Does the dealer have jacking pucks or do you have to purchase before taking to dealer for service

 

A Chevy dealer will have everything they need to get the car in the air. Buy the pucks if you like to do things yourself, or in case of an emergency.

 

Best to call the dealer. The jacking pucks are cheap, order some to have on standby. The pucks for the C-7 will fit the C8.

 

Any dealer who has any experience working on the C8 should have their own set. I would imagine there are several techs who have crafted their own set if they work on enough of them.

Since I sometimes do my own work on the car, I purchased a set of (I do not know why the link goes to Walmart when I got them from Amazon) and leave them installed since they bolt in place. I was just in for my first 7,500 miles service yesterday and told the dealer they were installed, which they seemed to appreciate and used them with no problem. Like you will see above, it is not really the dealer you need to worry about (usually), it will be the time where you have a tire blow out or working on it at home where you will want to have a lifting puck handy at a moments notice. The other big benefit of having the pucks installed all the time is that there is less chance of a shop trying to lift the car using the wrong lifting point. Since I chose the red color pucks it is pretty obvious where to place the lift pads to raise the car.

 

I'm taking my C8 in for service this morning. I was going to have the tech install my jacking pucks while he has the car in the air. Should the pucks be installed with red or blue Loctite to keep the bolts from loosening?

 

I did not use Loctite and they have been in now for over 6,000 miles. If you do not already have them installed, I don't know if I would ask them to use yours since I am guessing they have their own set. You can't have them installed "while the car is in the air" since by that time the lifting arms are already in use on the lifting points.

 

Blue Loctite would allow the pucks to be removed at a later date if you wanted. They will never come off with Red Loctite.

Um, you install them when the car is on the ground. They are installed at the lift points for a lift or floor jack. Well unless your dealer has a drive-on lift. You don't see many of them anymore at service stations/dealers...



-Bob

 

Doh! I forgot about the lift points being in use. I'll get some blue Loctite and also talk to the service mgr about getting them installed while on the ground.

I only have 500 miles on the car (delivered Jan 15th) but It's a fantastic ride!
Bob

 

Is there a good reason to pick aluminum (I assume those in the Amazon link above are) vs the rubber kind? I kind of like the idea of the bolt in place.

 

The dealer might BUT understand how mechanics work! They have their own tools they buy. IF they want to "Check Out" and "Return" any special tools the dealer bought for a specific model they usually have to go to the parts department, where many are kept, sign out for the part and return it! Don't return, they may be charged!

Any mechanic worth his or her salt makes money by besting the GM allotted time for a specific job and getting commission. Most will not spend that extra time! They may use a block of wood (if your lucky) but most will not spring for the money to buy jack pads for YOUR CAR! Just the way it is!

My Experience:
Many years ago was working on my Corvair and needed a special tool. My Uncle was the service manager at a large Chevy Dealer (the same one that helped when I stuffed and Old engine in m y 1st car a '41 Ford Coupe!) I asked if I could borrow the tool. It was in a plastic case and had never been used! I asked why and he said a mechanic will use whatever they can to beat the GM allotted time, sometimes a crowbar! They won't take the time to check out special tools if they can improvise! That's why they hate Corvairs as they have V8 and 6 cylinder Chevy's to where they know how to beat the times!

For my C6, would bring my four 1" high jack pads and put in a clear plastic bag on the passenger seat and tell the Chevy Service Writer "Be Sure The Tech Uses Them. She'd write that on the sheet BUT DID THEY??

First time I brought my 1 month old C7 because GM sent a notice to have the dif fluid level checked, I did the same. The writer knew I was fussy and said: "Don't worry I'll have them use our drive on alignment rack" (they had one, all other ~20 were center post lifts.) "They just cracked a Corvette rocker panel and it's in the body shop being repaired."

Since my C8 was the first the Corvette Tech at the new small Chevy dealer I now go to 30 miles away versus the dealer in town I brought pic below and we discussed the use of Jack Pads to assure it was lifted on the frame where GM advised. I handed him my pads and Pic a week before my car arrived and he did my PDI! He had not seen the pic and agreed best to have those in place before he used his center post lift arm pads!

Your Car Your Choice!


This is an advantage of having 1" high Pads. When the Tech did my 1 year service including replacing the DCT filter the rear aero panel had to be removed. There are two bolts on each side that cannot be removed with the lift pads on the GM oval slot. Need ~1" clearence to get them out!
Bottom pic is Conti's tech Chuck who is excellent BUT notice he uses his lift arm pads NOT Jack Pads in the oval slots. In fact in this pic from a video he is reaching in with his hand. PIA to put your head on the ground to see the oval slot (try to find the slot yourself!) In a video Chuck said when they were removing those 4 bolts for a DCT filter change they had to lower and lift the car serval time to access!
I keep my 4 jack pads in my Frunk tool bag. Never know when I might have to bring the car for a tire issue! Unlikely have Corvette Jack Pads

 

In my opinon, not really. I have three different sets. An extra tall aluminum set, two inches tall, which I thought would be necessary due to my, now removed, side skirts. They are beautiful but unnecessary and, in fact, although they can be used with a floor jack, they are too tall for use with my lift as I cannot get the lift arms under them since the arms are about 4 inches off the ground. They were about $89. A regular height rubber set which I bought off of Amazon for $19.99 for the C5, C6 & C7 but which, as noted elsewhere, also fit the C8. These are my go to pucks, cheap and effective. I believe they were called the Mapleza Jack Pad Lifting Kit or something to that effect. I also have another set of hard plastic very short pucks, which I have spray painted flourescent orange and keep in the frunk in case I am ever out anywhere and need to have the car lifted. They are actually for BMWs but snap right into the later generation Corvette jacking puck holes and are about the same 2 inch diameter size as the stock jacking pucks. They snap in the hole and then can be pulled out once you are done. As I mentioned, these are just in case I am not at home and need to get the car lifted. I looked briefly but could not find the information on them. If anyone is really interested, please PM me and I will look further.

 

Bruiser and heisnuts
All done and the dealer only charged me $20.00 to install the pucks. I know its not a hard job and I could have done it myself but it's cold outside and, with two fake knees, it's hard to get up off the ground.

 

I used my C7 pads on my C8... They are "permanently" installed and Red so hopefully any tech will notice them

 

This. Hockey pucks work perfectly for DIY stuff at home.

 

If your dealer doesn't have jacking pucks, that's an excellent warning that you should not let them work on your Corvette.

 

Does it look like the dealer used the lifting pads or not?

 

One of the first things I did when I finally after 13 1/2 months and I drove my C8 Corvette home was to install a set of "permanent" screwed in jacking pucks. I have told everyone who decides to do this to make sure they put Loctite on the adjusting screws after locating them.

 

^ Yep I agree, as I know two C7 owners who had their permanent pucks fly out and take gashes out of the side of their C7s. So Loctite is a great idea.

Personally I prefer these. Takes about 120 seconds to install them.

 

20 bucks seem like a good deal to me. I don't have bad knees but crawling around under cars is getting harder and harder

I was/am planning on installing them on my car too but then I read above they can fly off... I wonder if that was just some fluke incident?

-Bob