Jacking Points

[KMG]

As we know, the RCZ jacking points are rubbish. I've had to have both front ones bent straight and rewelded, as when they bend, then pry open the sill. Not sure when it happened, I suspect with the previous owner, but surely would have been picked up by the MOT before I bought it? I did have two new front tyres, and all alloys refurbed, so you never know.
I'm now very nervous about having tyres fitted (I need two new ones on the rear, although I'm under the impression that the rear jacking points are sturdier than the front?). Someone advised me to 'instruct' the tyre fitters that the car should be raised on a ramp, and then lifted evenly using the jacks, so as to keep the car horizontal. This seems to make sense, as using a trolley jack puts the car on an angle, forcing the jacking point, which is basically just an 'edge on' piece of rectangular metal plate, outwards, thereby causing it to bend. (Why didn't Peugeot fit a solid chunk of steel to the chassis like on other cars?).
I would like to know, however, if there is a 'fix' for this. I thought of a metal rod between the two jacking points to brace them, but not sure if there's 'line of sight' between them. Could weld some sort of brace to the floor, but that means pulling up the carpet etc to avoid anything catching fire. I already have two circular rubber blocks with grooves, but not sure if they'd actually work.
So, has anyone come up with a way to jack up an RCZ without having to have it repaired afterwards?!

 

[JvdBosch]

I made this from two blocks of rubber. Fits snuggly under the car and prevents sideways motion. For the rear, just jack under the spring, you do not need the jacking points altogether

 

[EddieJ]

Those blocks you made look a good job and support in many places. Pity others didn’t take the same level of care we try to take with our cars.

When I bought my Z it had both fronts squashed so I set about fixing them, cleaned, stripped, spot welded painted etc and was chuffed that the finish look as good as factory. I jack it up using a large rubber hockey puck with grooves, and as part of my cleaning routine I do jack it up frequently, sad but hey it’s mine.
Had the wheels refurbished and a mot carried out over a period and then when I went to do my usually cleaning regime I noticed that both fronts and one rear were bent over. Couldnt be sure which of the prior events would have caused it so I just grinned and made good again. Skip forward to July last year, mot time, asked them to use the hockey pucks I put in the footwell, they said no insurance etc. The two front are bent again. This time when I fix them, I am going to shorten the long bit of the front two and then reinforce with a 1mm thick section of stainless ’top hat’ all round. Will let y’all know how that goes after Julys mot.

 

[EddieJ]

These are the things, from eBay.

 

[JvdBosch]

I also use a trolley jack on a metal plate for less friction and I take extra care to push the jack towards the car when jacking op. The lifting point also moves inward, so it’s best to have the jack follow.

 

[JvdBosch]

By the way, my garage has a four post lift. You just drive on it. They have a special hydraulic system which slides underneath and with which they select lifting point to raise the car. So the original points are not even used. They just use the front subframe and rear shocks.
Maybe look for another garage next time, with a similar setup?

 

[EddieJ]

By the way, my garage has a four post lift. You just drive on it. They have a special hydraulic system which slides underneath and with which they select lifting point to raise the car. So the original points are not even used. They just use the front subframe and rear shocks.
Maybe look for another garage next time, with a similar setup?

Would love to, but ours are gov test centres all doing the same tests with the same machines.
Even England/Scotland/Wales have a bit of choice compared to us, boo hoo me.

 

[KMG]

I made this from two blocks of rubber. Fits snuggly under the car and prevents sideways motion. For the rear, just jack under the spring, you do not need the jacking points altogether

View attachment 15930

View attachment 15931

Those blocks are really good! Got a couple spare?!!

 

[JvdBosch]

Nope, sorry. But very easily made. Just buy rubber blocks (I think I paid 30/piece) and use a band saw to cut out the profile. I made the rough profile with copper wire, transferred it to cardboard and in a few iterations I got a nice fit. Alternatively a thought about a wooden beam across the car, with two slots in it for both jacking points. This couples both points and makes everything more rigid.

 

[KMG]

Nope, sorry. But very easily made. Just buy rubber blocks (I think I paid 30/piece) and use a band saw to cut out the profile. I made the rough profile with copper wire, transferred it to cardboard and in a few iterations I got a nice fit. Alternatively a thought about a wooden beam across the car, with two slots in it for both jacking points. This couples both points and makes everything more rigid.

Is there any chance you could post a drawing of the blocks showing the dimensions? I'll gladly use it as a guide to making a pair. Looking at your pics, do the blocks gave some kind of metal 'bracket' on the top, maybe for strengthening?
So, based on other posts, it's ok to lift the rear of the car from under the springs?

 

[JvdBosch]

I don’t have the drawings anymore, but using the procedure above it’s not so hard. Here’s a photo while I was doing this:

There’s no metal in the rubber, just a big old block of rubber, attacked with a band saw, chisels and drill. And yes, the rear can safely be jacked up from the spring. This is very easy, as the wheel goes right up, no spring needing to uncompress.

 

[KMG]

I don’t have the drawings anymore, but using the procedure above it’s not so hard. Here’s a photo while I was doing this:View attachment 15933

There’s no metal in the rubber, just a big old block of rubber, attacked with a band saw, chisels and drill. And yes, the rear can safely be jacked up from the spring. This is very easy, as the wheel goes right up, no spring needing to uncompress.

Can you remember where you bought the rubber blocks, e.g. EBay? Is it just generic 'hard' rubber, or a certain type of rubber? Sorry about the questions, but might as well do it right! Thanks.
Ps, why didn't the Peugeot design engineers put in a proper jacking point?! Did they just forget and then panic, and decide to weld on a piece of steel as an after-thought?!

 

[JvdBosch]

I got them off Amazon I think. It’s these blocks you can buy to support cars with. Mine were from Kora (160x120x80mm).

 

[KMG]

Found and ordered! Now just have to copy yours! I intend to use a 'profiler' that you use when laying carpets or floor tiles etc...

Final (daft?) questions:

Did you use the whole block, i.e. is the block in the pic still 180mm x 160mm x 80mm, or did you trim it down, maybe to get enough ground clearance for a trolley jack?
In fact, are you able to position a trolley jack with the block in place?

What are the 'cut-outs' in the upper-most surface of the blocks nearest to the viewer in the pic? (One looks a bit like a 'K', and the other a 'U')

What is the round disc shown in the pic?

Thanks.

 

[JvdBosch]

80mm is perfect for the width, no need to change. So just transfer your profile and use a bandsaw to cut it. The jacking point has a thicker middle part, so that’s the cutout you noticed. This way it fits precisely. The disc is just a standard trolley jack puck. I used it to determine how and where to cut a circular slot on the bottom. The jack fits in perfectly. That side is not shown on the photo. My jack could not get low enough, so that is why I cut out a similar shape in the bottom as a standard jack puck. See image:

 

[JvdBosch]

looking at it again, I see I saw the block in half. So my lifting block is 60mm wide, 80mm high at the highest point and 160mm long.

 

[KMG]

View attachment 15938
looking at it again, I see I saw the block in half. So my lifting block is 60mm wide, 80mm high at the highest point and 160mm long. View attachment 15939

Thanks for the info. I bought two blocks, as I didn't realise you'd cut one in half. I guess I'll have a spare! The only thing puzzeling me is that our cars are quite low to the ground, and the rubber block can't leave much room. In fact, it would be really great if you could let me know the distance from the ground to the underside of the rubber block when it is in place, so I can buy a jack with the correct profile. I've seen a few on Amazon that will fit an 85mm gap. Thanks.
Ps. I know what those 'K' and 'U' cut outs are now. They are the 'K' and 'A' of the name KORA cut in half!

 

[JvdBosch]

I’ve got one with a 85mm low point indeed. When you remove the puck, it just about fits. So that’s why I cut the circular profile in the block, so the cup of the jack fits in (I removed the rubber puck and loose metal cup fro That also allows me to precisely position the load point. As you can see, the circle is not exactly in the middle of the lifting slot, but a bit inward. So the block has less chance of rotating. I think I’d even put it a few mm more inwards now.

Also, I put a few mm thick metal plate below the jack for easy rolling, so that raises it even more. All in all, with a +-85mm low profile jack you can make it work. Maybe you can make the block less high, but I wanted to keep as much rubber under the car as possible. You can see the jack connected to the block in the photo above.

I’ll try to make some more pictures when I switch back to summer tires.

 

[KMG]

I’ve got one with a 85mm low point indeed. When you remove the puck, it just about fits. So that’s why I cut the circular profile in the block, so the cup of the jack fits in (I removed the rubber puck and loose metal cup fro That also allows me to precisely position the load point. As you can see, the circle is not exactly in the middle of the lifting slot, but a bit inward. So the block has less chance of rotating. I think I’d even put it a few mm more inwards now.

Also, I put a few mm thick metal plate below the jack for easy rolling, so that raises it even more. All in all, with a +-85mm low profile jack you can make it work. Maybe you can make the block less high, but I wanted to keep as much rubber under the car as possible. You can see the jack connected to the block in the photo above.

I’ll try to make some more pictures when I switch back to summer tires.

Ok, thanks for your help. I'll update when I've made my blocks. At least they should save those pesky jacking points from getting damaged again!
Also....I can see how you can cut out the shape with a band saw, but how did you cut out the vertical clearance 'slot' for the wider part of the jacking post, i.e. dremel, chisel?

 

[Pedro]

They are made of rice pudding
My mate welded small steel plate inserts on mine that cured them bending inwards