The car changes angle as it goes up and down though. E.g. from \ to - to / especially if one side has already been jacked up and put on a stand (not so extreme as those angles but that's the only characters I can use to represent it without doing paint ), whereas the jack and rubber bit stay completely horizontal as the jack moves on its wheels as you say. So I guess this movement in the car twists it slightly within the rubber as a result of that. I suspect a U cut in the puck would work better than a V which will grab the paint more as the car pivots while going up and down.

I suppose it is possible some prior jacking had already loosened the paint and this was all it needed to peel it off

Edited 24 January, 201115 yr by anewman

I'd say yes, you definitely want the slot straight-sided rather than V-shaped - if you're only jacking at one point a la the toolkit jack, then the sill either side of the seam should be bearing the weight, not just the bottom edge of the seam. The flex of the rubber should take care of the rest - I've certainly not had any such issues using a rectangular flat-bottomed slot cut to the height and width of the seam.

Looks good - I've got one of the ice hockey pucks put haven't tried cutting a grrove in it.

How easy was it to cut? Did you just use a hack saw?

And for anyone looking for a puck supplier I would recommend http://www.ice-hockey-skates.co.uk/product_81-30-161_Ice-Hockey-Puck---Single-Rate.htm

haha i thought only us hockey nuts knew about Crazy Kenny's :rofl: Been a customer of theirs for years now but it's the first time i've seen them mentioned outside of the hockey fraternity.

Cheers

Dave.

the sill either side of the seam should be bearing the weight, not just the bottom edge of the seam.

Maybe I need to cut deeper too. Any ideas on approx depth/ratio of puck needing the chop? I've gone about 3/4 down.

Any ideas on approx depth/ratio of puck needing the chop? I've gone about 3/4 down.

As long as the cut is just over the depth of the seam then that should be enough.

Here's a photo of mine and it looks like I decided to make a groove (instead of a 'V') to allow room for the rubber to expand (slightly) under the car's weight.

I don't follow why folks are cutting these so deep?

Wee shallow u-shaped channel, about 5mm deep by ~7mm wide. Use a bit of steel, i used 1 inch angle iron but a steel rule would do i suppose, clamped down to hold the puck from moving and to give you a straight edge to draw an electric soldering iron down (110w i used). Lots of passes taking a small amount each time keeps the air almost breathable!

I've been using the same old one for ages, pretty much looks like it was made that way.

I don't follow why folks are cutting these so deep?

For the same reason as the channel in the toolkit jack is that deep: because you're only lifting from one side the car isn't going vertically up (as it would on a garage lift) so the sides of the seam need to be supported to avoid bending it. Allow me to demonstrate with a somewhat exaggerated sketch:

Of course, some seams will be stronger than others so this may or may not be an issue depending on your car, but it's definitely the case with my Felicia, which appears to have seams made of cheese, so easily do they bend...

Ahh ok. It's amazing the difference a diagram makes :-) Thanks for taking the time to do that Robin.

The seams on the Octy mk2, and i guess the mk1 since my mk4 Golf is the same, seem happy with just the rounded end of the reinforced bit of seam in a very shallow U channel in the puck, the seam rotates in the channel as the car goes up i suppose.

Only reason i put a channel at all was so i could feel the seam locating in the centre without having to get a torch out for jacking up in the dark, but probably a flat puck would be just as good. I'd be worried about bending the seam with too deep a channel. I know in your diagram the puck moves to accomodate the change in angle of the car but in real life i don't think the seam would be strong enough to angle the puck with 1/4 of a ton pushing down :(

...but in real life i don't think the seam would be strong enough to angle the puck with 1/4 of a ton pushing down :(

Indeed, this is exactly what happens in between your version and my version - if the slot is deep enough to hold the seam snugly but not deep enough that the weight is also spread across the bottom of the inner/outer sills (ask me how I know ). With the slot the correct depth the seam can't fold anywhere because it would have to lever the puck through the inner sill to do so. In practice the jack head does just bite into the bottom of the puck as it lifts and it all works beautifully.

At least on the Golf/Octavia floorpan you also have dedicated jacking points, on the Felicia the reinforced ends of the sills are the only place strong enough to lift or support the car (apart from bodging it on suspension mounts), which can make juggling jacks and stands a bit awkward.

I'm a bit confused (my usual state ) .

The car jack only seems to lift the car using the inner sill. Although it covers the seam, it doesn't appear to push up on it, or the outer sill. The attached photos are a bit dark, but show the car jack in place, so I'm assuming (perhaps wrongly??) I should be lifting the car using only the sill, and not the seam. If I cut a slot in a hockey puck, unless I go all the way through (or near enough), I'd still be lifting the car by this seam, so is it OK to do that, or am I missing something?

I'm a bit confused (my usual state ) .

The car jack only seems to lift the car using the inner sill. Although it covers the seam, it doesn't appear to push up on it, or the outer sill. The attached photos are a bit dark, but show the car jack in place, so I'm assuming (perhaps wrongly??) I should be lifting the car using only the sill, and not the seam. If I cut a slot in a hockey puck, unless I go all the way through (or near enough), I'd still be lifting the car by this seam, so is it OK to do that, or am I missing something?

Your pictures do show how the jack fits over the seam very well, it does as you say only lift the vehicle on the inside of the seam. I did have a puck cut for my first MKII but when I checked it on my new Combi the slot is not deep enough, looks like the seam is deeper.

Last time I visited a dealer a Vauxhall was on the lift and the vehicle was sitting on its seams on flat plates, but as stated above it keeps the vehicle level, but I still don't like it when I was in the trade we made our own jacking pads to make sure the seams were not damaged in any way.

Edited 13 March, 201115 yr by Guest

After having had my puck for a few months and not getting around to cutting a slot, I now need to get on

with it so I can get my winter wheels off.

The last time I had tyres fitted, the fitter managed to bend one of my seams at the strengthed part, so I

need to straighten, or atleast try to straighten it out first.

I was thinking about cutting the U shape in the puck offset from the centre of the puck, so it would put more

of the surface of the puck onto the jacking point behind the seam and avoid the outer sill due to the profile of it.

I cut 2 pucks last week.

Method:

I found the centre line of the puck across the face and drew a line down it, then measured 1/4 inch left and right and right of the centre line.

Cut these lines down vertically using a hacksaw to required depth (I guessed by cutting them half way to begin with, and then continued to cut down and measure fitting on the jacking points).

Then using a sharpened 1/2 inch wood chisel cut across the puck in order to remove the cut out section - I had to do this in several steps and once it gets deep into the puck, it gets harder. to move. Hitting it (like you would when working with wood has no effect as the rubber absorbs the impact), so wiggling it left and right rapidly seemed to work)

Once you are all the way across, tidy it up by removing thin slices from the bottom of the puck.

Measure - and repeat above steps if necessary.

I have jacked the car up (both front and rear at the same time, in order to test) and there is no damage to the sill, using a U cut with squared off edges.

Now I'll actually get around to rotating the bloody wheels tomorrow - as long as it doesn't rain.

I keep 2 of them in the car, might get another 2 - as if it ever needs to go up on a garage lift (the type where they put lifting arms under your jacking points), there will be no fear of crushing the sills.

Thanks for the guide.

Although I'm interested in how cutting in the centre doesn't interfere with the outer sill......

I had a look today while bending my bend sill flanges straight, and it looks like I'd need to round off the outer part of the puck to compensate for

the outer sill profile o a Octy II

Any pictures of one in use on a Octy II would be appreciated.

Thanks for the guide.

I used a hacksaw with a normal blade to cut the two vertical slots,

and the hacksaw and one of these:

http://roundhacksawblades.com/

to cut between the two vertical slots.

I then used the finished product on the trolley jack so that I could change the winter tyres for summers ones on my wife's 56 plate Octy II.

All in all very successful.

Anyone tried using a dremel to cut the groove?

I know this is an old post but are people still using this method when jacking a car?

I am yes.

I know this is an old post but are people still using this method when jacking a car?

I do

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

As long as there are seams to bend then the pucks will still be needed!

Never ever thought of this before, and yet I have this trouble often in work.. class idea guys!