For the last 5 years I've been using hockey pucks for jacking my C5 on the frame rails. Works great, I even made them double-layer using Velcro so I could choose single or double thickness depending on the lift. Some folks have said that the concentration of weight in the little circle(s) can dish the frame upward in that area, but there has been absolutely no damage to my car. Perhaps the smaller, harder ones made from aluminum have a problem, but the hockey pucks have been perfect for me.

Problem is, I must get the guy working on the car to install/remove them, not a sure bet at a dealer. Especially if I'm not there. And my own memory isn't perfect- it IS possible to drive all the way from Mid-Ohio Sports Car Track to Chicago with a puck still in place...

So when someone posted about using BMW jacking pads that are designed snap into place on the rails, and leaving them there, I was enthused.

Today I stopped by the local Bimmer place and got two different styles of jack pads:
51-71-1-960-752 is round, 2 3/4" diameter, 5/8" thick, the one mentioned in previous threads.
51-71-7-001-650 is rectangular, 3 1/2" by 2 3/8", 3/4" thick.

I took the pads to the Chevy dealer where I have my C6 on order (woo-hoo, it gets built this week!) and held them up to the frame on a 2006 C6 vert and coupe- both cars seemed identical.

The round pad looks like it would NOT work, because it does not provide enough height- the plastic rocker panels on both cars hang down below the frame, more than I think on the C5. The result is that at least on these two sample cars, the shop lift would contact the rocker panel slightly before it contacted the pad. The pad is pretty hard stuff (nylon?) and won't compress much under load, but the rocker panels also seem very hard and rigid (compared to the doors, for example) and I'm guessing they would bend only a small amount before cracking.

The rectangular pad is about 1/4" thicker and should provide enough height. But when I tried to start its clip into place in the frame slot, it wouldn't go. Maybe it can be smacked into place but I didn't want to try that on a dealer's car in the showroom.

It sure would be nice to simply snap the BMW pads into place and forget about it, but not if they won't protect the rockers. And not if they won't fit into the slots anyway.

Let's save some bandwidth and agree in advance that the hockey pucks work great if you/dealer actually use them, and the aluminum ones also have satisfied users. But is there a way to make the BMW pads work properly????

 

 

 

After reading about the BMW pucks in an earlier thread, I bought them and snapped them right into place. I have used them several times to jack up my car with no issues.

I am also interested as to whether they will work for a lift.

 

SFHC6-
That's a good point- if you are using the pads as the actual jacking point, or using them with jack stands; they could work just fine even if the rocker panels hang down below the pad IF the jack face or jack stand is not too wide. I'm assuming that you are using the round pads, not the rectangular ones?

My dealer uses a lift with long side rails, so I need something that hangs down far enough to protect the full length of the rocker panels.

When installed in your car, are the BMW pads "tall" enough to hang down below the rocker panels, or are they like what i saw today- about flush with the rockers?

Is your car a 2005 or 2006? There shouldn't be any difference, but...

And did you need to force them into place or did they snap in easily?

 

My car is a 2005 model year. The BMW pucks are the round design. I was able to snap them into place by hand. They fit snug.

I see what you are saying about the rocker panels hanging down. I took a look and it is very close. It appears there might be a VERY slight difference between the puck and the panel (puck being lower), but I don't think that I would know until on the lift was in place... sorry.

 

Thanks for the reply, the place to be sorry is HERE, not in the shop.

It looks like the round pucks would not work for my purposes.

The rectangular ones could be tall enough but have two disadvantages that i didn't mention before: the sides have square corners, so they would be more likely to snag on something if left in place. Also, the center of the rectangular pad is deeply hollowed out and if a stand happens to fit into that hollow, then the effective height is gone.

Maybe I'll just figure out a way to mount regular hockey pucks semi-permanently, using a thin butterfly bolt or something similar so it would pull out without damaging the frame, if it snagged on something. Beveling the edges would also help but i don't have a hockey puck lathe.

 

Hockey pucks are thicker than BMW pucks and will give greater clearance. Are they as thick as the Elite aluminum pucks?

Will the hockey puck's slight compressibility v. non-compressible aluminum Elite pucks provide a better grab with the typical non flat top jack stand ?

Can the eye bolt tear in the hockey puck when only the front or rear of the car is jacked and the puck rests in the jack stand on an angle?

 

Well this is a real bummer. I purchased the BMW pucks and snapped them in place figuring that I had my protection in place at all times should the car need to be hoisted. As you say...better to learn here...but still, I (and I'm sure othersS) would really like a 'permanent' solution that doesn't require me or the mechanic remembering. That could be an expensive lesson!!

Someone needs to come up with thick enough pucks that can be left in.

Ummm........Ed?

 

Prof-

I haven't seen the machined aluminum pads from any vendor, so I don't know how the thickness compares. Without actually measuring, it does seem like whatever you use on the C6 needs to be about 1/4"-1/2" thicker than for a C5.

The hockey pucks do seem somewhat resistant to sliding on jack faces or jack stands. On my C5 I would use the floor jack (front crossmember) to put the front up on stands, then take the floor jack and raise the rear to put on stands also. There was no evidence that the pucks were about to slide on the frame or on the stands, no tendency for the eyebolts to pull- they just keep the hockey puck in place while putting the stand under it, they don't take any side load. I wouldn't want to be under the car while someone someone else was leaning on things. Also, I would NOT get under the car if just one end was on stands- even if the hockey pucks never slide, the whole stand could tip.

Cheers!

Jim

 

Thanks for the info, Jim.

Anyone know what the specs on the Elite pads are?

I'm wondering if they will fit the shape of my jackstands (shown below)better than the BMW or puck options. The BMW pad tapers but not enough to fit completely in the cradle, and its pretty slick polymer to boot.

 

The round BMW pads look like they might fit well in your stands, but without knowing the dimension of the stand top I can't be sure. Also, it looks like the upward bend on your stand top is not high enough to go past the BMW pads and hit your frame but again, I'd check the measurements. But it sounds like you did the measurements and they won't work. Bummer for Bimmer.

 

I have a set and, even though they're tapered, the diameter is a bit too great to fit in the cradle.

 

It looks like we're both back to square one on this. You comment about the possible slickness of the BMW pads is worth remembering, the hockey pucks are a little stickier and will deform very slightly into the frame cutouts which also helps.

Unless someone comes up with a new plan, I'm just going to do what I did for 5 years on my C5- keep a set of single pucks in my garage for my own work; keep a set of double pucks in the car held together with Velcro so I can use just 1 layer if needed. All sets have the eye-bolt insert so they stay in place while positioning the lift or stand.

Thank you all for your help.

 

I bought four pads from Mid America..(I think) and installed them thinking that the protection would be there if I forget to tell the shop (usually the dealer) about the round temporary pucks I carry in the car. These were square pucks that can remain on the car.
I am now concerned that the pucks might not be tall enough. I remember thinking that they were somewhat lower than the elite? pucks I bought a year or so ago. But brushed it off at the time, thinking some protection was better than what I would probably get if I depended upon the shop to remember to install my round pucks.

I will have to check again to satisfy myself that I am protected.
Oh well, another reason to get out in the garage and mess a bit with the car while it is cold.

Jim

 

OK, here's the specs:

Elite: 2 1/2" diameter x 1" thick
(Thanks to Elite Engineering for a lightning fast reply to my email!)

Hockey puck: 2 15/16" diameter x 15/16" thick

BMW: 2 3/4" tapers to 2 1/8" diameter x 9/16" thick
(On closer inspection, construction appears to be glass filled nylon which is incompressible.)