Have had my C6 for just over a month and read about potential problems with jacking or lifting a corvette. So I took the advice in some of the earlier threads on the subject an got a set of BMW jacking pads. They snap right on stay in place and not visible unless you look under. Cost at the local BMW dealer $6.45. I can't believe that GM would design a car that needs pucks to lift it off the ground without damaging the rocker panels. Thanks to the previous posters for the info. New C6 owners may want to check this subject out.

 

Be clear - you do NOT need pucks to lift the car without damage. You DO need pucks to have the car lifted by idiots that don't know what they are doing or don't give a chit how they do it. Even you provide pucks and directions, sometimes it is a crap shoot.

 

Sorry. You are correct. But there is not a large margin of error for lifting. The lifting point is above the rocker panel and real close.

 

 

Do you just ask for jacking pucks at BMW? Got a part number?

 

BMW part # 51 71 1 960 752. I believe it's for a 2004 325i.

 

Seems I'm a day late and a dollar short (well, in this case, $63.54 short). Yesterday I ordered some items from Eckler's and one was a set of lifting pucks for 69.99

I guess since I paid so much for them I had better take care of them. Where is my Zaino?

 

$6.45 only??? Wow, the price is right. Looks like I need to pay a visit my local Beemer dealer. They must get a real kick out of us Corvette folks stopping by to buy their jacking pucks...

 

I'm sure that's $6.45 each...for a set of four (4).

To the OP....it's your decision but I would not leave the jacking pucks installed 24/7. If you're car breaks-down on the road, the towing service will need to utilize the oval frame slots to affix J-hooks on their cable(s) to winch your car up onto the flatbed. In which case, you will have to remove the jacking pucks.

I don't know about you but if my car breaks-down I'm already PO'd. I don't want the added aggravation of (potentially) having to lay in the rain and mud alongside a busy freeway trying to remove my jacking pucks before the tow truck arrives. I'll get to the service facility before they start working on the car and snap them in myself. I'd much rather carry them in the storage cubby and install them as needed.

Although I think they improve with use, my BMW jacking pucks required a fair amount of prying and leverage to remove. A large flat head screw driver was needed to pry them loose. I modified my rectangular BMW jacking pucks per a DIY thread posted some time ago....I drilled part-way down into the center pins and then screwed-in a small, brass screw....leaving the heads and a small amount of the screw shaft sticking-out. This made it much easier to grasp the center pins and easier to remove the jacking pucks.

 

I keep mine with me in the back storage - never know..on the road...car gets towed in somewhere..whatever. I have to keep them somewhere...BTW I didn't think you could buy anything for a BMW that cheap - what are they thinking?

 

Hocky pucks with eye bolts .......................

 

Had not thought about the towing issue, thanks for the heads up. But thats the beauty of the forum, people spread their knowledge of the subjects. How do they tow a corvette?

Yes that was $6.45 each, but you can buy any number you want. I too was surprised at the price. I called the local BMW dealer (Ferman BMW) and asked if they had them and what was the price. When they told me $6.45 I jumped in the car and got 4. I think it was their last 4 pucks.

 

I bought these from Mid-America.

http://www.madvet.com/shop?frame=1.3064

 

Everytime I see one of these threads on jacking pucks, I just can't resist referring owners to the pucks available on ebay. Yes, they are Hockey pucks BUT they work perfectly and in a couple ways are better than some to the much higher priced units available.

I agree with one other poster who doesn't like leaving the pucks installed. IMO, that just isn't necessary unless you jack your car up everyday for something.

Go to ebay and do a search for: Jacking Pucks and Bag to see the same pucks I've been using for almost two years now. The included vinyl bag works great for storing the pucks in the rear compartment.

 

It's not that you're going to be using them regularly. It's that the OTHER person who lifts your car the ONE time you don't happen to be around to run interference isn't aware of the need for them and cracks your rocker panel(s).

The rocker panels are glued to the frame of your car and integrated with the door pillar...so replacing them is extremely difficult and expensive. So if they're damaged (which is not uncommon if you read posts here) you will end up with a much lighter wallet or repaired rockers.

It's no guarantee, but it is cheap insurance to just put them in and leave them in IMO.

 

I used to think exactly the same thing you just wrote until a fellow owner went into the shop area to check on his car to find the technician just bringing the rack up against his car. He could see immediately that the lift arms were not in the proper location. The technician was actually using old disc brake pads as a form of puck But in the wrong location on the frame. The owner stopped the guy and pointed out that he had the BMW pucks installed. The owner told me that even he could see how the pucks got missed because they were black in color to begin with and the fact that they had been under his car for a few months just made matters worse. After that ordeal, he actually considered painting the pucks white to make them more visible.

The few times that I've had to leave my car at the dealership, I take the service writer out to my car and install my pucks in front of him so that there can be no confusion as to what is to be done. I have him put a note on the service order about the fact that the pucks have been installed and are to be used for lifting the car.

I almost blew it the last time at the dealership. I needed to have the diff fluid changed, you know, the rock crunching sound. I assumed that because the dealership has a separate building with a drive on rack for doing quick oil changes, that my work would be done there. I went ahead and asked about where the work on my car would be done and I was told it would be out in the regular shop, no drive on ramps. I went and got my pucks.

 

I just use an old hockey puck... Unless I am missing something, it seems to work just fine.

 

Anytime I'm there I always check with the mechanic to make sure he is aware of the pucks. However, there have been a couple of times the car has been worked on that I haven't been there. Having the pucks in did not guarantee that it would be lifted using the pucks....but it increases the chances that it will be. That's why I leave mine in. So far so good for me (knock on wood).

 

If anyone cares, I bought rectangular ones from Bavarian Autosport (bavauto.com - part # 51 71 8 268 885) when my local BMW dealership (Hendricks in Pleasanton CA) wanted ~$17 EACH for the same thing (yes, I gave them a part #)! Paid $6 bucks each for a set of 4. Perfect fit. I leave 'em on. However, I have noticed recently that from a distance even on a level surface (like in a large parking lot) you can see them. Interesting that my 328i came stock with similar (lower profile) pucks.

FM

 

With all the business we've sent Bavarian Autosport they should become a Corvette Forum sponsor.