# Jack/lift pads



## TofuBoyz (Jul 10, 2018)

Tried searching around but didn’t find any info on the MQB Tiguan forum. 

I just changed my wheels out and had some annoyance with putting the car up on a jack stand. If I use my hydraulic floor jack, there is no room left on the lift point to get a jack stand in place. So I used the smaller scissor jack in the trunk and there was just enough room for me to jack up on one edge of the lift point and get the stand in on the other edge, but I worry about the stability of having the stand right on the edge of the lift point. 

I found a video on the Mk7 golf showing some OEM lift pads that can be installed in 4 locations around the car, allowing to use a floor jack there and have easy access to the regular lift points for the stands. Has anyone here done this on the MQB Tiguan? Or how are you getting the car up on stands? (The video is here: https://youtu.be/YcE8zA5iBLY )

Also as an aside, I’d recommend against getting the cheapish Duralast floor jacks from Autozone.. I went to slowly turn the handle to lower the car, and it came down really fast. I’m going to give it another shot and see if I just need to use more finesse, but it really took me by surprise how fast it dropped the car.


----------



## Savvv (Apr 22, 2009)

When I lift the car, I use a standard hydraulic floor jack right at the thick pinch weld marked with the arrow on the side skirt, and then put a floor jack right at one of the nearest subframe bolts. I’ve been meaning to buy the Schwaben pinch weld pads from ECS that go into your jack and you line up the crease with the pinch weld to keep it from buckling. Or I’ve seen just taking a 4x4 and cutting a slot into it.


----------



## JSWTDI09 (Feb 22, 2009)

Lift pads like these work quite well on cars with pinch seam welds (like VW). https://www.amazon.com/DEDC-Univers...=8-11-spons&keywords=rubber+lift+blocks&psc=1

You can also make your own pretty cheaply by cutting a groove into a hockey puck. The groove only needs to be as wide as your pinch seam. Even with a pad like this, it is still recommended lifting the car only at the designated lift points where the seam is reinforced.

Have Fun!

Don


----------



## TofuBoyz (Jul 10, 2018)

I did buy one of those cut out pads, however I’m not sure they’re right for these.. the pads make it so you are lifting around the pinch weld, but on our cars there is a plastic piece right there that you would be lifting on. Is it ok to put so much weight on that? The scissor jack that comes with the car lifts on the weld, not around it. 

Anyway that doesn’t solve the problem of where to put the jack stand since you’re still using up the small lift point. Although another video by DAP (again for GTI) shows just jacking up high enough from rear that the front end comes off the ground, too. then you can put the jack stand in place. 
https://youtu.be/eCZEq7pAHUE


----------



## TofuBoyz (Jul 10, 2018)

Savvv said:


> When I lift the car, I use a standard hydraulic floor jack right at the thick pinch weld marked with the arrow on the side skirt, and then put a floor jack right at one of the nearest subframe bolts. I’ve been meaning to buy the Schwaben pinch weld pads from ECS that go into your jack and you line up the crease with the pinch weld to keep it from buckling. Or I’ve seen just taking a 4x4 and cutting a slot into it.


Do you have a picture that would show where the subframe bolts that would support a jack stand? I’m not very well versed in this stuff


----------



## Savvv (Apr 22, 2009)

Yes. I am going to be installing my snow tires/wheels either tonight or tomorrow and can take a photo and post it. I’ve been using these type of bolted points for jack stands on numerous cars.


----------



## BsickPassat (May 10, 2010)

Lift pad are so use with... you guessed it, a lift, says so in the name 

The unibody frame are not reinforced in those areas to carry the load when you use a hydraulic jack one corner at a time


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk


----------



## TofuBoyz (Jul 10, 2018)

Yeah that’s the argument against jacking from there that I’ve seen. Some reports of bending the frame in that area. I wondered if maybe the MQB platform could handle the stress better and that’s why he was doing it that way.

Savvv, it looks like in this video he is jacking from the point where you are saying you put your stands, then puts the stands on the jack points. Either way it looks like using the jack point and that subframe bolt area with the arch may be the safest way to go on our cars, rather than using the 4 lift points meant for a shop lift.

https://youtu.be/Kp3d05rT4lk


----------



## Savvv (Apr 22, 2009)

BsickPassat said:


> Lift pad are so use with... you guessed it, a lift, says so in the name
> 
> The unibody frame are not reinforced in those areas to carry the load when you use a hydraulic jack one corner at a time


I can’t agree with this. Those reinforced pinch welds undoubtedly ARE strong enough to carry the load of each corner of the car. If they were not designed to be used as a lifting point, our OEM widow maker jack would look very different. 

When you use a 4-point vehicle lift at all four corners, each pinch weld is still carrying the weight of that corner. 

My thought is that I’d rather use the pinch weld with one of those specialized pinch weld adapters and then set the car on a jack stand using a bolted unibody connection that can’t crumbled or deteriorate than let the car rest on the pinch weld a corner at a time.


----------



## TofuBoyz (Jul 10, 2018)

Savvv said:


> I can’t agree with this. Those reinforced pinch welds undoubtedly ARE strong enough to carry the load of each corner of the car. If they were not designed to be used as a lifting point, our OEM widow maker jack would look very different.
> 
> When you use a 4-point vehicle lift at all four corners, each pinch weld is still carrying the weight of that corner.
> 
> My thought is that I’d rather use the pinch weld with one of those specialized pinch weld adapters and then set the car on a jack stand using a bolted unibody connection that can’t crumbled or deteriorate than let the car rest on the pinch weld a corner at a time.


It’s a little confusing because we’re talking about two different “lift points”. They didn’t mean the pinch weld lift points, but the four points further under the car. You can buy an adapter to put in and lift from there (you can see them in the first YouTube video I put in the original post here). 

There is some concern about home mechanics lifting from them one at a time, because they were apparently designed to be used on a lift which would support from all four points at once. Some people on different forums have reported deforming that area after using them with a floor jack. 

Personally I don’t see why that would happen. You aren’t lifting the full weight of the car when just lifting one corner, and I can’t imagine they would design those lift points with such a low margin of error for failure. But apparently some people have had a problem with it. So for me I think I’ll use your method of pinch weld lift point and subframe bolt area. Cheaper anyway since the lift pads require buying the rubber adapters.


----------



## Savvv (Apr 22, 2009)

TofuBoyz said:


> It’s a little confusing because we’re talking about two different “lift points”. They didn’t mean the pinch weld lift points, but the four points further under the car. You can buy an adapter to put in and lift from there (you can see them in the first YouTube video I put in the original post here).
> 
> There is some concern about home mechanics lifting from them one at a time, because they were apparently designed to be used on a lift which would support from all four points at once. Some people on different forums have reported deforming that area after using them with a floor jack.
> 
> Personally I don’t see why that would happen. You aren’t lifting the full weight of the car when just lifting one corner, and I can’t imagine they would design those lift points with such a low margin of error for failure. But apparently some people have had a problem with it. So for me I think I’ll use your method of pinch weld lift point and subframe bolt area. Cheaper anyway since the lift pads require buying the rubber adapters.


Ah gotcha. Well, what DOES happen over time is when you continually jack the car up using a standard hydraulic floor jack without any sort of "pinch weld protection" adapter, the pinch weld will deform. One of my old Mk4's back in the day got to the point that it started to fold and then the jack would just push the pinch weld up against the underside of the unibody. Having something to support both sides of the pinch weld while you are lifting will help maintain them for the life of the vehicle.


----------



## scirockalot8v (Sep 16, 2006)

Hockey pucks, a table saw and about 3 min. 

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk


----------



## snobrdrdan (Sep 10, 2008)

A couple of options:
https://www.ecstuning.com/b-schwabe...MIiZq6qJzR3gIVUcDICh3YFQ0OEAQYAyABEgKynPD_BwE
or
http://www.purems.com/Products/PROTECHSIDEPADProtech-Side-Lift-Jack-Pad


----------



## Lapiz Blue R (Sep 24, 2018)

I have a urethane pad that I bought for $8 on Ebay when I bought my 15 MK7, been using for 4 years now with no problems.


----------



## Lapiz Blue R (Sep 24, 2018)

Looks like this one, only red. 
http://www.purems.com/Products/PROTECHSIDEPADProtech-Side-Lift-Jack-Pad


----------



## Itzed2u (Aug 27, 2014)

I have a Mk7 GTI, not a Tiguan, but FWIW, I installed the inboard jacking pads that DAP and ECS sell as soon as I got my car, and have been using them to lift one corner at s time since, with no issues. I have not heard of anyone bending the metal from those points.


----------



## Vic Minetola (Jun 14, 2012)

*Pinch-weld Lift Adapters*

I've been using 4"x4" blocks slotted to accomodate the pinch-weld for years, but now I can't remember where I learned that. Method has worked well and application transfers from vehicle-to-vehicle. I should give those blocks an official VW tool number!


----------



## TofuBoyz (Jul 10, 2018)

Those of you using the pinch weld adapter pads, am I correct that you would use these to jack from the center of the pinch weld, allowing easy access to put jack stands on the traditional jacking points?


----------



## southpawboston (Feb 3, 2018)

Has any MQB Tig owner checked to see if there are locations for OEM jack pads inboard of the rocker panel pinch seams like there are for other MQB vehicles?


----------



## Savvv (Apr 22, 2009)

It looked like there was possibly a jack pad location for the fronts but not the rears. I will be putting my snow tires on for sure tonight or tomorrow. I’ll take photos of where I place my jack stands and what LOOKS like an OEM jack pad location.


----------



## JSWTDI09 (Feb 22, 2009)

TofuBoyz said:


> Those of you using the pinch weld adapter pads, am I correct that you would use these to jack from the center of the pinch weld, allowing easy access to put jack stands on the traditional jacking points?


I can't speak for others but I would put the lift pads at the reinforced places designed for jacking the car. I would then put the jack stands under some main frame components instead of on pinch welds.

Have Fun!

Don


----------



## Savvv (Apr 22, 2009)

Here ya go. Shows the jack pad on the pinch weld and then where I put the jack stands. 










For the rear end, there are 4 bolted subframe locations to put a jack stand. The front pair are lower and don’t require your jack stand to be extended up as high. 


This is the rear most bolted location.









And here’s where my jack stand goes. It’s kind of right behind the wheel. 









And then here is where I put the front jack stand. 









As for OE jack pad locations like those push in rubber style, there’s only a few “holes” but they are all locations for those plastic nuts holding on the plastic underbody covers.


----------

