[dradernh]

This post is a bit off-topic, but the general subject is the same, so I thought I'd post it here. In the first two photos above, you can see that I'm using jack pads* between the rubber pads on my ESCO jack stands and the jack pads# attached to the car. See photo and link below to distinguish between the two.

I've got three sets of these jack pads that fit into the car's jack pad openings and provide a flat spot for my jack stands' rubber pads and for the lift pads at the shop. Their principal purpose is to keep shops' lift pads from tearing up the car's jack pads. While the car's jack pads are pretty sturdy plastic, shops' lift pads don't have too much trouble mangling them. Maybe it's operator error...I don't know.

* =


# = Part No. 51717169981 – https://www.bimmerworld.com/BMW-Supp...717169981.html

I'm sure many members here are familiar with jack pads like the one in the photo immediately above, and it's those pads and their use that this post is about. The issue is that it can be a bit of a chore fooling around with them as you are about to drop the car down onto both stands on a side.

This subject comes up regularly at the track, and another driver showed me his solution earlier this year. He's using plastic jack pads (i.e., the * pads between the jack stand and the car's mounted jack pads), and what he's done is to glue them in place. Bingo - no more playing around with jack pads.

A couple of things come to mind with that solution: how long will the glue hold, and will the distance the jack pads hang down below the car's jack pads affect the ability of a shop to fit its lift pads under the jack pads? Even if the glue doesn't hold indefinitely, the pads can probably be pinned to the car's jack pads, and then they'll remain in position until they're removed. And if the pads are too low for a shop's lift pads to fit underneath them, then the shop will have to roll the car up onto blocks to make room. This is already a common necessity with lowered cars that weren't very high to begin with.

An M4 driver suggested he might have the base/footing of his jack pads shortened/cut-down so that they don't hang down quite as far under the car's jack pads. Rather than using glue, he was thinking he would in some fashion permanently attach his jack pads to the car's jack pads.

Has anyone else given any thought to this or come up with a solution to get around playing with jack pads when setting the car down onto jack stands?