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Are lifting pucks necessary?

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Are lifting pucks needed if putting up a 3 on a 2 post lift with round rubber pads? I have a car on order and was going to order a set of lifting pucks but wondering if I really need them. I know they are only $20 but its just another thing to keep track of if they never get used.
 
Are lifting pucks needed if putting up a 3 on a 2 post lift with round rubber pads?

No.
Round rubber pads (or hockey pucks in lifting cradles) will work just as well.
Tesla-specific pucks with centering nipple / shaft help to position the puck at the right lifting point, but you can accomplish the same with any other rubber pad. Same jack arm aiming process as with ANY other car.

I know they are only $20 but its just another thing to keep track of if they never get used.

Exactly!
I've ordered and have a set on Tesla pucks hand, but have stopped looking for them when I need to lift a TM3 for one reason or another. Standard hockey pucks in the saddle of my jacks work universally across all cars, and has a greater contact surface area.

YMMV,
a
 
No.
Round rubber pads (or hockey pucks in lifting cradles) will work just as well.
Tesla-specific pucks with centering nipple / shaft help to position the puck at the right lifting point, but you can accomplish the same with any other rubber pad. Same jack arm aiming process as with ANY other car.



Exactly!
I've ordered and have a set on Tesla pucks hand, but have stopped looking for them when I need to lift a TM3 for one reason or another. Standard hockey pucks in the saddle of my jacks work universally across all cars, and has a greater contact surface area.

YMMV,
a
Thanks for the info. I have a commercial car lift at home like shops have and it has round rubber pads on the lift arms used for unibody cars which just take a second to make sure they are paced correctly. I won't bother with the adapters.
 
For $20 why would you just not have them? They come in a bag, they are small and why risk damage to save $20 and a very small bit of space. Coming from the guy who bought them on Amazon for $23.

Yep. I picked up a set of 4 from Amazon, < $20, they have the hole guide with an o-ring so you can just press them into place, work great with my jack, it's a low profile model so even with the slightly lower P model, it slips right under the puck.
 
Twice we have needed tire repairs. Twice we needed to provide the puck to the tire shops. Not because they didn’t have lifts that would have worked without the pucks, but because all the lifts were in use. Providing the puck meant we didn’t have to wait for a lift to get free before our repair could be done. $20 to save time, twice, is a good deal.

If I have a flat at home (or can get home), I actually prefer to pull the wheel and take it to the tire shop. It's usually faster, you don't have to worry about how they jack up the car, use air tools on the lugs (ding the wheel, torque to the wrong spec), etc., so I got mine to assist in lifting the car at home. :)


Another thing - I shopped pucks and read the reviews. Many claimed their pucks had an awful smell. Read the reviews!

They do, mine do. It's a common thing with the sort of rubber that's used, just leave them out in the air for a week or so (mine came in a net type bag), and if you're keeping one in the car, just toss it in a ziplock :)
 
One thing the pucks do is show the mechanic exactly where the lift point is. If they get it wrong you're in for more than $20 of bother, lost time and possibly expense.

Another thing - I shopped pucks and read the reviews. Many claimed their pucks had an awful smell. Read the reviews!
In my case the only lift the car will go on is at a tesla service center or my own at home.
 
One thing the pucks do is show the mechanic exactly where the lift point is. If they get it wrong you're in for more than $20 of bother, lost time and possibly expense.

That's a nonsensical fear mongering. No car will withstand getting lifting arms placed under the soft under belly / floor pan / battery pack. All three types of unreinforced surfaces will bend and crumple, and "you will be in more than $20 of bother" with all three.
Alas, you don't read about this damage getting inflicted on cars daily, since even a random grease monkey can observe where they lifting points are. Hint - they are all in roughly the same spot on all cars.

Twice we have needed tire repairs. Twice we needed to provide the puck to the tire shops. Not because they didn’t have lifts that would have worked without the pucks, but because all the lifts were in use. Providing the puck meant we didn’t have to wait for a lift to get free before our repair could be done. $20 to save time, twice, is a good deal.

That makes ZERO sense.
If the tire shop needed to lift a car with a jack, they would be using the same lifting points as they would with a lift.
Lifting points can be identified correctly and a lifting surface positioned correctly underneath the right spot without "magic" aftermarket Tesla pucks.

Really, folks.
:rolleyes:
 
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That's a nonsensical fear mongering. No car will withstand getting lifting arms placed under the soft under belly / floor pan / battery pack. All three types of unreinforced surfaces will bend and crumple, and "you will be in more than $20 of bother" with all three.
Alas, you don't read about this damage getting inflicted on cars daily, since even a random grease monkey can observe where they lifting points are. Hint - they are all in roughly the same spot on all cars.
Pretty easy to google real world cases of tire shops screwing up and damaging Model 3s:

Also other brands for good measure in the same search:
tire shop jacked my bimmer wrong
Tire shop destroyed my rubber jack points

I think you have too much confidence in the competence of tire shops.
 
If I have a flat at home (or can get home), I actually prefer to pull the wheel and take it to the tire shop. It's usually faster, you don't have to worry about how they jack up the car, use air tools on the lugs (ding the wheel, torque to the wrong spec), etc., so I got mine to assist in lifting the car at home. :)




They do, mine do. It's a common thing with the sort of rubber that's used, just leave them out in the air for a week or so (mine came in a net type bag), and if you're keeping one in the car, just toss it in a ziplock :)
There are puck that don't smell. Better to buy those, no?
 
There are puck that don't smell. Better to buy those, no?

Well, I kinda like the smell, so I'm probably the wrong person to ask ...

o_O

Seriously though, these were reviewed as very solid, ~$18, and I was familiar with this sort of rubber so kind of didn't care. There was a "soft" option, maybe like Poly-U[?] that indicated "no smell", but someone in the review said they kind of deformed / squooshed down, so I went with mine.

[edit]

I was curious, so I just did a smell test, it's barely present after sitting out in the open for a week. :)



I have 4 solid aluminum jack pucks and they don't smell.

I seriously thought about this type, but they were all 2-3 days out and I needed something to have ready to get my new tire, so I went with the product that was available next day, but with more time, it's probably a better option. :cool:
 
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Again we are talking about $20 folks. You paid over $50k probably for your car and you really want to take a chance of “trusting” someone to lift the car properly. Why not make is almost 100% certain they will lift it properly for $20. Again $20. If there is a debate then obviously not everyone in the entire world at every shop that has a lift knows what they are doing. Even if just one mechanic f’d up a battery then why not. Again it is $20.