Just thought I would share a recent experience involving jack pads for anyone who has them or is thinking about getting them. I'll apologize in advance if this is beating a dead horse, but since it just happened to me, I have to believe it has, or could, happen to others.

A little history first: I had a C5 for years that did not have pads installed. The vehicle had been to the same service dept many times and there was never any accidental damage to the rocker panels.

When I got my C6 about a year ago, I wanted to do be proactive and protect it by installing jack pads whenever it went in for service (at same service dept I always go to).

Well, the first couple times, no problems. However, the last time, the pads got caught on the lift and it ripped three of the four off, while chipping and cracking both rocker panels in the process! To the service depts' credit, they fessed-up to what happened before I picked-up the car and also offered to cover the damages. Of course, it would have been pretty difficult to try to slip that past me without noticing.

By the way, I always made it a point to tell the service writer that the pads were installed. I suppose maybe a note on the dash for the tech might have been more effective, but it's sort of a moot point now.

Anyway, my conclusion from this experience is that there is as much risk, if not more, of damaging the rocker panels from having jack pads installed, as there is from not having them installed. I know people have had damage without pads, but I went for years without pads and never had a problem.

I'm sure someone will ask what kind of pads I was using, and they were the rectangular BMW ones that many forum members use. I don't know, maybe they are too thick, but as a result of this experience I don't plan to reinstall any jack pads.

Anyone else have similar horror stories?

 

The only time my C6 has been on a lift since I bought it was at Discount Tire when I had a nail in a rear tire. I drove it ont their lift and then put the jack pads (the aluminum ones) in before they lifted.

I've used them a couple more times for oil changes where I drop the car down onto jack stands at the puck locations.

I don't think that leaving them installed full time is such a good idea. Of course for the aluminum ones you can't anyway. They'd eventually fall off.

 

+1......

the pucks are really for my use only....if they screw something up it'll be 100% their fault.

 

Good point.

Just trying to prevent/avoid the hassles of what just happend, though.

 

I also have had my C5 into the same place for servicing and have not had an issue. The new addition to the stable had yet to be in for service. I don't have JP's for either my 01 C5 or 08 C6.

Just had my 08 in for oil change and was feeling a little uneasy about it (maybe due to the fact they had scratched/dented up my fiancée’s car and didn't fess up) so was standing outside the bays when a "newbie" jumped in the car and headed off to the hoist in the last bay..

STOP!!!!

No pucks.. don't use that lift, you need to use that one over there, the drive on lift! "What you mean no pucks, what’s a puck" came his response..

Sure glad I was standing outside!

 

Wow, I guess I'm a little surprised they let you drive it on to the lift yourself. I'm sure you're a great driver, but it seems like a huge liability risk for them regardless of the skills of the driver.

 

No shop will allow you to drive onto a lift, reason: liability, employees are covered by the shop's insurance you are not.

 

I have the same Bimmer pucks. I keep them in the storage compartment in the back. I use them at home. I don't leave them installed. They are easy enough to pop in and out. I offer the dealership the option of using them. If they elect to use them or not, it's their choice and they can assume the liability.

 

Thank you for the heads up/warning on this.

 

Sounds like there's at least one.

Anyway, like I said, I was surprised by this for the very reason you stated.

 

Are you saying the pucks got ripped off driving on or off the lift, or did they get caught lowering the car? Am not sure what they did wrong.
I generally drive the car in position on a lift and then install the pucks. Don't think I would ever leave any type of pucks installed on the car since they would just be something else to drag on the street.

 

From what the service writer was telling me, it sounds like it happened when they were driving off the lift. I don't pretend to be an expert on all the different kinds of lifts they might use, but I believe he said they had it up on an alignment lift due to the type work they needed to do (fix the clunking anti-sway bar).

One of the mistakes I admittedly made is that when I first installed the pucks, I pushed the locking pins all the way in, which made it very difficult to get them off again. So, I just decided to leave them on and never had a problem bottoming-out or anything like that; that is, until this happened.

It sounds like many (some?) people have the benefit of watching (or even helping) their car get prepped for service in order to prevent these situations from happening. Unfortunately, my experience has always been that I drop the car off and they start working on it sometime later. Which, of course, means the car is at the mercy of whoever happens to be driving it in or out of the service bay.

Anyway, like I said, no more pucks for me. I never had any problems when I didn't have them, so I'll take my chances that way.

 

 

thx for info

 

Several months ago a semi-senile geezer suddenly pulled out in front of me and I t-boned him at about 30 mph. I got an ambulance ride to the hospital, and don't want to think what the neanderthal tow truck driver would have done to my car if the frame slots had been covered by pucks.
I've got a double set of the hockey pucks in my trunk storage compartment, another set at home in the garage, and gave a set to the Corvette tech at the dealership. He likes them.

 

Very sorry about the damage to your car.

I think there is more to the story than you are being told since they/you(?) were able to drive on the lift without problems. The mechanic probably did not lower the alignment lift completely and scraped the rocker panels and pucks as the car drove off the edge. Easy for them to blame it on the pucks instead of admitting a mistake.

 

I drove my C6 onto the lift a few months ago to have my Corsa exhaust system installed and drove my truck on to the lift today at a different shop to have a nail pulled out of a tire.

 

And that is the take-away from this thread.

 

This might vary from state to state. Discount tire has always had the customer drive it onto the lift. Then you go into the store and wait while they install the tires. Then you pay and get in and back it off the lift.

 

Never a problem for me. I don't really understand how that could happen? The lift should raise all four contact points at the same time at the same rate in a vertical motion. What happened?