Local tire shop says they don't use jack lift pads on our cars

Tesla mobile service doesn’t use them all the time either. If you go under there, you will see that any rubber manual jack will fit that area just fine without causing issues.

 

I'm no expert but pretty sure the jack pads are designed to spread the load when you use a manual jack (single point). Most tire shops seem to use sled-type jacks that lift the car on a wide bed, distributing the load evenly, which is fine for the Tesla. Others please correct me if I'm wrong!

 

The main problem is the Jack point is recessed above the bottom of the battery. And it’s not a very large area. The jack pads are just a spacer that more or less focuses the lift to that recessed area. Most jack pads are smaller than the cup on a jack or a lift. If the the jack head is small enough and rubberized it will be fine. Some lifts have wide cups and that’s not good. Some lifts have fingers (some rubberized) that can be flipped up which would be fine. Jack pads just make it easier and compatible with more jacks and lifts. The jack pad brings the lift point below the battery.

My baby jack cup is to big. Most shops have much larger jacks with huge cups.

It all depends on what they have. I’d want to see the jack they use.

 

The local tire shop I go to (America's Tires) has their own set of jack pads, but I also carry my own set in the car.....

 

I do everything possible myself. Including hauling rims to the tire shop and mounting snows and hauling them back and installing them myself. But I also carry a set of jack pads for emergency and inspection.

 

Tesla themselves don't use the pads that all the owners seem to buy. As long as you lift with a flat object at the correct lift point, you are fine.

Many shops use blocks of wood or have other metal pads that they can change in the arms of their post lifts.

 

I get out my hockey pucs. They r the best, they fit on any Jack and work fine. Showing the guys the Jack mode is funny.

 

Why bother, it’s $30 for a set of 4

https://www.amazon.com/Seven-Sparta-Adapter-Protects-Battery/dp/B07QXXVD9Y

 

Because $30 is more than $0! lol it's funny that the photo on that Amazon listing shows the product on a flat jack that doesn't even require a pad

Why doesn't Tesla use these if they are so important is my main question

 

Umm, you’d want to use a jack pad with the jack shown in the listing. All the jacks I see have like ~4” cup. You can choose not to, but I wouldn’t risk boogering it up.

There are jacks that have smaller rubberized heads you can use directly though.

I replied to someone saying he was spending $20 on parts to make his own. My time is worth more than $10 to make them. Maybe you only make $10/hr and it’s worth it to you. It would take me a couple hours to make them and probably wouldn’t be as nice as the $30 set.

And you don’t want a puck with just a nub. You want the O-ring to hold it in or a super magnet.

 

My jack pads are about 2” X 4” rectangles. My hydraulic jack has about a 3” diameter rubber pad, but it also has metal teeth around the perimeter. I prefer to keep my rocker panels in good shape and not scratched or dented.

 

My local tire shops use the pads I have and thank me every time for bringing them.

 

My time is valuable, but I consider fiddling around with the car as leisure time, so screw the value. If you use old hockey pucks they cost you nothing. If you buy 4 from Dicks, they cost about $16. Drill a hole half way thru the puck. Pour some glue in the hole. Push a piece of leftover something in the hole. I used ¾" PEX. Wrap hockey tape around the PEX, to create a friction fit, when you insert it in the jack hole under the rockers. Voila. 15mins.


Recently, took my car in to get snow tires put on, at local tire shop. They weren't mounted, otherwise I'd swap them myself. When I got to the tire shop, I stuck my jackpads in, and let them hang, friction fit. Then I told the tire shop I had already put my pucks in so they couldn't miss the lift points. Everyone was fine with that. I deliberately got the salmon-colored "practice" pucks for easier visibility.

Now, it's possible, that a shop may put their jack arms under the suspension arm, and bypass the rockers altogether.

 

One of my coworkers did his own too with hockey pucks. I try to avoid using power tools so I don't hurt myself so I just get them from Amazon like I did with everything else LOL!

 

This is the correct answer...

 

Exactly what I do too. The other benefit is (at least at Discount Tire) that they generally can get a loose tire/wheel serviced faster than if it was on the car.

I got the Reverse Logic jack pads, high quality & I’d recommend them if you don’t want to DIY.