$10 Jack Buddies

[blalor]

The jacking instructions I've seen on this and other forums scare the crap outta me. Support the car with jackstands on the seam?! No thank you. I took a look at how the jack in the trunk supports the car, and it has a saddle that spreads the weight of the car on either side of the seam, not directly on it. I'd purchased some hockey pucks a couple of weeks ago to put in the saddle of my floor jack and decided I could put them to work as a way to keep the jack stands in place.



I whipped these up today out of some the pucks (about a buck each) and some scrap 1x2" steel tubing someone gave me, plus some nuts and bolts. I had all the materials in my garage, so my cost was far less than $10 for all four.

BRZ Jack Buddies



I made four of these. For each one, cut a hockey puck in half. Drill one or two holes through each half of the puck, and use a spade bit to enlarge the hole facing the underside of the car about half the thickness of the puck. The idea is to sink the bolt head deep enough into the rubber so that it cannot contact the body. Use a spade bit with a large enough diameter that you can get a socket on the head and also a small fender washer under the bolt. You don't want the bolt to pull through the rubber. With the holes drilled, space the two halves of the puck about 1/8" apart so that they will fit snuggly over the sheet metal seam. Use the holes in the puck to mark holes on the metal tubing. Drill those out, and mount the pucks. You're done! My jack stands have a saddle that is about 2 7/8" wide, so that's how long I cut the tubing.

[Bonburner]

How much clearance do you have now?

[wheelhaus]

slick idea. I'm also curious how much clearance there is to the ground; still gotta get a jack under there. I've seen similar things done with blocks of wood.

[rice_classic]

"Billy May's here!"

But seriously, interesting gimmick and proof that I'm in the wrong business. Not necessarily a bad idea because then you don't have to dip down to make sure you're getting the jack on the right spot but as for the pinch weld... It's plenty strong enough and most cars use those as jack/jackstand points.

[DarrenDriven]

Added to the DIY directory:
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7365

[blalor]

Originally Posted by Bonburner

How much clearance do you have now?

Originally Posted by wheelhaus

slick idea. I'm also curious how much clearance there is to the ground; still gotta get a jack under there. I've seen similar things done with blocks of wood.

The hockey puck is one inch thick, and the box tubing is about the same; so the jack point is about 2" closer to the ground. I've got a low-profile Harbor Freight jack (one of the big, heavy ones, not the lightweight silver and blue aluminum jobs) that is still able to get under there with no problem. The intent is really for jack stands, however. I'll admit that I usually do wheel swaps without a jack stand, however.

Originally Posted by rice_classic

It's plenty strong enough and most cars use those as jack/jackstand points.

That may be the case, but @GrimmSpeed's jacking tutorial makes a point of warning you to be careful about not bending the sheet metal. It also looks sketchy as hell. AND the factory jack doesn't actually sit on that seam, either.

[rice_classic]

Originally Posted by blalor

That may be the case, but @GrimmSpeed's jacking tutorial makes a point of warning you to be careful about not bending the sheet metal. It also looks sketchy as hell. AND the factory jack doesn't actually sit on that seam, either.

It's a car, it's designed with tolerances in place and those pinch welds/seams are very robust. They are over-engineered for the task they are intended to perform. Good whomever makes the Jack Buddies, while to me the only purpose they serve is to make your wallet lighter, I'm a little pissed I didn't think of them!

[blalor]

Originally Posted by rice_classic

It's a car, it's designed with tolerances in place and those pinch welds/seams are very robust. They are over-engineered for the task they are intended to perform.

That may be, but there's no denying that putting a metal jack stand on a painted metal edge is going to expose the underlying metal to the elements, and in short order.

[Miniata]

I've been doing something similar for years on all of my cars. I kept it simpler though, I just cut a seam 1/2 way down through the hockey puck in the middle. Some of my cars have been low enough that a design like the OP's wouldn't work as I barely have room for the single hockey puck on the saddle of my low profile jack now.

[schtebie]

Would a jack stand design like this work properly for the pinch welds?

[Miniata]

Originally Posted by schtebie

Would a jack stand design like this work properly for the pinch welds?

Safety-wise, yes, those should work fine for placing under the pinch-welds, but you'll still have metal to metal contact, and paint will come off with repeated use, no matter how careful you are. Personally I use some polyurethane jack stand protectors on top of my jack stands whenever I use them to prevent any metal to metal contact: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/PTP-19-1412/

[xjohnx]

Got these at harbor freight for $3 a pair.

[hybrid35]

I just use a 2x4 block of wood

[sa1126]

Originally Posted by xjohnx

Got these at harbor freight for $3

Thanks for the heads up. They were $8 a pair but that is still cheaper than online.