Trolley jack - knackered sills...?

[EDLT]

Munter said:

WorAl said:

Would never use the diff to jack from, too many stresses on the drive and prop shafts for me.

Now I'm no car mechanic. But the prop and drive shafts go into the Diff. But the Diff is then bolted by some bloomin great bits of metal to the underside of the car. So it's those that take the weight and the prop/drive shafts "hang" off it as usual no?

Heres a pic of it in action from someone else:

I wouldn't use that kind of jack on the diff, the flat plate on the jack is likely to slip off if the car is anything other than perfectly balanced. A cup shaped plate is far safer.

To the people who don't want to jack on the diff at all: In my time as a mechanic I always jacked a car up on the rear diff, it was fine on everything from a 10-ton Mercedes bus to a BMW 5-series with an alloy diff casing.

[BonzoGuinness]

Another +1 for jacking using the diff. Works fine on my MX-5 and even recommended in the owners manual for a Lexus IS.

[bigfatnick]

+1 for diff and a black of wood.

Theoreticly if you use a decent size bit of timber, you could lift the car on any of the floor parts of the car, i'm not reccomending it, but i often use a stroke 3 foot long bit on chassis rails. I dont even need to do that really, the garage uses the chassis rails...

[cptsideways]

A diff mounting is designed to take WAY MORE ABUSE than simply jacking the car up with it. It's designed to take a massive torque loading through the bushes. The diff is bolted to the chassis & subframe & driveshafts are designed to move in the droopy directions anyway (think suspension travel)

100% the best place to jack a rwd car from.

[T89 Callan]

Roop said:

Mr Will said:

A block of wood?

I thought about this, but then thought if the wood splits for some reason, I am properly goosed. If wood's good then wood it is

Cat the notch perpendicular to the grain then.

[bazking69]

Mr Will said:

A block of wood?

Genius!
It worries me that people can use their noggin to improvise sometimes.

[rigga]

cptsideways said:

A diff mounting is designed to take WAY MORE ABUSE than simply jacking the car up with it. It's designed to take a massive torque loading through the bushes. The diff is bolted to the chassis & subframe & driveshafts are designed to move in the droopy directions anyway (think suspension travel)

100% the best place to jack a rwd car from.

Totally agree,cant see why folks get worried about this,if jacking the car up via the diff causes any problem,then be thankfull it happened whilst the car was stationary and not at any speed..... its the right way to raise a rwd car.

[clarkey318is]

I always found a few old towels worked really well for firstly stopping the jack slipping and secondly it spreads the load well and stops the underseal chipping off. I thought it was a pretty common thing to do but evidently not...

[olimeads]

I'm sure there is somewere you can jack it other than the sill, as stated any part on the suspension should do. Even if it's not stated it will be safe, a trolly jack is really designed for a large flat surface so look for one and use it.

[Rollcage]

I reckon muppets using trolley jacks in stupid places causes just about more damage to cars undersides than almost anything else. That and using rubbish £20 jacks with tiny cups and woeful stability.

The number of crushed cills, dented floorpans and even fuel tanks I have seen is beyond belief.

Never had a problem using a diff in the past - tow bars can be useful as well! When possible, I try and use wishbone mountings/subframes/crossmembers etc.

I cant remember the last time I used a cill to jack a car on - but having a long reach jack helps!

[Hammer67]

Roop said:

plenty said:

Anyone got a solution for axle stands? Putting the stands directly on the car rips off the underseal, but I wouldn't feel comfortable balancing the car with a piece of wood or a rubber puck on top of the stands.

Ooh. Me. I know this one. I cut squares off an old rubber car mat. Works great.

^^^ What he said! And circles for the trolley jack built up in layers.

[gareth_r]

An American company called Protech sell plastic trolley jack pads, including one with slots for the sill seam. They also do axle stand pads. I haven't found anything similar in the UK, though.

Edited by gareth_r on Sunday 22 November 01:40

[JohnWest]

Has anyone had any experience of using jacking pads, something like this:



Those ones specifically are from amazon, £10 a pair:

TengKo Jack Pad, 2 Pack Universal Slotted Rubber Jack Pad Frame Rail Protector 65mm/2.56 inch Diameter https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07BH3NKRK/ref=cm_sw_r...

My cars get jacked up twice a year to swap wheels so it’s what I’d call for occasional use. I currently use what a previous poster referred to as a cheap £20 trolley jack and he/she is right, the cup on them isn’t massive. I’m hoping the blocks will prevent any damage to the sills and increase stability. Am I asking too much of a £10 product from Amazon?

[Dave.]

Hockey pucks and cut a notch in yourself, or buy pre-notch ones from your common or garden auction site.

[Dave.]

Actually, the precut ones are more expensive than those Amazon ones, if they fit the contour of your hack, get those.

[Roop]

JohnWest said:

Has anyone had any experience of using jacking pads, something like this:



Those ones specifically are from amazon, £10 a pair:

TengKo Jack Pad, 2 Pack Universal Slotted Rubber Jack Pad Frame Rail Protector 65mm/2.56 inch Diameter https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07BH3NKRK/ref=cm_sw_r...

My cars get jacked up twice a year to swap wheels so it’s what I’d call for occasional use. I currently use what a previous poster referred to as a cheap £20 trolley jack and he/she is right, the cup on them isn’t massive. I’m hoping the blocks will prevent any damage to the sills and increase stability. Am I asking too much of a £10 product from Amazon?

Holy thread resurrection...! I have some of those cups with the slots (£10 a par from eBay) and they work well. Mine are slightly different in that the slot is designed to fit the U-shaped head of my axle stands to avoid metal on metal. Assuming they're similar, they're made from a very tough rubber like material a bit like shore-100 bushes. I wouldn't rate them for professional use but for the occasional use they are pretty good.