Hey guys.....stupid question time here, apologies if I should know!

If I get a hockey puck rubber type thang to sit on my trolley jack, should the slot in the puck be deep enough so that it sits flush on the floorpan, or should it be just deep enough so that slides over the join and not sit on the floor pan?

TIA,

Martin

I have a few rubbers for different situations. The ones with the slit goes under the sill join fold and doesn’t interfere with the floor pan. You don’t want to be jacking up the floor plan obviously

Are you thinking of using the hockey puck with a slot in it over the jacking point of the sill where the vehicle scissor jack fits? I do much the same except with a piece of timber about 8" x 3" x 2" with a 3/8" wide slot routed out of it. Works well. No damage to the sills so far.

I find it really annoying that trolley jacks and axle stands aren't really suitable for any vehicles without having to fashion some kind of adapter.

onecleanfinger said:

Are you thinking of using the hockey puck with a slot in it over the jacking point of the sill where the vehicle scissor jack fits? I do much the same except with a piece of timber about 8" x 3" x 2" with a 3/8" wide slot routed out of it. Works well. No damage to the sills so far.

I find it really annoying that trolley jacks and axle stands aren't really suitable for any vehicles without having to fashion some kind of adapter.

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Yes, exactly this. I'll have a root around and see if I've any timber off cuts I could use. I've not got a router but a 2 runs through with my circular saw should create a wide and deep enough slot.

If I'm understanding correctly.... the slot should be deep enough for the sill join fold to sit in and the car be supported by the sill fold but not deep enough that the car is supported by the floor?

Pretty sure the standard jack does not lift on the seam, and the "sides" are different heights to match the sill and the floorpan.
But I could be wrong...

As I said earlier, they fit fine, I’ve been using them when needed for years.

nitramtpr said:

If I get a hockey puck rubber type thang to sit on my trolley jack, should the slot in the puck be deep enough so that it sits flush on the floorpan, or should it be just deep enough so that slides over the join and not sit on the floor pan?

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I'd strogly advise you not to attempt to jack the car anywhere on the sills, with anything. The sills are very easily damaged, and not all damage is visible. You'll rarely see a used 500 or Panda with the sills in pristine condition; on many, the damage started with the PDI.

It's also been reported here recently that some older pandas are suffering serious sill corrosion, and it's been suggested that water ingress following cracking along the seams due to jacking may be a contributing factor.

The good news is there's absolutely no reason to ever need to lift the car on the sills. There are good, strong hardpoints both front and rear - for more details, see this post. The car featured there is a 500, but the 169 panda shares the same floorpan and has the same hardpoints.

i drop the car on axil stands using the pads above

unfortunately they get in the way. At the front i put the trolley jack in from front of the car under the rear wishbone bolt but makes moving the handle difficult.

cant say where i but the jack for the rear as there is a sign on it not to jack here. But i have never had a problem near the spring pans. The only other option is the sill so you are dammed if you do or dammed if you don't unless i am missing something

Well, the reason I was asking is the normal jacking points are using the factory jack which has the slot for the jack to sit in the sill seam. As I have a trolley jack I thought it would be prudent to have a puck / piece of wood to replicate the same mechanism and wondered if the puck needed to sit all they way up to the floor of if the weight needs to be taken by the sill seam?
I've never bothered in the past, I've always put the trolley jack on the most solid piece of suspension at the front (normally a wishbone bolt or some such) and the axle at the rear. I've then supplemented that by the use of axle stands.

nitramtpr said:

Well, the reason I was asking is the normal jacking points are using the factory jack which has the slot for the jack to sit in the sill seam. As I have a trolley jack I thought it would be prudent to have a puck / piece of wood to replicate the same mechanism and wondered if the puck needed to sit all they way up to the floor of if the weight needs to be taken by the sill seam?
I've never bothered in the past, I've always put the trolley jack on the most solid piece of suspension at the front (normally a wishbone bolt or some such) and the axle at the rear. I've then supplemented that by the use of axle stands.

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You'd be better using the box section on the floor where the car is lifted using a two post lift rather then the subframe easyer to get access to

Bit confused as to what’s the issue here. The Jack is obviously for raising the car, once done the stands go under and takes the weight, Jack removed. I’ve made a spreader beam for raising the front of my daily runner, its fashioned to touch parts that won’t be affected under weight. Fairly easy to manufacture. Different cars will have different measurements, you don’t have to be an engineer to do this.

In saying all this, I haven’t figured in the state of your Pandas sills, are they corroded and not going to take any jacking?

jimboy said:

Bit confused as to what’s the issue here. The Jack is obviously for raising the car, once done the stands go under and takes the weight, Jack removed. I’ve made a spreader beam for raising the front of my daily runner, its fashioned to touch parts that won’t be affected under weight. Fairly easy to manufacture. Different cars will have different measurements, you don’t have to be an engineer to do this.

In saying all this, I haven’t figured in the state of your Pandas sills, are they corroded and not going to take any jacking?

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Yeah, I think I'm confusing things.....

Normally as I said I pop the trolley jack on a solid suspension part to jack up and then put an axle stand under.
I was wondering (and my original question really wasn't clear :bang if I wanted to jack under the normal jacking point (where the little arrows are) the trolley jack would crumple the sill joint so I should use of these https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Trolley-...jacking-pad-lifting-puck-classic/273345602249

Now, the slot in that puck isn't very deep so it would still be putting all the pressure on the sill joint, what I want to know is....should the slot in the middle be deep enough so the sill joint is just used a guide and either side of the puck would rest against the floor?

Hopefully that is now a bit clearer? :idea:

Aye, as I said previously I have those very jack rubbers and used them with no problems. My daily has solid sills so no issues. Perhaps the Pandas sills are corroded and not fit to be jacked up this way. I’ve never had any problems, I cannot make it any clearer.

nitramtpr said:

the slot in that puck isn't very deep so it would still be putting all the pressure on the sill joint

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The slot in that puck does look a bit too shallow to clear the sill seam on the 169 Panda, and would probably need to be a deeper groove to be used on the Panda's jacking points.

I usually use a trolley jack with a block of wood on the reinforced body sections shown in jrkitching's linked post above. However, most of the 'chassis rail'-like structure under the car won't be strong enough to be used for jacking.

As I understand, the indicated jacking points are a reinforced section of the sill that can support the weight of the car, but you're right, care should be taken not to put pressure on the seam when jacking the car as it can be easily damaged.

The sill seam does appear to be quite deep on the 169, certainly deeper than on my MX5 (which can suffer similar damage to the sill seams being crushed by careless jacking).

jimboy said:

Bit confused as to what’s the issue here. The Jack is obviously for raising the car, once done the stands go under and takes the weight, Jack removed. I’ve made a spreader beam for raising the front of my daily runner, its fashioned to touch parts that won’t be affected under weight. Fairly easy to manufacture. Different cars will have different measurements, you don’t have to be an engineer to do this.

In saying all this, I haven’t figured in the state of your Pandas sills, are they corroded and not going to take any jacking?

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there isn't


however even on a new car the jacking area isn't that strong and often distort even with the factory jack.


its not unknown to have damage from new by the dealership


plenty of photo around especially from unhappy people in 500 forums


although not bad you can't tell what happing inside

koalar said:

there isn't


however even on a new car the jacking area isn't that strong and often distort even with the factory jack.


its not unknown to have damage from new by the dealership


plenty of photo around especially from unhappy people in 500 forums


although not bad you can't tell what happing inside

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Main dealer will never use the factory jack
The damage will likely be caused by using a two post lift on the sills

koalar said:

there isn't


however even on a new car the jacking area isn't that strong and often distort even with the factory jack.


its not unknown to have damage from new by the dealership


plenty of photo around especially from unhappy people in 500 forums


although not bad you can't tell what happing inside

Click to expand...

Ah well there you go. I’m not familiar with Pandas and 500s to that degree, I’ve never worked on any. I can only comment my findings on other vehicles. As said previously I’ve never had a problem jacking any vehicle although I’ve had to be careful on occasions, but came up with answers to situations.

chris3234 said:

Main dealer will never use the factory jack
The damage will likely be caused by using a two post lift on the sills

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thats how i see it


plus there very little weight over the rear


if there was a problem it should be mainly the front


15 year old car will have had its tyres changed many times.


it strange how they got crushed from new. But i would be overly concerned

I usually jack off the centre of the back axle with wood protection. AT the front I jack under the subframe bolts heads. I use axle stands under the sills jacking points. I got some 2 x 4 timber about 4" long and cut a deep slot along the length to fit over the sill joint flange. Three or four long screws across the remaining timber thickness stops them splitting. They do a great job on axle stands.

I made a pair using 1 x 1 timber screwed across some scraps of 1/2" plywood. They worked but did not last very long.

Bent sill flanges should be checked inside with a fibre optic camera. You can get smart phone attachments for not much money. Get any corrosion treated/repaired as necessary.

DaveMcT said:

I usually jack off the centre of the back axle with wood protection..

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But there is a label here when they are new. Don't jack here ????