Trolley jacks and saddle size?

[LeadFarmer]

I've got two rubber jacking pads that are shaped and sized specific to fit the jacking point on my Skoda Yeti. The pads are 75mm & 85mm in diameter, but they are too large to fit into the 50mm saddle on my trolley jack, so it's time to buy a new trolley jack with a suitably sized saddle, but it not easy finding their dimensions, retailers don't seem to give them online.

I guess it needs to fit snugly inside the raised ridges of the saddle to keep it secure when jacking.

Anyone got any suggestions for finding a jack with the right saddle size?

Rubber jacking pad..


Typical saddle...

[sparkythecat]

Find someone with a lathe to reduce the base of the pad to fit your jack.
In fact you could probably do it with a hole saw and a wood chisel or sharp knife.

[greygoose]

My trolley jack has a flat saddle with rubber dimples a bit like this one and I've never had any problems with the insert for the jacking point moving on it at all.

[LeadFarmer]

sparkythecat said:

Find someone with a lathe to reduce the base of the pad to fit your jack.
In fact you could probably do it with a hole saw and a wood chisel or sharp knife.

I think my saddle is just too small at 50mm, the pad would have to be reduced too much.

greygoose said:

My trolley jack has a flat saddle with rubber dimples a bit like this one and I've never had any problems with the insert for the jacking point moving on it at all.

Are the dimples metal and sharp enough so they dig into the rubber pad? I suppose in that case it wouldn't matter if the saddle was oversized if they dig in enough?

Also, can I ask if the dimpled pad can be removed, so my pad might fit inside the saddle?

Edited by LeadFarmer on Friday 25th December 14:15

[ReverendCounter]

One option might be to remove the saddle, heat it up a bit so the pad can be partially melted into place.

[greygoose]

LeadFarmer said:

sparkythecat said:

Find someone with a lathe to reduce the base of the pad to fit your jack.
In fact you could probably do it with a hole saw and a wood chisel or sharp knife.

I think my saddle is just too small at 50mm, the pad would have to be reduced too much.

greygoose said:

My trolley jack has a flat saddle with rubber dimples a bit like this one and I've never had any problems with the insert for the jacking point moving on it at all.

Are the dimples metal and sharp enough so they dig into the rubber pad? I suppose in that case it wouldn't matter if the saddle was oversized if they dig in enough?

Also, can I ask if the dimpled pad can be removed, so my pad might fit inside the saddle?

Edited by LeadFarmer on Friday 25th December 14:15

The dimples are rubber, don't think it comes out, though I suppose you could cut it out if you really wanted to. My insert for the jacking point is metal though, sort of like a hockey puck with a raised section on top to go in the jacking point. I've only ever used it on flat ground and it seems secure enough.

[sparkythecat]

LeadFarmer said:

sparkythecat said:

Find someone with a lathe to reduce the base of the pad to fit your jack.
In fact you could probably do it with a hole saw and a wood chisel or sharp knife.

I think my saddle is just too small at 50mm, the pad would have to be reduced too much.

The pad is 45mm thick. You only need to reduce its diameter for the depth of the recess in the saddle to stop the pad sliding out.
So the diameter of the top 35-39 mm will remain unchanged and only the bottom 6-10mm will need to be reduced to a diameter of 50mm

[CrutyRammers]

Or, stop overthinking it and just jack it up on a strong point like a suspension mount. You think the garage messes around with specific jacking pads for each car?

[Evoluzione]

Find something which fits inside it and fix that to the thing which sits on top. Simple.

[LeadFarmer]

CrutyRammers said:

Or, stop overthinking it and just jack it up on a strong point like a suspension mount. You think the garage messes around with specific jacking pads for each car?

It's good to over think :-)
You're right, I can't control what a garage might do, but that does mean I can afford to be careless when jacking up my car at home, at least I have some control over that. I swap to a spare set of wheels at winter, so will be jacking up at least eight tines a year, so I'd rather do it correctly.

[LeadFarmer]

sparkythecat said:

The pad is 45mm thick. You only need to reduce its diameter for the depth of the recess in the saddle to stop the pad sliding out.
So the diameter of the top 35-39 mm will remain unchanged and only the bottom 6-10mm will need to be reduced to a diameter of 50mm

Evoluzione said:

Find something which fits inside it and fix that to the thing which sits on top. Simple.

Yes I guess I could drill/cut the pad to fit in my saddle, or a hole in the pad for the saddle to fit into, though that would mean the pad overhangs around the edge of the saddle. Probably better to have the whole of the pad base supported entirely?

[Chris32345]

If you have a SGS jack like the picture get the rubber inset in the centre and put your jack pad on top of that the rubber center pad makes it near enough level

[LeadFarmer]

Chris32345 said:

If you have a SGS jack like the picture get the rubber inset in the centre and put your jack pad on top of that the rubber center pad makes it near enough level

Thats not my jack, but i phoned SGS yesterday to ask if any of their trolley jack saddles would fit my rubber jack pad, sadly their guy didn't really seem to answer my question, perhaps he just wanted to finish work and get home which is understandable as it was Christmas Eve morning.

[LeadFarmer]

So I guess what I need to know is...

Should my rubber jack pad ideally fit inside the saddle and be contained by the raised outer ridges, or would it be secure just sat on top if wider than the saddle? I just don't want the pad to slip when jacking.

[Chris32345]

LeadFarmer said:

So I guess what I need to know is...

Should my rubber jack pad ideally fit inside the saddle and be contained by the raised outer ridges, or would it be secure just sat on top if wider than the saddle? I just don't want the pad to slip when jacking.

Don't think I'd use if just sat on the 4 raised metal edges

Not without somthing in the centre to level it outand spread to contact area

Can't tell from the picture but I assume you jack pads if a flat bottom type designed to sit on top of the jack saddle

Rather then the one with a deeper centre designed to sit inside the recess of the jack?

[thebraketester]

Get a jack with the flat pad and throw what you have, they are not required.

[Evoluzione]

LeadFarmer said:

sparkythecat said:

The pad is 45mm thick. You only need to reduce its diameter for the depth of the recess in the saddle to stop the pad sliding out.
So the diameter of the top 35-39 mm will remain unchanged and only the bottom 6-10mm will need to be reduced to a diameter of 50mm

Evoluzione said:

Find something which fits inside it and fix that to the thing which sits on top. Simple.

Yes I guess I could drill/cut the pad to fit in my saddle, or a hole in the pad for the saddle to fit into, though that would mean the pad overhangs around the edge of the saddle. Probably better to have the whole of the pad base supported entirely?

No that isn't what I typed.
You're over complicating this by a factor of 3k, what anyone else would do is just put the thing on and jack the car up, it'll certainly fit when it's had half a ton sat on it.

[Chris32345]

thebraketester said:

Get a jack with the flat pad and throw what you have, they are not required.

Depends on the car
On mine at the front the only flat strong surface is tiny and burries behind the wheel arch linear
It need jacking up on the sill Jacking area so really you want something like the above rather then putting the Jacking pad strigh on the sill pinch weld

[Richard-D]

Chris32345 said:

thebraketester said:

Get a jack with the flat pad and throw what you have, they are not required.

Depends on the car
On mine at the front the only flat strong surface is tiny and burries behind the wheel arch linear
It need jacking up on the sill Jacking area so really you want something like the above rather then putting the Jacking pad strigh on the sill pinch weld

Plenty of garages jack straight onto the edge of joint where the sheet metal comes together. You may get away with it for a while but I've seen plenty of cars where this has damaged the sills and crushed/folded the joint flat. It's best not to base your methods on what garages do. Plenty of garages also impact wheel nuts up to a million Nm, doesn't make it a good idea.

edit: Also, the Halfords advanced jacks are good, available everywhere and their saddle size is listed on the website.

Edited by Richard-D on Friday 25th December 20:59

[Evoluzione]

Richard-D said:

Chris32345 said:

thebraketester said:

Get a jack with the flat pad and throw what you have, they are not required.

Depends on the car
On mine at the front the only flat strong surface is tiny and burries behind the wheel arch linear
It need jacking up on the sill Jacking area so really you want something like the above rather then putting the Jacking pad strigh on the sill pinch weld

Plenty of garages jack straight onto the edge of joint where the sheet metal comes together. You may get away with it for a while but I've seen plenty of cars where this has damaged the sills and crushed/folded the joint flat. It's best not to base your methods on what garages do. Plenty of garages also impact wheel nuts up to a million Nm, doesn't make it a good idea.

edit: Also, the Halfords advanced jacks are good, available everywhere and their saddle size is listed on the website.

You're not wrong.
You can also make these special magic pads by buying a hockey puck and cutting a groove in it.