I've got an el cheapo "Companion" floor jack and jack stands I bought from Sears a few years ago. (I can't believe I walked out of there with "Companion" stuff; I *knew* the price was too good to be true...) Neither the jack nor the stands have any padding on them. The stands were fine to use on the axles of my various 4x4 vehicles (I'm all better, now, thanks) where they would cradle the round axle, but I need to use them on those flat spots on the MINI.

I'm figuring I can get away with using a scrap of 2x4 with the floor jack, and lift from that circular point on the front subframe, but I'm not sure what I should do with the jack stands and the frame rail spots. Should I use wood blocks there, too? Use something else for padding and to spread the load? Just quit being a cheapskate and buy new jack stands?

Thanks!

 

I cut some wood blocks and stuck them in the jack points. That has worked great for me. Other folks have told me that the jack point housing can support the vehicle weight on a jack stand but I chose not to believe them.

 

how about using those four nice pads already provided by MINI? that's what i use... . oh, and you can believe me, i'm a mechanic.

 

My jack stands (also from Sears) do have the deep "U" channel but the width is narrow enough that I locate the jack stand so that one end of the "U" fits up into the center for the jack location thingy (see, I'm a mechanic too) Looks a little scarry because the whole car is being supported by 1/2 of the "U" of four jack stands. Works fine plus, I saw Randy Webb do this and he didn't think it should be a problem.