though

[cmaguire]

Most of the OE scissor jacks actually have a slot of sorts for the seam on the sill and sit either side of the seam.
I have previously used a slotted wooden block on the jack cup and used the jack in the same place, but it is usually easier to use the jack on a different point.

[Boosted LS1]

Has your car got a subframe or chassis rails?

[dieseluser07]

Boosted LS1 said:

Has your car got a subframe or chassis rails?

Not going to lie, could you explain that a bit better as im really not sure.

[thebraketester]

Buy a jack that has a rubber flat pad on it rather than the “this is gonna fk you car up” cup thing.

[Squadrone Rosso]

Buy a slotted rubber puck designed for use with trolley jack.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2...

[dieseluser07]

Squadrone Rosso said:

Buy a slotted rubber puck designed for use with trolley jack.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2...

I got one of these but it gets crushed under the weight of the car and looks like it could crack any second???

[Boosted LS1]

dieseluser07 said:

Boosted LS1 said:

Has your car got a subframe or chassis rails?

Not going to lie, could you explain that a bit better as im really not sure.

A subframe is a bolt on cross member that the engine sits on. As for a chassis, cars are either sat on a pile of tubes like a silver cross pram or the body is a part of a whole construction that has a couple of thick bits that run front to rear if that makes sense.

What car have you?

[Nealio]

A scissor jack lifts straight up, thus you can put on the sill edge as designed and lift without damage.

A trolley jack on the other hand lifts in an arc which will tend to pull on the sill lip. The higher you go, the more it will pull.

Bottom line - as others have said, lift somewhere else. Somewhere solid.

[ChocolateFrog]

Suspension pick-up points.

[economicpygmy]

Use chassis rails and/or sub-frame mounting areas; somewhere that's able to take the stress and enough room for the jack+stand. If you've used the sill jack point, are you sure you're using the reinforced area? From the times I've used that there is normally a thicker area.

[divetheworld]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Unless Aston - https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/aston-martin/3...

[Veeayt]

A solid block of wood would do

[alabbasi]

Your sills are not structural on new cars. If you look underneath a car, there are usually jack pads in four spots where you can use a trolley jack. If you're not jacking in those spots, you may well crumple your sills.

[spitsfire]

From my experience (and I’ve only got my experience to go on here – your mileage may vary), a thin block of mahogany or other hardwood (pine will split) with industrial-grade rubber floor covering glued on both sides does an excellent job of spreading the load and preventing slip.

Important to note as mentioned above that a trolley jack doesn’t lift vertically, so pulls the car over – this increases the risk of the car slipping if you’re using something to spread the load.

Even more important to note – never, ever, under any circumstances get underneath a car until you have axle stands securely placed.

After having a near shave with a car dropping off a badly placed single axle stand as a teenager (fking terrifying), I always give the car a good nudge with my hip to make sure it’s stable before getting under it. That way, if it does slip, it’s only a car that’s broken, not you.

I'll also, if I'm doing anything that requires serious persuasion, like unbolting a diff, put wheels under the sills as a failsafe.

[Buff Mchugelarge]

spitsfire said:

From my experience (and I’ve only got my experience to go on here – your mileage may vary), a thin block of mahogany or other hardwood (pine will split) with industrial-grade rubber floor covering glued on both sides does an excellent job of spreading the load and preventing slip.

Important to note as mentioned above that a trolley jack doesn’t lift vertically, so pulls the car over – this increases the risk of the car slipping if you’re using something to spread the load.

Even more important to note – never, ever, under any circumstances get underneath a car until you have axle stands securely placed.

After having a near shave with a car dropping off a badly placed single axle stand as a teenager (fking terrifying), I always give the car a good nudge with my hip to make sure it’s stable before getting under it. That way, if it does slip, it’s only a car that’s broken, not you.

I'll also, if I'm doing anything that requires serious persuasion, like unbolting a diff, put wheels under the sills as a failsafe.

Good advice.
I'm going to get myself a peiceof rubber coated wood, I like that idea

[jeremyh1]

Not sure who advised you to put it on the sill OP

In the OPs defense and maybe he is new to this . I am finding on a lot of modern cars that if I am jacking the front up . Engine bottom covers often cover the front chassis rails where I would normally jack up
This is more of often the case when using axle stands as you have to find 3 mounting spots .
So it maybe better to try to remove some of the engine cover
Scissor jack points dont normally have enough area for trolley jack pads

Edited by jeremyh1 on Monday 2nd April 07:39