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July 14, 2011

My Garage - Passat W8 on Jack Stands

This is something that has been discussed at length on many forums and a source of pain, bent metal, pipes, supports etc. for many a VW owner including myself. Hard to beleive is hard to come by good guidance about how to set this cars on jack stands.

Here is my take on setting the front end of my Passat on jack stands using the standard jack location to set both the jack and the jack stand side-by-side.
  • On the passenger side, I first remove the plastic cover that protects the purge tube coming from the gas tank to make a bit more room.
  • I use a small wood block (or two in this case) that are the same thickness as the height of the pinch weld to spread the load.
  • In my case I had to remove the side handles on my small aluminum jack to make enough room for the jack stand.

This way my small aluminum jack and jack stands can sit side-by-side.

Spreading the load (yes I know the pin should not be there but on a hole in the jack stand).

Voila! My car is comfortable (and secure) so I can get those wheel wells looking like new.