I know that Jacking Points have been discussed here before but I cant find a specific answer to this. I wish to jack the car up on the sill using an hydraulic jack, the jack is not easy to get under the car whilst the wheels are still on so the sill is the obvious place rather than under the suspension arm supports. Can anyone tell me if the sill jacking point has a strengthened seam or whether the area either side of the seam is strengthened to support the weight, in which case I will have to make a small jack-pad with a groove in it. Looking at the sill I would guess that the sill seam is not strong enough to safely take the weight without bending.
Jacking Point
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If you want to get your jack under the car, drive one of the wheels up on to a couple of paving slabs/bricks/timber or similar first to raise the car,you can ever built a small ramp up to your slabs/timber etc so it's not such a jolt, then you will easily get your jack under
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Thanks for the reply. I had considered driving up on slabs etc and I agree a suspension mount support, or solid chassis point would ultimately be stronger, however it would still sometimes be more convenient to use the sill, and as the sill jacking points are actually designed to take a jack I am happy to use the sill mounts with the hydraulic jack but I need to know whether the sill 'seam' would bend if jacked with a flat jack pad or whether a grooved pad should be used to so the weight is actually taken on the sill itself. I understand that different vehicles are different in this respect e.g Citroen Xsara Picasso have strengthened sill 'seam' but an Audi A3 has a strengthened sill area itself. I suspect that the Mk3 Leon does not have a strengthened sill seam as it doesn't look very thick at the jacking point.
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Yes as you say it is sometimes easier just to use the sill.
The actual sill isnt thick enough to be jacked on ( the horizontal bit ) as you said, but if you jack on the 4 inch raised bit ( the raised portion on the vertical seam) which I think is the jacking point for the supplied wheel changing jack ?
I've jacked mine on that point using a 3 ton trolley jack, it has quite a wide flat pad which I put under the 4 inch raised bit of the cars vertical sill seam with a flat bit of rubber to stop it slipping or scratching the point it touches the car.
I had mine jacked up on that for a couple of hours with no issues.
hope that helps and makes sense
Not tried it yet but I have ordered one of the cut ice hockeys pucks from EBay for a mk7 Golf, sounds like Golf, A3 and Leon all use the same jacking points and jack on the bottom of the seam now. Only about £5.
I used similar but different profile puck on an 8P Audi A3 and Mk V golf without any problems.
I used similar but different profile puck on an 8P Audi A3 and Mk V golf without any problems.
I have seen these.When you receive it I would be grateful if you could let me know if they appear to give the correct support.
I have one of those, not jacked the car up yet as im waiting for my wheels (still!) but looked like it would do the job. I'll line it up against the sill later and see how it sits.
Also found this kit from ECS, prices in dollars but sure there is a UK supplier:
Just add www at begining as I'm new and can't post links. ecstuning.com/Volkswagen-Golf_VII--2.0T_Gen3/ES251835/
As some parts are noted as genuine then looks like all except the adapter could be found at a VW dealer?
Usual debates about only jacking on one point and damaging the car will no doubt occur and I can't vouch either way if this may or may not happen.
This looks even better if 3x the price! (www). .jackpointjackstands.com
Just add www at begining as I'm new and can't post links. ecstuning.com/Volkswagen-Golf_VII--2.0T_Gen3/ES251835/
As some parts are noted as genuine then looks like all except the adapter could be found at a VW dealer?
Usual debates about only jacking on one point and damaging the car will no doubt occur and I can't vouch either way if this may or may not happen.
This looks even better if 3x the price! (www). .jackpointjackstands.com
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I was gonna fit the S3 jacking plugs but i heard some people had issues with the floor bending as its supposed to be reinforced and then only used to jack up all 4 at the same time. shame, they look really handy if they i knew for sure they would not damage my car.
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i use a trolley jack under the sill jacking point and its fine i just put 3mm piece of leather between sill and jack to stop it from any damage
glad I bought a low-clearance "sports" jack - slides under easy as anything, and has a soft pad built-in...
not sure what you guys are referring to really, i jacked up my cupra yesterday to get underneath it with the jack that was in the boot and found the jacking point fine, its just a bit of the underside of the car which is slightly recessed compared to the rest of the chassis. I found it straight away (granted i checked the manual after finding it to verify that was the right bit).
how is this not a "proper jacking point"?
(forgive my ignorance on the matter, I am not a clever man when it comes to cars)
how is this not a "proper jacking point"?
(forgive my ignorance on the matter, I am not a clever man when it comes to cars)
The jack in the boot is made to fit the part you jacked on where as a trolley Jack has a round head so it doesn't sit so well on that part of the sill.
I bought one of the jacking pads off eBay but havnt actually tried it yet with the trolley Jack.
I asked Seat the question a while ago and they basically said the only Jack you should use is the one from the boot.
ah i see. makes sense. a bit short sighted of seat to do that. what do they expect tyre changing places to do when they need to change ya tyres? they're not going to want to sit there and wind up the old manual little jack each time. 
If I also had a jack instead of the included puncture repair kit I wouldnt hesitate in using it
As you have a Seat jack can you tell me if the 'weight' of the car with this jack is taken on the 'lip' of the sill or is the lip just there to guide the grooved jack head to sit in contact with the sill-proper. If its the Sill 'lip' that should take the weight, the EBay grooved hard-rubber hockey puck type jack pads are not really necessary as long as some care is taken. My initial impression when looking at the sill though was that the jacking point,although slightly protruding from the rest of the sill lip, didn't look particularly reinforced?
Not looked too closely at the factory jack yet but will be fine for an emergency wheel change. However, normally known as a widow maker so a proper trolley jack is considered the better option for maintenance tasks. To protect the underbody from the metal head of the trolley jack and prevent underseal being damaged is why the puck is good but a wooden block or some other padding is OK too.
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