Having had a bit of a moment whilst changing my brakes last week, I feel it's past time I owned my own trolley jack.

Basically, the "moment" was due to having changed pads on one rear, then jacking up the other rear corner. The handbrake wouldn't hold (pads not bedded) and the wheel pushed my chocks (bricks) out of the way. Result was the jack slowly leaning over backwards drunkenly whilst still being attached to the sill jacking point. I had to belt it out from under the car with an extended wheel brace (sort of a golf shot), to avoid it catching the sill/damaging the paintwork. Whilst working on/under the car, it's supported by an axle stand and the jack. In this case, I hadn't quite got that far.

So: Recommendations for "hobbyist" chocks/wedges and a reasonable trolley jack please.

PS: Brakes now work sooooo well now the pads have meat on them.

Cheers,

J.

i bought the halfords set, includes hydraulic jack (2tonne), 2 axel stands (2tonne), wheel wedges, selection of sockets (the17mm is included which is needed for our cars) and a wheely bed so u can lie on when your under the car. Its in the sale atm for £45 quid =]

Between me and a few mates we have all kinds of random jacks. Got a halfords one too, they all do the job

Matt

I always jack from a pad under the bodywork and then lower car onto an axle stand on the sill jack-point! Much safer!!

i bought the halfords set, includes hydraulic jack (2tonne), 2 axel stands (2tonne), wheel wedges, selection of sockets (the17mm is included which is needed for our cars) and a wheely bed so u can lie on when your under the car. Its in the sale atm for £45 quid =]

Sounds like something I should possibly invest in as well. Does it seem decent quality and seem like it'll last a few years? Are the axle stands the ratchet type or the "peg" type?

I always jack from a pad under the bodywork and then lower car onto an axle stand on the sill jack-point! Much safer!!

Saw a quote "the vehicle must not be supported at the front under the sill" or similar. I tend to jack the sill, then use the round pad for the axle stand. I'm considering buying the Audi TT jacking/support pads and painting them bright red or yellow before fitting.

J.

I would look at screwfix or machinemart, I got a set similar to the Halfords one but for under £30 a couple of years ago.

Saw a quote "the vehicle must not be supported at the front under the sill" or similar. I tend to jack the sill, then use the round pad for the axle stand. I'm considering buying the Audi TT jacking/support pads and painting them bright red or yellow before fitting.

J.

Audi TT pads ?????WTF :wonder:

If you look under the car and within about 8inch of the sill jack points (going towards the inside of the car) you will see reinforced areas of the "chassis/shell" this is where I have ben jacking my car for the past 10years.....you have to faf around with the placement of the trolly jack abit so that you get clearence so you can place the axle stand on the sill jack point! I also use a folded wodge of newspaper about 1" thick between the car and the axle stand or jack...this gives protection to the car!

P.S. I had an ordinary small trolly jack but last year upgraded to a big wide 3ton made by SP....much more stable...but weighs about 40kg!!!

I thought those pads were only supposed to be used with a four point lift rather than lifting one corner at a time with a jack.

I thought those pads were only supposed to be used with a four point lift rather than lifting one corner at a time with a jack.

Well in actual fact you are not lifting any more weight than a four point lift as the other side of the car which is on the ground is taking a bit more weight! It's only when you come back around to the other side (whole front end or rear end in air) that you have to watch where you place the jack!

When I jack the front of mine the rear wheel comes up also. Surely that's more weight on one point than if it were on a 4 poster?

Matt

When I jack the front of mine the rear wheel comes up also. Surely that's more weight on one point than if it were on a 4 poster?

Matt

Hmmmmmm.....i've got more suspension travel than you!!!........The "worst" damage that I have done/noticed to my car is the front "pads" are slightly concave....and thats after ALOT of jacking over 10yrs!!!!!

Rear ARB? That's probably what's stopping it, my Leon didn't have one and there was enough suspension travel to just lift one front corner on its own. My Fab does have one, and when I jack the front, it cocks a rear wheel as well, which I think is because the ARB is restricting the suspension travel in relation to the other wheel (which it's designed to do, it's designed to restrict upwards movement keeping the body stiff, but obviously the side effect is it'll restrict downwards movement as well).

Audi TT pads ?????WTF :wonder:

If you look under the car and within about 8inch of the sill jack points (going towards the inside of the car) you will see reinforced areas of the "chassis/shell" this is where I have ben jacking my car for the past 10years.....you have to faf around with the placement of the trolly jack abit so that you get clearence so you can place the axle stand on the sill jack point! I also use a folded wodge of newspaper about 1" thick between the car and the axle stand or jack...this gives protection to the car!

P.S. I had an ordinary small trolly jack but last year upgraded to a big wide 3ton made by SP....much more stable...but weighs about 40kg!!!

Meant these things: http://www.r32oc.com/performance-technical/10910-mk4-r32-jacking-point-mod-worthwhile-look-plus-install-guide.html

J.

The halfords axel stands are a peg type

Costco have really good jacks from time to time, mine was £60 and has a nice wide pad so doesn't damage sills etc and is very sturdy, some of the Halfords jacks tend to want to tip as they are narrow.

Meant these things: http://www.r32oc.com/performance-technical/10910-mk4-r32-jacking-point-mod-worthwhile-look-plus-install-guide.html

J.

Will these things DEFO fit the holes in the Fabia?? If so bloody good idea!!!

Costco have really good jacks from time to time, mine was £60 and has a nice wide pad so doesn't damage sills etc and is very sturdy, some of the Halfords jacks tend to want to tip as they are narrow.

That looks a pretty good bit of kit, certainly more sturdy than my dad's trolley. I'll have to keep my eyes open next time I'm in Costco, just a pain that they don't have any kind of online stock checking so it's just a case of "what you see is what you get"...

I've a Halford trolley jack. Used for 10 years and no problems; BUT, from the OP description it seems that he was under the car with it simply jacked up. Never, ever, ever trust a jack on it's own. People have been killed. Always use something else (stands/bricks&wood etc) and lower the car onto these. You'll see if the ground will sink, car move sideways;and can rejack to get it stable. You can then push the jack up as an extra support and ready to remove stands.

I've a Halford trolley jack. Used for 10 years and no problems; BUT, from the OP description it seems that he was under the car with it simply jacked up. Never, ever, ever trust a jack on it's own. People have been killed. Always use something else (stands/bricks&wood etc) and lower the car onto these. You'll see if the ground will sink, car move sideways;and can rejack to get it stable. You can then push the jack up as an extra support and ready to remove stands.

I wasn't under the car, jack plus axle stand(s) plus chocks is my usual regime. In this case, the car moved whilst being jacked but just before it was high enough to slide the axle stand underneath.

I wasn't under the car, jack plus axle stand(s) plus chocks is my usual regime. In this case, the car moved whilst being jacked but just before it was high enough to slide the axle stand underneath.

Aha!!!.......see what you mean......I always chock both the wheels on the opposite side of the car to the one that I am jacking...I use concrete "bricks" ..standard brick size but made using heavy concrete......with two per wheel......car dosn't move even with handbrake off and in neutral!!! But I usually leave it in gear during jacking!!!

I agree with fitting the Audi TT jacking point protection pads, these little cars are strong enough and light enough to use these pads. As for jacks, Costco only seem to be stocking a very nice aluminium one, I've stroked it a few times, but seeing as I've got an old Halford trolley jack, 2-off short trolley jacks and 2-off Jack Sealey long trolley jacks, I should really lay off stroking the Costco one! Machine Mart used to stock a Jack Sealey branded long chassis trolley jack for about £45 but they and Jack Sealey seem to have dropped that one, it was spot on for DIYers as it was strong, started very low and went quite high and was quite cheap.

BTW, its (breakdown) industry standard place for roadside trolley jack to be placed under the reinforced point on the sill, though for DIYers its probably easier to lift where the Audi TT pads go and fit stands, with grooved protectors, at the sill strong points. Though using a jack on each side and wooden blocks on each side to prevent it falling down onto the floor, seems to work for me - along with 4-off wedges on the wheels that are still on the floor.

A guy at work, while working on his own in a remote location, managed to stop a car falling off the trolley jack, though he did trap his hand between the jack frame and the car!! Eventually, he managed to get the car back up, wheel back on and drive to A&E - lucky, but stupid him, quite a few stitches and some fingers that still don't work too well - now that is what is called experience (I think)!

Edited 10 June, 201115 yr by rum4mo

I inadvertantly bought a Halfords trrolley jack and found it to be next to useless, very unstable. Try 'Machine Mart' for a better selection, you get what you pay for.

The ideal situation is a trolley jack with a saddle diameter of at least 4 inches, then purchase an ice hockey puck from ebay at around 3.00 pounds. Cut a groove in the puck with an angle grinder, place the puck on the saddle and jack the car up under the sill. Some folk fit rubber mounts to the holes under the floor pan, and use these as jacking points.This is not the correct thing to do as the four holes were intended to be used as jig alignment holes and not jacking points..

Some folk fit rubber mounts to the holes under the floor pan, and use these as jacking points.This is not the correct thing to do as the four holes were intended to be used as jig alignment holes and not jacking points..

Errrrr...not quite right...these holes are used for the "lifts" and "frames" at the factory......also the rubber mounts are originaly from the Audi TT so that the workshop techs can find the lift points for the 4point lifts easily!! The advantages and disadvantages have all ready been thrashed out on various VAG sites!!! Also the local Skoda and Audi dealerships know about the "mod" and the correct use...plus the Skoda dealership parts bloke reckons that it will be fitted to all Skodas as standard fit in the next few years!! Are you talking about the other smaller holes that are near by???

Fabia Jacking Points from Skoda workshop diagrams.

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k319/hussarman/20837005.jpg