A5 jack failure.
Discussion
Had my Dad's 9 month old A5 cabrio round today to swap it back onto summer rims having run 17s with Nokian winter tyres.
Cracked off the near side nuts, set the jack on the underbody ridge. Just as the tyre was coming off the ground there was a bang and the car dropped. On dropping the jack back down it has skipped a tooth between the top bits of the scissor, allowing the silver section to rotate. No obvious damage to the car aside from some underseal, but if the wheel was off it could have been a different story.
Anyone else had similar issues? Google suggests this may be a known problem.
Cracked off the near side nuts, set the jack on the underbody ridge. Just as the tyre was coming off the ground there was a bang and the car dropped. On dropping the jack back down it has skipped a tooth between the top bits of the scissor, allowing the silver section to rotate. No obvious damage to the car aside from some underseal, but if the wheel was off it could have been a different story.
Anyone else had similar issues? Google suggests this may be a known problem.
t, and with increasing weight of cars I'd not even attempt to use one unless in an emergency. Not known as widow makers for no reason.Audi jacks have been crap for years - even the ones on heavy cars like the S8 aren't man enough for the job on anything other than a perfectly level surface. There is a jack for the armoured version of the A8 which at least doesn't fail due to weight!
We have an S5 Sportback and there are no jacking points marked as such - the only way to lift them without a garage hoist is to use the sills at either end, same way you would position the lifting heads with a garage hoist in reality. I use a large based jack, but then find getting that under the car a challenge so invested in a pair of these:
http://www.screwfix.com/p/laser-5-tonne-low-rise-c...
I use them under one side of the car at a time, backing the car on so it leaves the area between the wheels free for the jack. I also pad the jack head out with a significant amount of offcut material from an old set of overalls, so basically no part of the jack head itself comes into contact with the sills. I can lift one side of the car completely clear of the ground using the front end of the sill for wheel swaps.
I've found offering a tenner to my local indy for the time taken for me to use his hoist is a lot less aggro though!
We have an S5 Sportback and there are no jacking points marked as such - the only way to lift them without a garage hoist is to use the sills at either end, same way you would position the lifting heads with a garage hoist in reality. I use a large based jack, but then find getting that under the car a challenge so invested in a pair of these:
http://www.screwfix.com/p/laser-5-tonne-low-rise-c...
I use them under one side of the car at a time, backing the car on so it leaves the area between the wheels free for the jack. I also pad the jack head out with a significant amount of offcut material from an old set of overalls, so basically no part of the jack head itself comes into contact with the sills. I can lift one side of the car completely clear of the ground using the front end of the sill for wheel swaps.
I've found offering a tenner to my local indy for the time taken for me to use his hoist is a lot less aggro though!
Minor update. The dealer says the problem was caused by the jack being slightly too far forward, the correct position being indicated by a mark on the underside of the cill as the S-line skirt kit covers the marks on the side of the car. They also initially claimed it was out of warranty in spite of being less than 9 months old...
A request that they rethink has resulted in a replacement jack and repair to the underseal FOC, but they can't report it to Audi UK as the customer has to do that.
Fundamentally the jack is poorly designed or has far too small a factor of safety in the specification. All else apart, basic statics suggests that using the jack slightly too far forward reduces the load on it rather than increases it...
A request that they rethink has resulted in a replacement jack and repair to the underseal FOC, but they can't report it to Audi UK as the customer has to do that.
Fundamentally the jack is poorly designed or has far too small a factor of safety in the specification. All else apart, basic statics suggests that using the jack slightly too far forward reduces the load on it rather than increases it...
I had a puncture in my A8 in Scotland a couple of years ago when a fist-size rock nicked the rear nearside sidewall - a damned sheep had knocked it down a hill side just as I was passing. Fortunately there was a bridge over a stream ahead with a flat paved area each side of the road otherwise, on a narrow Scottish B road, I'd have had real problems jacking up the car safely. It was raining and I was really wary of the jack's stability but it did its job OK. I didn't really trust it though, especially as when peering under the car I could see where a previous owner had damaged it when the jack had slipped.
Riley Blue said:
I had a puncture in my A8 in Scotland a couple of years ago when a fist-size rock nicked the rear nearside sidewall - a damned sheep had knocked it down a hill side just as I was passing. Fortunately there was a bridge over a stream ahead with a flat paved area each side of the road otherwise, on a narrow Scottish B road, I'd have had real problems jacking up the car safely. It was raining and I was really wary of the jack's stability but it did its job OK. I didn't really trust it though, especially as when peering under the car I could see where a previous owner had damaged it when the jack had slipped.
Never used an OEM jack on it's own ever....too risky. I keep a small adjustable axle stand in the boot as a back up just in case.
IJB1959 said:
WinstonWolf said:
Top tip when jacking folks, always leave a wheel under the car that way if it falls you can pick it up again.
Yes, and providing you manage to get that far before a jack failure.Gassing Station | Audi, Seat, Skoda & VW | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff