Hockey puck. Cheap. Ideal for the job. Can be notched with a hacksaw if required.

My Weber trolley jack has a rubber pad, should be possible to cut one, to suit a jack without a suitable hole for the right pad, out of a piece of hard rubber, section of car tyre tread would be ideal.

I've never liked the idea of putting something loose between jack, and jacking point, so have just always been careful about positioning the jack

All the (many) Peugeots I have owned come with a jack designed to fit on the jacking points without fear of movement.

I don't see any need to spend money getting a special lump of softish material for this job.

I take your point, its just that proper trolley jacks, and the OP did mention trolley jack as i recall, come with a hole in the lifting plate into which fits the cup, which also has a hole to accept the correct rubber pad which fits snugly in the cup and is held firmly in place, this obviously doesn't apply to small £30 jacks with a cup that could double as an eggcup.

I use a offcut rectangular block of woood with a sawcut down the middle into which the vertical section of the sill sits..

Easy and cost free.. and when it breaks, make another...

If you are still functional.

I don't generallyl like wood (especially softwoods) in this application because it can split down the grain.

Railways are good sources of useful bits (eg sleeper cleats) also some industrial flloor tiles, and rubber mounting blocks for aircon equipment.

Scaffolding foot pads would probably be good too but I havn't seen any lying around yet.

Edited by edlithgow on 03/02/2020 at 18:41

I use a offcut rectangular block of woood with a sawcut down the middle into which the vertical section of the sill sits..

I don't generallyl like wood (especially softwoods) in this application because it can split down the grain.

Been using wood since the 1970's and never had a single issue. It will of course split if you put the grain along the sill section but put the load across the grain and you will never have an issue.

My current blocks were made from a piece of surplus decking which is about 1 1/2" thick (not the cheapo Wickes stuff). It is certainly more dense than the typical softwood you get.

But do not use the machined groves to locate the block, these are along the grain and the block will split.

I recall reading somewhere that Volvo had an electronic manual built into the infotainment system but I could be wrong.

If tyre fitters can't jack up a standard ICE vehicle without causing damage then heaven help EV owners. Some EVs can't be jacked but only lifted on ramps apparently.

Edited by Penumbra on 04/02/2020 at 16:26

I believe a lot of new cars are sold without a jack and the sort of jacks that suit my needs are supplied without an appropriate pad / cushion etc.

I get a lot of satisfaction from working on my cars and would not expect anyone else to go to the extremes that I go to i.e If I dust my brakes I will de glaze the pads / shoes clean and appropriately lube all parts. I then scrub the wheel and clean inside the arches, wire brushing anything that may look a bit suspect, this is followed by a few squirts of grease on bleed nipples / brake pipes/ nuts and bolts etc.

Front brakes would take about as long as the Sunday roast takes my wife to cook. so I simply pace myself whenever I have a few minute spare.