Floor jack "adapter" for newer pinch weld vehicles

[barryh]

I made one out of a piece of 2x4.

I made one from a piece of hardwood, cut a vee groove in it making sure it was across the grain and glued in some hard rubber sheet which will be replaceable if necessary.

 

[4wd]

I did that but they tend to crack. The ones that look like a hockey puck with a slit cut into it also tend to split in time. I find the urethane ones are the best, but not all are the same, some are too deep imo. I’d rather it sitting on the pinch weld with the urethane supporting against the body. If it’s too deep it just touches the body for better or worse.

Any type of jack pads I make consist of oak or a combination of oak and pine - laminated with screws and gorilla glue. I don’t use outdoor lumber - it just does not bond as well …

 

[raaizin]

So there are those older vehicles that you just jack at the jack point's metal sheet going down, but the newer vehicles seem to be welded together with thinner metal and are jacked with a U shape support instead of on that thicker sheet metal of the older vehicles. I have an older floor jack that I cannot use and people suggests that I should use an adapter to mimic the scissor jack's U or C shape surface.

Any suggestion on what kind to buy or not buy? How safe is this?

View attachment 298536

I have a couple of these from 2007 and still use them work great

 

[KrisZ]

Hockey puck for the win. Just recently mine finally split after around a decade of usage. But I usually don’t use these pinched welds as jacking points, I use cross members or suspension mounting points instead, that’s why the puck lasted so long.

 

[kschachn]

Hockey puck for the win. Just recently mine finally split after around a decade of usage. But I usually don’t use these pinched welds as jacking points, I use cross members or suspension mounting points instead, that’s why the puck lasted so long.

I never jacked the vehicle there either until I got the Tiguan and apparently there are no other appropriate places.

I also don’t understand why anyone would want to flatten over the pinch weld. Good luck getting the emergency jack to work later on.

 

[wlk]

I did that but they tend to crack. The ones that look like a hockey puck with a slit cut into it also tend to split in time. I find the urethane ones are the best, but not all are the same, some are too deep imo. I’d rather it sitting on the pinch weld with the urethane supporting against the body. If it’s too deep it just touches the body for better or worse.

Mine cracked as well but it lasted me about ~4 years.

 

[DWS507]

Why does it need to be slotted? The bottom of the slot is flat. Flat is flat.

To me the only way a slot matters is if it's EXACTLY the right depth to weight the bottom of the pinch weld and simultaneously the body at the top of the flange

I agree,I glue a couple pieces of 3/4 plywood together,then I do the groove on my router table.If you hoard plywood like I do,you probably could do some measuring the lip and figure something out

 

[KrisZ]

I never jacked the vehicle there either until I got the Tiguan and apparently there are no other appropriate places.

I also don’t understand why anyone would want to flatten over the pinch weld. Good luck getting the emergency jack to work later on.

Does it have a lot of plastic shrouding underneath? That would probably cover up all the alternate jack points.

 

[kschachn]

Does it have a lot of plastic shrouding underneath? That would probably cover up all the alternate jack points.

Not really. And the VW FSM doesn’t show any points either.

 

[4wd]

Hockey puck for the win. Just recently mine finally split after around a decade of usage. But I usually don’t use these pinched welds as jacking points, I use cross members or suspension mounting points instead, that’s why the puck lasted so long.

Ya, like to grab the suspension bcs I don’t have to stretch it to move up …

 

[KrisZ]

Ya, like to grab the suspension bcs I don’t have to stretch it to move up …

I don’t grab the suspension where it moves, but where it mounts to the body because know 100% it’s been reinforced in that spot.

 

[4wd]

Does it have a lot of plastic shrouding underneath? That would probably cover up all the alternate jack points.

Our Lexus has alternate lift points in front of the wheels and a hidden spot for a pad eye in the grill - amazing what can be found in those 500 pages

 

[JHZR2]

I agree,I glue a couple pieces of 3/4 plywood together,then I do the groove on my router table.If you hoard plywood like I do,you probably could do some measuring the lip and figure something out

Agree. Not sure what’s better either. Weight on the pinch weld, or weight on the surrounding metal. Even the most perfect depth groove will likely not share mass perfectly. I don’t know if that matters. I think many compact scissor jacks solely put the force on the pinch weld seam itself.

 

[Nessism1]

With most Japanese vehicles anyway, the pinch weld is designed as a lift point. Replicate the weight distribution using the factory jack. Maybe I've just been lucky, but I've never seen a pinch weld deform, other than on very old vehicles.

 

[D60]

Ask a machine shop to bandsaw you a disc from round stock (you determine diameter) of HDPE, UHMW or acetal. You can cut your own groove -- if you want one -- with a circular saw or a router.

This is actually 100% true of aluminum, too. Basically anything that cuts wood will cut aluminum. Use lube on a router bit as chips can clog stuff otherwise.

Honestly, the scariest car I've ever lifted on my 2-post was my ex-wife's '64 Falcon. Think unibody and pinch weld but the WEIGHT of building things when men were men. That whole body definitely seemed to "unweight" before it was actually lifting.

However the factory said to jack at the pinch welds for a roadside flat, so that's good enough for me.

 

[Kurtatron]

I literally bought this one for my jack last week.

BOTH of my used vehicles, the pinch welds are bent way out of shape.

So I decided to buy this adapter AND jack stand pads to help prevent this problem on my future cars.

 

[D60]

I literally bought this one for my jack last week.

BOTH of my used vehicles, the pinch welds are bent way out of shape.

So I decided to buy this adapter AND jack stand pads to help prevent this problem on my future cars.

View attachment 298666

That got me thinking: if you wanted to be ultra-trick that insert could be interchangeable with different heights of inserts. Honestly, way too much work and I've never seen the need but some people apparently know how to destroy pinch welds in ways I've never seen

 

[jkasch]

I literally bought this one for my jack last week.

BOTH of my used vehicles, the pinch welds are bent way out of shape.

So I decided to buy this adapter AND jack stand pads to help prevent this problem on my future cars.

View attachment 298666

I’ve been using a similar one for years. Very pinch weld friendly. Forgot to remove it once and drove around with it attached for a few days before noticing. Magnets held tight.

 

[Pablo]

Not sure what brand mine are - bought around 10 years ago. They are slotted affairs a couple sizes but different than any posted.

They allow a floor jack to fit but zero damage to body or paint. Not sure how you could jack at these places without body damage

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I always use hockey pucks