Slotted Jack pads for front pinch welds

[LudwigMiles]

The jacking sticky in the DIY section is inactive. I noticed that almost no one in that 10 page thread is correctly supporting the car. I think only a few people in that entire thread addressed the pinch weld issue correctly.

I see a lot of people have bought "adapters" or V-shaped jack stands, but they are not deep enough to clear the entire pinch weld. Same goes with a slotted puck. If the pinch weld hits the bottom of the slot, it is not doing anything. At that rate, it's no different than supporting the car directly on the pinch weld. The puck cut away needs to fully clear the weld so NO weight is on the weld seam, and all the weight is on the sections around the seam.

Again, the car should not be supported on the pinch weld at all. Look at the factory jack, the pinch weld fully seats into the slot, and the weight of the car is on the SIDES of the pinch weld. The cars are still new, but eventually, your pinch weld will rust, and bend, and collapse.

I suspect it's not an issue since these cars are so new and require few repairs so far. At some point in the future, this will become an issue, once people are jacking up their cars for more than oil changes. I am leaving this thread here for those owners in the future.

In that thread, no one was able to confirm which slotted puck is deeper than the entire weld, so the weight rests on the body alongside the weld, and not the weld itself.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MQD0YXO

To start, I bought these slotted pucks but they are just a bit too shallow.
They almost reach the frame, but not quite. I could add wood on either side of the slot, but that sort of defeats paying for something that was supposed to work out of the box.

Alternatively, I inspected the pinch weld that is behind the front wheel. I noticed the inside has a raised area, while the outside does not. If you get a puck with a slot that is actually deep enough to clear the pinch weld, since the inner and outer depths are different, all the weight would rest on the section inside the pinch seam. So, if that is where the weight is supported, you might be able to directly support the car at that spot, and side step the pinch weld entirely. However, this could be very awkward to align and precisely lower onto if working alone in your work space.

I may just get my angle grinder, stick the puck into my vice, and just carve the slot a little deeper.

[Mr.ac]

You know you can use a normal jack and lift it on the pinch welds with zero problems.
Then again you could just jack the car by the center front or rear jack points. Saves time and effort than jacking one side at a time.

Also the emergency oem jack has the slot for the pinch weld so it doesn't side off. Think about the little jack only has about 1" of surface area, so they put that slot for safety. All othe service jacks are wider and they don't use pinch weld adapters.

Guess what I'm trying to say is your way over thinking jacking up your car by using silly hockey pucks.

[Ultramaroon]

I bent mine and swore off of jacking from those points.

It's different if using a four point lift. The weight is distributed evenly and there's no side load.

It's really not made for a floor jack there, IMHO. I jack from the front and rear and made these.

[Spuds]

I jack at front and rear points and put jack stands under the pinch welds. No issues 4 years later.

[Spuds]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

I bent mine and swore off of jacking from those points.

It's different if using a four point lift. The weight is distributed evenly and there's no side load.

It's really not made for a floor jack there, IMHO. I jack from the front and rear and made these.

How did you bend yours? Using a floor jack right on it?

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by Spuds

How did you bend yours? Using a floor jack right on it?

*sigh* yes. I'm not above doing stupid shit.

[Spuds]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

*sigh* yes. I'm not above doing stupid shit.

Happens to the best of us. Was just making sure there wasn't some other lesson I should learn the easy way.

[Mr.ac]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

I bent mine and swore off of jacking from those points.

It's different if using a four point lift. The weight is distributed evenly and there's no side load.

It's really not made for a floor jack there, IMHO. I jack from the front and rear and made these.

That looks sketchy as fuck. Why not use the jack stands with out the silly puck?

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by Mr.ac

That looks sketchy as fuck. Why not use the jack stands with out the silly puck?

Because I don't like leaving fucking gouges in my shit and it's actually much less sketchy because it provides more friction than metal-to-metal contact.

Trust me, you'd change your mind after seeing it in action.

[wrh3]

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Floor-Jac...Weld/159890161

I also have some Poly pucks with deeper cuts I use for jack stands.

[wrh3]

Originally Posted by Mr.ac

That looks sketchy as fuck. Why not use the jack stands with out the silly puck?

Actually, it works as desired by placing the pressure on the sides of the pinch weld and not on the pinch weld itself....like an OE jack designed to work at pinch weld points.

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by wrh3

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Floor-Jac...Weld/159890161

I also have some Poly pucks with deeper cuts I use for jack stands.

Oh, that's nice. I could use that with my bigger floor jack.

Originally Posted by wrh3

Actually, it works as desired by placing the pressure on the sides of the pinch weld and not on the pinch weld itself....like an OE jack designed to work at pinch weld points.

It also cinches right up to the flange as it compresses. The one caveat is that you do have to be careful to make sure they don't shift as you lower the car onto them. Wheel chocks with the e-brake disengaged work the best. The chassis pivots around the axles and there's no forward motion as you lower it. (if you're jacking the front)

[brzzy]

So, stupid me never invested In ramps. And stupid me thought my pinch welds would be indestructible using them to lift my car. Sadly that's not the case and my pinch welds have bent over on themselves. Anyone have any recommendations on what I should do?


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[LudwigMiles]

Originally Posted by Mr.ac

You know you can use a normal jack and lift it on the pinch welds with zero problems.
Then again you could just jack the car by the center front or rear jack points. Saves time and effort than jacking one side at a time.

Also the emergency oem jack has the slot for the pinch weld so it doesn't side off. Think about the little jack only has about 1" of surface area, so they put that slot for safety. All othe service jacks are wider and they don't use pinch weld adapters.

Guess what I'm trying to say is your way over thinking jacking up your car by using silly hockey pucks.

You clearly don't understand this issue at all.

Several people have reported collapsing their pinch welds in this thread.
This will only increase as the cars age and rust.

The slot is not about sliding off. It's about supporting the car from the unibody frame, not some random fender sheet metal.

When you jack up from the center, how do you support your car once you remove the jack? God help you if you're getting under the car with just the jack supporting the car. If you''re just putting jack stands directly on the welds, one day, those welds will fold, and you better pray the car doesn't slip off the stand.