Thanks for pointing out the bolt into the subframe. Modern vehicles aren't designed to be jacked up, everyone is supposed to take their car to a dealer where it goes up on the hoist for servicing. Back in the day, there were good, wide jacking points at all 4 corners of every vehicle. Now it's just a narrow piece of rolled metal only designed to work once or twice if there's a flat tyre.....
Also If you have a bigger jack and can't get the bolt to sit properly I use the cylindrical part between the two bolts, the jacking point wraps around that bracket and it can't really go anywhere. Also if you remove the wheels another very quick safety tip : Put one wheel under the car.
Great video. I wish I'd watched this video a few hours sooner and learned the trick of using a piece of carpet before I used my jack. Then I wouldn't have damaged my paint :(
We have a 2001 golf my wife’s car.every year I put the winter tires on using the jack supplied with the car and it is a monumental failure as far as jacking points go.I do it on a level shop surface and to say it is sketchy is an understatement. If you ever had to do this at roadside it would be dangerous to say the least it is a slow and tedious chore that should be addressed by the manufacturer. Even with the supplied jack in the correct position it constitutes a danger and I have had the car slip off the jack while in operation
And also important to mention, may seem a minor thing but always remember to only jack up your car in bare feet, never wear shoes or boots (light sandals if you are in a bind). And if you are struggling to remember use the handy acronym "BWASF" or BeWare A Shoed Foot.
Just a pointer. It's safer to orient the Jack stands so that the tug lever that releases the jack stand is away from vehicle periphery i.e inwards from the side of the vehicle. This avoids anyone walking by ( say in a building parking lot/garage) flipping their foot on that lever when you're underneath the vehicle!
You can't lift the lever with the car's weight on it. If you were working on the car with heavy tools or a hammer it's remotely conceivable you could knock it, or if you were completely inattentive a jack might catch it as you lift up, so it's best practice to place the lever handle simply away from your work area. Don't worry about passer-bys.
Craig's DIY Car I'd almost agree with you because I'm yet to see such a thing happen ! But then one sees things such as this: ua-cam.com/video/G7_Aa8pbM7Y/v-deo.html.🧐
That video shows the cam action of the lever working precisely as intended. Don't put a pry bar on the lever and lift up the ton of weight that's holding it in place while you're under the car, and your jack stand won't drop. That's like saying don't hold a weight over your head and let it go. It's not that failure isn't a concern, but you're just not going to release those handles by accidentally kicking them. If you're worried about general failure, use stands with safety pins. As featured in my video here: ua-cam.com/video/XW4L2SfsatQ/v-deo.html
Flo 79 Same here, what a relief 😅 to find this. There r absolutely no videos anywhere regarding newer model VW' jack points aside from the reinforced skirts. Thank god, this makes working on both wheels simultaneously so much easier. Thank u so much for this video Craig!!!
Ok I tried both ways on my Skoda fabia. Is better to use designated sill Jack point for Jack stand (used a piece of 10mm hard rubber in between) and lift as Craig showed.. even like that I manage to change oil without getting under the car by removing right tyre in order to access and remove the oil screw.
By the way! If using a funnel to collect oil, hold the oil screw well otherwise it will block up the flow into the funnel and you will end in a big mess :( ... for the oil filter (which is badly located in my car with no space to manoeuvre) I used a three jaw universal oil filter wrench from the top or car bonnet which is not ideal but cheap and did the job safely. Hopefully, a bit of oil on the new filter seal will make it easier next time. :)
take a big piece of wood and jack the car left on the rim (further away from the front wheel). This will give room to place the stand. If the piece of wood is large enough, the forces are divided over a larger area and no damage will be done to the rim.
Nice video, and really good lighting! Is there a reason you used one bolt on the side of the subframe bracket, instead of the U-shaped subframe itself?
The bolt is a direct steel connection to the chassis and the aluminium there is just a block in compression if you lift on it - the "U" (the bushing housing) is an aluminium casting that is cantilevered off that bolt and is not designed to take the car's weight, if you jack on it you might fracture it.
@@CraigsDIY That's a very good point! But... on the other hand, by placing the jack on the steel bolt, we're now transferring the load to a combination of the aluminum square flange... and the threads of the bolt. So it's not the thick steel bolt column supporting the weight, it's only the very thin steel threads of the bolt. As well as the aluminum square flange. So while we do gain the steel thread strength advantage, we're also using a weaker part of the aluminum structure (the square box aluminum flange instead of the curved arch of aluminum), as an arch shape is inherently stronger than a square shape, w/r/t compression forces. In reality, anecdotally, I'm sure both methods (jacking via the arch, vs jacking via the bolt head) are "fine". But as an engineer (although electrical, not mechanical), I'd love to see a force analysis diagram that really explained which method is better. In particular, I'm quite curious... as to how much of the load (when jacking by the bolt head) is transferred to the bolt threads, vs being transferred to the square flange (via the lip of the bolt)? Stepping back to the 40,000 foot level, why oh why doesn't VW simply include another inch or two of reinforced jacking pinch weld length? It would cost only a few pennies, and would be immensely useful! These are meant to be "enthusiast" cars, so they should make it enthusiast friendly. Perhaps the reason is lawyers? There was probably an instance where someone jacked up a car incorrectly (using a longer pinch weld reinforced area), and somehow managed to injure themselves. Your thoughts?
Those are only for putting the car on a 4 point lift. Some people have installed those rubber plug bumper things and had no problem, but I'm not confident enough to jack my car that way.
the problem is that the user manual said if your dont jack the vehicle from that 4 jack default it could damage your car. is it really safe to jack from joint under the car
as long as it's structural or something like a suspension attachment point then you know it is strong enough. many have used the alternative points given in this video
!! Please reply !! I accidentally put the jack too far forward, that is at the closest point to the front wheels. So next to the dimple (left side since I was jacking the left side) It has crumpled up a bit but will it have caused any serious damage? No visible issues.
If you mean at the pinch weld (the seam at the outside), it's mostly cosmetic damage. If you've broken any undercoating or paint, you might then get rust, which has to be stopped.
@@CraigsDIY I heard faint creaking noises and immediately stopped and lowered the car when I noticed. I really don’t think there is anything serious, the weld just looks crumpled up at that point now
Can you use the scissor jack that comes with the car to lift it up the same way as in this video? I have a Jetta and wanted to do this but not sure if that would work
The scissor jack is designed to be used on the under-sill where marked, as shown at the video start. There is probably just room to put an axle stand next to the jack, unlike the floor jack shown. If not then you'd have to say there's no safe way to use the scissor jack for anything involving getting under the car.
Are you sure, do you do one side than the other and then go back to the starting side and lift it even more and repeat on the other side?. I got some bullshit jack and stands for cheap and it doesn't go high enough, if you have any tips...
@@brilliantradience from mk5 jetta...which I'm sure isn't much different...I have a jack that can go 22" up but maybe a small block of wood would help you.. Anyway...I'd jack the car up on the designated front point, high enough to lift the rear tire, then put stand on designated rear jack point and a stand under the front control arm attachment (where guy in video is jacking) and let car down. Then do same for other side. It can get a little sketchy when doing other side as the one jack+two stand combo from the first side isn't very planted. Get the final two stands in place quickly lol. Good luck.
Cars like this should never be produced! Seriously how can vag technicians would expect those rocker panels will not rust if that paint work is crushed with 400 kg force every time you lift your car. See bmws lifting points- now that is engineering or some audi. On my new vw car those rocker panel points crushed at second lifting on dealer elevator 😒 so dissapointed
bare feet is very dangerous, I once went to the beach in my bare feet the sand was so hot it nearly burnt my feet, so maybe wear steel capped boots....wibble
That rearward bushing is aluminum. I dont know if I'd be lifting at that point. VW in the horror of a manufacturer they are, also left the stand seats too close to the pinch weld. Making it near impossible to place a stand as the Jack rolls inward during lift
It's perfectly strong, you are lifting in compression against the subframe above as explained. Moreover, assuming the jack pad is suitable, you're actually lifting on the steel bolt, also in compression against the subframe, and the bushing body takes no force.
@@CraigsDIY the ears on the Jack's cup may slip on chip the lite aluminum housing. On my passat the pinch weld and stand placement area are too close as the Jack rolls on lift. I use a Jack bat. Rilling the pad higher at the pinch weld and lift. Then place the stand in the designated spot (4 inches in from pinch weld). It is a pain. Unlike my Toyota which can be center jacked and stands placed easily
People are too paranoid about aluminum, they think a probably ten pound casting like that is foil, but these are the same people that will happily put a cast iron steering knuckle on a press and put 20 tons on it to get out a bearing. Despite the fact almost any cast iron is both weaker in tensile strength and brittle compared to a modern aluminum alloy. That piece is supporting that entire corner of the cars weight, it doesn't care if that weight is coming through the suspension from the wheel or from a jack. Could you gouge it with a steel chisel? Yeah. Is that the same as compressing it over a wider area with a jack? No.
Jacking on the control arm is not a good practice. It's not designed as a location to bear a point load, it's a pivot point, and doesn't bear the weight of the car. There are other locations on the subframe behind the jack point that are safe to use, but don't help with getting the jackstands in position either. Really stupid design by VW. Really stupid and unsafe.
Not jacking on the control arm. Load is being applied to the bracket bolt which is tightly compressed against the bracket and rigidly connected to the car frame. Are forces are in compression and everything is more than strong enough.
I never knew about the dimples before! If I found them in my own I would have assumed it was just damage.
Thanks for pointing out the bolt into the subframe. Modern vehicles aren't designed to be jacked up, everyone is supposed to take their car to a dealer where it goes up on the hoist for servicing. Back in the day, there were good, wide jacking points at all 4 corners of every vehicle. Now it's just a narrow piece of rolled metal only designed to work once or twice if there's a flat tyre.....
Very informative, this helps a lot since I've been struggling with my MKV Rabbit. Thank you!
Very helpful. VW owners manual explains nothing about finding the jack points. Thanks.
Perfect DIY with all saftey features !
Also If you have a bigger jack and can't get the bolt to sit properly I use the cylindrical part between the two bolts, the jacking point wraps around that bracket and it can't really go anywhere. Also if you remove the wheels another very quick safety tip : Put one wheel under the car.
Excellent safety tips. Is always the starting point of any novice work.
First class video. My trolley Jack tends to drop suddenly so I'm always nervous letting the car down, but I guess that's just how it goes
Thanks so much. I recently bought a 12 golf and I am doing an oil change for the first time.
Have a look at ua-cam.com/video/j4wcAy-F2ok/v-deo.html
Really good how to video. Can you do one for rear jack points?
Awesome video mate, well done.
Great great. Video thank you so much
Exactly what I needed!
Good video and very clear
Just what I was looking for. Thankyou. M
really good video!
A good informative video however for safety reasons you wouldn't work in any garage/ workshop with bare feet.
he owns a vw he can't afford shoes with all the maintenance
@@samvw8797 Can attest to that, my shoes are breaking down but at least my golf isn't 😂
Nice video!
Great video. I wish I'd watched this video a few hours sooner and learned the trick of using a piece of carpet before I used my jack. Then I wouldn't have damaged my paint :(
Very helpful thanks
We have a 2001 golf my wife’s car.every year I put the winter tires on using the jack supplied with the car and it is a monumental failure as far as jacking points go.I do it on a level shop surface and to say it is sketchy is an understatement. If you ever had to do this at roadside it would be dangerous to say the least it is a slow and tedious chore that should be addressed by the manufacturer. Even with the supplied jack in the correct position it constitutes a danger and I have had the car slip off the jack while in operation
This was halfway helpful. I want to put my car on 4 jack stands for the automatic transmission fluid service.
Wicked vid did you do one on the back end to
Thank you so much man
Make sure the vehicle is in gear or in park. Chock the wheels on the opposite end of the car that you're lifting.
Thanks. Where is the lift point at the rear?
And also important to mention, may seem a minor thing but always remember to only jack up your car in bare feet, never wear shoes or boots (light sandals if you are in a bind). And if you are struggling to remember use the handy acronym "BWASF" or BeWare A Shoed Foot.
Is it safe to use only two jack stands?
What about the rear of this car, its the same issue not enough space to jack up at the sill and place the axel stand beside the jack???? Help......
How about the rear?
Can u use a bottle jack??
What about suspension points like control arm bases, any spots directly on the front end?.
Fleet cars are so much easier to service SMH.
How do you jack the rear up and place Axle stands there?
Just a pointer. It's safer to orient the Jack stands so that the tug lever that releases the jack stand is away from vehicle periphery i.e inwards from the side of the vehicle. This avoids anyone walking by ( say in a building parking lot/garage) flipping their foot on that lever when you're underneath the vehicle!
You can't lift the lever with the car's weight on it. If you were working on the car with heavy tools or a hammer it's remotely conceivable you could knock it, or if you were completely inattentive a jack might catch it as you lift up, so it's best practice to place the lever handle simply away from your work area. Don't worry about passer-bys.
Craig's DIY Car
I'd almost agree with you because I'm yet to see such a thing happen ! But then one sees things such as this: ua-cam.com/video/G7_Aa8pbM7Y/v-deo.html.🧐
That video shows the cam action of the lever working precisely as intended. Don't put a pry bar on the lever and lift up the ton of weight that's holding it in place while you're under the car, and your jack stand won't drop. That's like saying don't hold a weight over your head and let it go. It's not that failure isn't a concern, but you're just not going to release those handles by accidentally kicking them. If you're worried about general failure, use stands with safety pins. As featured in my video here: ua-cam.com/video/XW4L2SfsatQ/v-deo.html
Finally the Video I've waited for so Long!
how can I jack up the rear of the car with axle stands? Pease help me
Flo 79
Same here, what a relief 😅 to find this. There r absolutely no videos anywhere regarding newer model VW' jack points aside from the reinforced skirts. Thank god, this makes working on both wheels simultaneously so much easier.
Thank u so much for this video Craig!!!
Did you find a way to jack the rear?
What about the rear wheels
As basstard13 mentioned, is it good to place the stand under the subframe bracket?
Ok I tried both ways on my Skoda fabia. Is better to use designated sill Jack point for Jack stand (used a piece of 10mm hard rubber in between) and lift as Craig showed.. even like that I manage to change oil without getting under the car by removing right tyre in order to access and remove the oil screw.
By the way! If using a funnel to collect oil, hold the oil screw well otherwise it will block up the flow into the funnel and you will end in a big mess :( ... for the oil filter (which is badly located in my car with no space to manoeuvre) I used a three jaw universal oil filter wrench from the top or car bonnet which is not ideal but cheap and did the job safely. Hopefully, a bit of oil on the new filter seal will make it easier next time. :)
take a big piece of wood and jack the car left on the rim (further away from the front wheel). This will give room to place the stand. If the piece of wood is large enough, the forces are divided over a larger area and no damage will be done to the rim.
This
What do you mean by jack on the rim? Like what spot specifically
@@D3nn1s Pinch weld away from lifting point, I assume
Won't that (possibly) crack the plastic undertray? It's about the same height as the pinch weld, unfortunately.
cheers!
Nice video, and really good lighting! Is there a reason you used one bolt on the side of the subframe bracket, instead of the U-shaped subframe itself?
The bolt is a direct steel connection to the chassis and the aluminium there is just a block in compression if you lift on it - the "U" (the bushing housing) is an aluminium casting that is cantilevered off that bolt and is not designed to take the car's weight, if you jack on it you might fracture it.
@@CraigsDIY That's a very good point! But... on the other hand, by placing the jack on the steel bolt, we're now transferring the load to a combination of the aluminum square flange... and the threads of the bolt. So it's not the thick steel bolt column supporting the weight, it's only the very thin steel threads of the bolt. As well as the aluminum square flange.
So while we do gain the steel thread strength advantage, we're also using a weaker part of the aluminum structure (the square box aluminum flange instead of the curved arch of aluminum), as an arch shape is inherently stronger than a square shape, w/r/t compression forces.
In reality, anecdotally, I'm sure both methods (jacking via the arch, vs jacking via the bolt head) are "fine". But as an engineer (although electrical, not mechanical), I'd love to see a force analysis diagram that really explained which method is better. In particular, I'm quite curious... as to how much of the load (when jacking by the bolt head) is transferred to the bolt threads, vs being transferred to the square flange (via the lip of the bolt)?
Stepping back to the 40,000 foot level, why oh why doesn't VW simply include another inch or two of reinforced jacking pinch weld length? It would cost only a few pennies, and would be immensely useful! These are meant to be "enthusiast" cars, so they should make it enthusiast friendly. Perhaps the reason is lawyers? There was probably an instance where someone jacked up a car incorrectly (using a longer pinch weld reinforced area), and somehow managed to injure themselves.
Your thoughts?
Hang on, aren't there additional jacking points under plastic covers, further in from the sills?
Those are only for putting the car on a 4 point lift. Some people have installed those rubber plug bumper things and had no problem, but I'm not confident enough to jack my car that way.
the problem is that the user manual said if your dont jack the vehicle from that 4 jack default it could damage your car. is it really safe to jack from joint under the car
as long as it's structural or something like a suspension attachment point then you know it is strong enough. many have used the alternative points given in this video
And the back?
!! Please reply !!
I accidentally put the jack too far forward, that is at the closest point to the front wheels. So next to the dimple (left side since I was jacking the left side)
It has crumpled up a bit but will it have caused any serious damage? No visible issues.
If you mean at the pinch weld (the seam at the outside), it's mostly cosmetic damage. If you've broken any undercoating or paint, you might then get rust, which has to be stopped.
@@CraigsDIY I heard faint creaking noises and immediately stopped and lowered the car when I noticed.
I really don’t think there is anything serious, the weld just looks crumpled up at that point now
Can you use the scissor jack that comes with the car to lift it up the same way as in this video? I have a Jetta and wanted to do this but not sure if that would work
The scissor jack is designed to be used on the under-sill where marked, as shown at the video start. There is probably just room to put an axle stand next to the jack, unlike the floor jack shown. If not then you'd have to say there's no safe way to use the scissor jack for anything involving getting under the car.
What about the oil dripping ?
You can use it for your cucumber and tomato salad!!! 🥗
You forgot to close the garage doors at the end of video :P
👏🏼👏🏼
No shoes or boots?
Also, perhaps wearing shoes would be a simple way to be a bit safer. 😊 Thanks for the nice video anyhow.
I advise shoes as well.
I tend to do the opposite, jack the car from the jacking points, then put the jackstand under the bushing. Sits higher.
Are you sure, do you do one side than the other and then go back to the starting side and lift it even more and repeat on the other side?.
I got some bullshit jack and stands for cheap and it doesn't go high enough, if you have any tips...
@@brilliantradience from mk5 jetta...which I'm sure isn't much different...I have a jack that can go 22" up but maybe a small block of wood would help you..
Anyway...I'd jack the car up on the designated front point, high enough to lift the rear tire, then put stand on designated rear jack point and a stand under the front control arm attachment (where guy in video is jacking) and let car down.
Then do same for other side. It can get a little sketchy when doing other side as the one jack+two stand combo from the first side isn't very planted. Get the final two stands in place quickly lol. Good luck.
pro tip: put the car in gear just to be safe in case of handbrake failure.
of course it will only work before both wheels are off the ground.
Don't drop anything on your feet, that would hurt lol
Cars like this should never be produced! Seriously how can vag technicians would expect those rocker panels will not rust if that paint work is crushed with 400 kg force every time you lift your car. See bmws lifting points- now that is engineering or some audi. On my new vw car those rocker panel points crushed at second lifting on dealer elevator 😒 so dissapointed
Why is this video 5 mins long, I have stuff to do
Maybe thank him because otherwise youd have googled for 2h with no results you stubborn btch
bare feet is very dangerous, I once went to the beach in my bare feet the sand was so hot it nearly burnt my feet, so maybe wear steel capped boots....wibble
Car ramps are easier to use and require less maintenance than a jack
Look a bit silly without the wheels on though.
That rearward bushing is aluminum. I dont know if I'd be lifting at that point. VW in the horror of a manufacturer they are, also left the stand seats too close to the pinch weld. Making it near impossible to place a stand as the Jack rolls inward during lift
It's perfectly strong, you are lifting in compression against the subframe above as explained. Moreover, assuming the jack pad is suitable, you're actually lifting on the steel bolt, also in compression against the subframe, and the bushing body takes no force.
@@CraigsDIY the ears on the Jack's cup may slip on chip the lite aluminum housing. On my passat the pinch weld and stand placement area are too close as the Jack rolls on lift. I use a Jack bat. Rilling the pad higher at the pinch weld and lift. Then place the stand in the designated spot (4 inches in from pinch weld). It is a pain. Unlike my Toyota which can be center jacked and stands placed easily
People are too paranoid about aluminum, they think a probably ten pound casting like that is foil, but these are the same people that will happily put a cast iron steering knuckle on a press and put 20 tons on it to get out a bearing. Despite the fact almost any cast iron is both weaker in tensile strength and brittle compared to a modern aluminum alloy. That piece is supporting that entire corner of the cars weight, it doesn't care if that weight is coming through the suspension from the wheel or from a jack.
Could you gouge it with a steel chisel? Yeah. Is that the same as compressing it over a wider area with a jack? No.
didn't see a lot of room under the car
there's not, but he also has the jack stands on the lowest setting
Step 1: Wear shoes.
Who the hell works on a car barefoot?
Turned off the video as soon as I seen the guy wasn't wearing any shoes.
This is an incomplete video, you dont even show the rear jacking points
Barefoot though 🤮
pro tip: always put shoes on when working on a car.
2:10... What happened to your usually firm and stable voice? Just wondering. It is very very annoying, though.
Jacking on the control arm is not a good practice. It's not designed as a location to bear a point load, it's a pivot point, and doesn't bear the weight of the car. There are other locations on the subframe behind the jack point that are safe to use, but don't help with getting the jackstands in position either. Really stupid design by VW. Really stupid and unsafe.
Not jacking on the control arm. Load is being applied to the bracket bolt which is tightly compressed against the bracket and rigidly connected to the car frame. Are forces are in compression and everything is more than strong enough.
So the design of not having actual jack points is to remind you that you suck as a human and must rely on a mechanic. Completely disgusting.
Make sure to wear a hat and wash your hands afterwords 🧼.