Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Ive used the same few pieces of 2x4 for a while now. Never had a split issue, though one of them does have a visible crack.
Never figured it mattered much as my floor jack, a Hein-Warner 2 ton has most of the lift area recessed... So a 2x4, cut to size, fits in there perfectly, and if it were to split, so what? It wont go anywhere.
I have been tempted to get some hockey pucks for this, just have not yet. The nice thing with wood, however, is that if you set it up right, it can spread some of the lifting force over a wider area. A good example is doing engine mounts on my Mercedes diesel engines... Heavy engines, that need to get lifted from underneath to make space to remove and install the mounts. Using two 2x8s over the jack sure is nice for preventing highly local force on the oil pan, a force that would still be highly local if a hockey puck or those red pads above were used. On a unibody, similarly, I like the idea of spreading the force...
I also have 1/4" sheet rubber that I use sometimes, depending upon the lift location and other criteria.
The big challenge are the rectangular recessed jack points on some euro cars. I actually cut two interlocking pieces of wood for my saab, and it works fine... But something better would be nice.
Anyone know if the square jack points on Euro cars are all of consistent size???
My first guess would be "no." - Different size cars, countries of manufacture.. Hey, even the Volvo has round ones!
As to the question of wood vs something else.. I have used wood, it never appeared to leave any marks or anything like that. Maybe split the wood once, but IIRC, if you are using wood on the jack then you are using cinder blocks as the jack stands. So you could be changing a tire or other stuff (in the engine maybe?).. Car ain't moving until you jack it back up and take those blocks out, then lower it back down.
And I really like those orange rubber pucks for the jack. What a great idea! I will have to use those, in the future.
