Jacking points

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leof

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Just reading the thread about wheel cleaning and the reply about using a trolley jack. Where do you position the trolley jack and do you use an axle stand or blocks incase the jack slips?

I am very wary of the OEM jack after a very nasty (read expensive) experience with my last car and the OEM jack.

Any advice would be very welcome and if pictures could be included it would be a bonus.
icon5.png
 
In all honesty, jacking the 8V is a nightmare. The OEM jack has a slight indent to fit onto the jacking points, which are just 5" long 'ridges' between the side skirts and the floor. The back ones have very little room. You have to be really careful.

If your trolley jack like mine had quite a wide cup, it'll damage the floor. I used some wood spacers placed into the cup so it sat higher. I've since bought an ice hockey puck from eBay to sit proud of the jack and avoid damaging the underside of the car or the plastic side skirts.

The front ones are easier to work with.

This also got me thinking about my next set of tyres. I'll have to be very careful to check they're jacking it carefully.
 
Thanks for the replies, I am assuming you are using the cill jacking points. I was wondering if there is a safe and suitable point apart from these?

Just looked on ebay for a ice hockey puck, I take it that you grind a groove out of it to match the OEM jack?
 
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mjcourtney said:
Thinking of buying a trolley jack. Would this one still be a pain to lift the rear?

Clarke CTJ2MB 2 Tonne DIY Trolley Jack with Carry Case - Machine Mart
Click to expand...

You'll probably get away with it as the cup is quite small. If you have a quick look under the side of the car, you can see a triangle indent in the side skirt indicating the jacking point location. The jack point is on the floorpan rather than the outer sill - much further in than other cars I've owned. The difficulty is that there's very little distance between fouling the sill or floorpan at the rear if you have a wide cupped garage style jack. I've always preferred garage jacks as they're much more stable having a wide rear track.

The ice hockey puck seems to be perfect though. I can't see the need to grind a groove as it works just like a lifting pad on a 4-post garage lift.
 
Thanks for that, I had been looking at a low profile jack and some axle stands. Look forward to any pictures you can put on here.
 
Sorry to bump this but I am still not sure where to place a trolley jack, is it on the sill jacking points or is there somewhere more suitable and stable?

Also has anybody got any idea where you would place axle stands?
 
Jacking points are the same place as you install your normal car jack, but the trolley is safer, as I only do one at a time I don't use axle stands.
Remember to choke the front wheels when doing the rear, I will try and take pictures of this when I do it next.

Doug
 
Thanks Doug

As I said in my first post having had a bad experience whilst jacking I thought a belt and braces approach might be safer (and cheaper) so I was thinking about putting an axle stand in place as a just in case the trolley jack moved when the wheel was off. If I can't find where to put axle stands I will put the emergency spare on whilst I clean the wheel that has been removed.


I hope not to have to do anything requiring the car fully off the ground for at least 3 years whilst the car is under warranty
 
Still no nearer to getting an answer as to where to put axle/jack stands. I went to the dealer today and asked one of the mechanics and he only knew for definite where to lift the car using a 4 beam lift, he suggested at a push putting a stand under the wheel hub but I’m not sure that is a good idea?


I think my best option is to put the spare on whilst I clean the wheel.


So my plan is to get a Clarke CTJ2QM 2 Tonne Quick Lift Jack and not bother with axle stands for the time being.
 
If the weather changes this weekend and I feel better I will take pictures when washing the A3 and post them, currently on chemotherapy so my power is down..
 
My tips of years of jacking cars.

First - Never rely on a jack!!! They can fail, if you are going under a car or taking the wheel of for any period but some stands under the car.

Assuming a trolly jack you can usually jack on any structural member (or even the suspension if you are really stuck). Usually where the suspension is mounted to the body is a strong point. Don't jack on the body, you'll normally dent it.

A block of wood can help distribute the load if you get stuck.

Obviously the supplied jack is designed for the jacking points but these tend to be quite flimsy. Make sure the ground if flat and firm, apply the handbrake and/or chock the wheels to stop the car rolling!
 
Thanks Doug, I hope the chemo is going well and you will soon be fully fit again.
 
After all this time looking where to put axle stands I have phoned Audi customer services (after 2 unanswered emails) and their answer was take it to your local Audi centre and if you do jack the car up do not use axle stands on the jacking points. So I am back to my original plan, jack the car up swap wheel for emergency spare clean wheel and then swap back.

I must say that I am not impressed with Audi UK not answering emails and being vague at best with their answer.
 
I have found product knowledge across Audi to be pretty poor - at least in the departments I have dealt with (CS, Sales)
 
Just looking at the car, does the car get lifted by the seam? On previous audis I've had the Jack had a cut out to avoid it but this car it seems to use it?
 
I had the same issue, no problem jacking the car up as I have a slit in my hockey puck but where do you stick the axle jack?

There's nowhere to stick it as the jacking point is way too short on the 8V. The 8P's jacking point was much longer and the axle jack could be stuck beneath it nicely.
 
Do you need the slot on your puck? The Audi Jack seems to lift the car by the welded seam?
 
Well, it fits much better (no pun intended lol!).

What I do is that I use that welded seam (the jacking point) and it fits nicely into the slit that's on my puck.
 
I don't want to push you into doing something silly, cause i'd have to see it for myself to say you're putting it in the right spot. To tell you how bad it can be, my dad tried to jack his car up and mistook the jacking point (the seam) for another point, the jack went through the bodywork and the car collapsed on the wheel he took off… cost him quite a bit of money to repair and could have cost him his foot or worse.

So, please make sure you're doing it right before you attempt anything, if you're unsure just go to a tyre place and let them do the work.
 
I've used the jack that came with the car to change a puncture. Works fine if you take care.
 
Does it not collapse the seam weld? I take it the seam has been made stronger
 
Ok, so mines an 8P RS3, but I guess the lifting arrangement, from the descriptions given previously, for the 8V cars, is the same.

For the last 3-years I've been using a lightweight 1.25 tonne trolley jack from Machine Mart: Clarke CTJ1250AB

With this jack I use a wood adaptor block that fits correctly into the designated lift position under the front and rear of the car (and protects the seam): the dimensions of this block are: 80 x 140 x 25mm (thick) with a piece of 35 x 75 x 25mm thick 'screwed' to the top, see photo.

View attachment 29097



This works perfectly for me and has been used many times on other RS3s too.

Hope this helps...
 
45bvtc said:
Ok, so mines an 8P RS3, but I guess the lifting arrangement, from the descriptions given previously, for the 8V cars, is the same.

For the last 3-years I've been using a lightweight 1.25 tonne trolley jack from Machine Mart: Clarke CTJ1250AB

With this jack I use a wood adaptor block that fits correctly into the designated lift position under the front and rear of the car (and protects the seam): the dimensions of this block are: 80 x 140 x 25mm (thick) with a piece of 35 x 75 x 25mm thick 'screwed' to the top, see photo.

View attachment 29097



This works perfectly for me and has been used many times on other RS3s too.

Hope this helps...
Click to expand...

That's what's putting my off as the 8v looks like it gets raised by the seam! OE Jack study on it
 
The seams where you stick the jack is similar to this:


Image


Image

This is reinforced and is the only place where you should place your jack. Place it anywhere else and it'll be extremely dangerous.
 
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Thank you for the photos Battlekrapz I still haven't been able to find a suitable place to put axle stands. Is that a 1.25 ton jack you are using and what make is it?
 
leof said:
Thank you for the photos Battlekrapz I still haven't been able to find a suitable place to put axle stands. Is that a 1.25 ton jack you are using and what make is it?
Click to expand...

No worries.

I've found the pix on the web (it's a q5 on the pic i believe), but the a3's seams are very similar, you can't miss them.

I use a 1.25 ton jack very similar to the one on the pic and it's such a pleasure to use, makes the job very easy and much less risky. I bought the jack from a car accessory shop. As i said just make sure the jack has a rubber puck with a slit, you'll need it to fit nicely under the seam.

Now the only thing i need to know is where to place the axle stand, since the seams on the 8v are much shorter than the ones on the 8p. Anyway I'll stick it under some suspension component, it's just in case the jack fails... Which is fairly unlikely since the jack can withstand close to the whole weight of the car.

My conclusion would be: if like me you do your own switch summer/winter tyres, then get yourself a good hydraulic floor jack, they're not that pricey and will save you a lot of trouble.
 
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cuke2u said:
And the manual clearly illustrates when the jacking points are...
Click to expand...

Yes it does, but as it jacks differently from most of the last vag cars that avoid putting weight on the weld I thought I'd ask.

Thanks for your usual waste of a response. Unhelpful and pointless by your .. At the end too
 
A3 rubber jack pad

This seems to be just the job? I know it doesn't solve the issue of where you safely support the car on stands but jacking it up safely with a trolley jack is my first priority. This eBay item has a compatibility thing and it seems to be ok for 8V1 cars. The other 8v variant didn't seem to be compatible?

I must get my jack out on my new car to have a look. I would have thought looking at the rubber pad with that groove that the lift is either side of the seam?
 
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kenny_boon said:
Does it not collapse the seam weld? I take it the seam has been made stronger
Click to expand...
Toadoftoadhall said:
I must get my jack out on my new car to have a look. I would have thought looking at the rubber pad with that groove that the lift is either side of the seam?
Click to expand...
I haven't tried jacking mine, but they do seem to have changed the design. On older VAG stuff the factory jack lifted on a "pad" inboard of the seam. On the 8V that pad doesn't seem to be there, and so I was guessing the factory jack lifted by the seam itself.

The seam is a really different shape to older ones. On my old Octavia, the seam was a vertical edge of 2 or 3 bits of metal welded together. On the 8V there's a thicker bit of metal which starts vertically, but curves round. So the jack wouldn't be lifting on the edge of a couple of bits of thin metal, but instead on the one rounded bit of thicker metal.

I'm assuming that design change is because it's load bearing now (probably changed because almost all garages seemed to lift by the seam anyway).

On mine I noticed that the underseal had split away on 2 or 3 of the jacking points... I need to have another look and check that it's not starting to rust now that it's had a winter. I guess that must have happened during the PDI (assuming they jack it then), as it hasn't been anywhere else since. I wasn't too happy to see it, but then it does feel kind of inevitable if they're jacking on a small bit of undersealed metal like that, so I'm hoping it's ok and they're expecting the underseal not to hold there...
 
yeah thanks for the reply mate, thought it was just me :)

hopefully the new design works ok
 
kenny_boon said:
Yes it does, but as it jacks differently from most of the last vag cars that avoid putting weight on the weld I thought I'd ask.

Thanks for your usual waste of a response. Unhelpful and pointless by your .. At the end too
Click to expand...

I am sorry that you found my 'usual', whatever that means, reply unhelpful, however it was totally accurate, if you bothered to read the manual. What would I know about previous models as this is my first Audi, however all my other cars have had jacking points similar to the 8V. Perhaps you do not value the usefulness of your car manual where as I do but even as a new owner the an Audi the illustrations seemed quite clear to me...
 
Last edited:
cuke2u said:
kenny_boon said:
cuke2u said:
And the manual clearly illustrates when the jacking points are...
Click to expand...
Yes it does, but as it jacks differently from most of the last vag cars that avoid putting weight on the weld I thought I'd ask.

Thanks for your usual waste of a response. Unhelpful and pointless by your .. At the end too
Click to expand...
I am sorry that you found my 'usual', whatever that means, reply unhelpful, however it was totally accurate, if you bothered to read the manual. What would I know about previous models as this is my first Audi, however all my other cars have had jacking points similar to the 8V. Perhaps you do not value the usefulness of your car manual where as I do....
Click to expand...

Yes, the manual says where to jack the car, and yes the place to jack it is exactly the same as previous Audis.

The point of kenny_boon's question wasn't where to jack it. It was that on older Audis (and VWs, Skodas, etc). when you jacked the point explained in the manual, the factory jack didn't put any weight on the seam - it pressed on the floor just inside the seam.

Lots of tyre places just jacked the seam with a trolley jack and bent it in the process, hence why I (and, I assume, Kenny_boon) am a bit paranoid about me or anyone else jacking on the seam even at the point marked with the arrow as explained in the manual.

The new 8V, although it's exactly the same in the manual and you still put the factory jack at the same place as marked by the arrow, is different. The factory jack now puts all of the weight on the seam (I am guessing this is the case from looking at it, without actually having jacked up myself). The question wasn't "where do you jack it?", but rather "is it ok to jack it by the seam, because that's never been ok before on older VAG cars?".

So I think you're both just talking at cross purposes. Nobody is trying to be unhelpful - just a misunderstanding about the actual question!
 
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